According to Ruth, we are in a Mob Bar. Everyone in the place is well dressed and it is questionable whether I should be let inside with Levis, a nice dress shirt, hiking shoes and uncombed hair. South Florida is a place with comfortable weather this time of year and an inclination towards leisure and decadence. There are banks, mortgage companies, pawn shops, tattoo parlors, restaurants and hotels, strip clubs, car dealerships, lawyers and anything else you might want or need to keep your equilibrium. Once you drive away from the Fort Lauderdale International airport you are welcomed by wide streets, manicured lawns, palm trees and canals, million dollar yachts, almost cloudless night skies and a full moon this evening. The parking lot of Ruth’s favorite lunch place is full and  Coral Springs is a long way from Miami Beach, West Palm Beach, or any beach. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, Travelino’s features live music or live comedy. Tonight, on a Monday, they don’t have a dinner that fits so our fall back choice is chocolate mousse. When served, the dessert reminds me of Roman orgies. The waiters in this club wear white shirts, black slacks and black ties. The bartender shows us a new tattoo on her left wrist. When tattoos appear on middle aged bodies one has to wonder how much longer our Republic is going to survive? On second thought, maybe it was Al Capone I saw in the washroom talking to his accountant, smoking a Cuban cigar.  I didn’t see any bodies on the washroom floor with bullet holes in their forehead, but the night is still young. While I enjoy mousse, my ears are cocked, listening for slamming car doors in the parking lot and someone saying the name , ” Vinnie. ” Ruth brings her mom here for lunch, so it can’t be all that dangerous. In fact, Ruth and I decide, after consideration, that this is the kind of place Al Capone would bring his own mom.  She would probably not have tattoos.  
     
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