Looking back in time: Red Bay Plaza

Everyone talks about the ‘good old days’ when times were simpler. Take a look at this image from yesteryear and see if it you recognise it.

Red Bay Plaza

This picture of what – on the face of it – appears to be a fairly unremarkable building, actually represents hundreds of fabulous memories for anyone who frequented Red Bay Plaza, including Durty Reids.

Red Bay Plaza was home to a number of businesses over the years, including Red Rabbit Liquor Store, owned by Gene Wren; Melody Marine, run by Bud Gilman; Red Rooster (specialising in fried chicken); a VHS tape club rental shop; a hair salon, with Rene Meixner at the helm; and, of course, the iconic Durty Reids ‘Local Hangout’.

My family lived in the Prospect area in the ’80s, so Red Bay Plaza was our closest shopping centre. My Dad bought fishing gear from Melody Marine all the time, along with many other loyal customers. He recalled that although Bud was blind, the man knew his store like the back of his hand, and could instantly locate different types of fish hooks, weights, lures and anything else on clients’ lists.

“He was quite remarkable,” Dad said.

Carlee Bush stated on the Old Cayman Facebook page that she “always visited there for the best fishing tackle on the island”, adding that there was a line hanging along the ceiling from one end of the shop to the other that Bud would use to easily navigate the room.

The tape club (possibly called ‘4&G’ – I can’t remember) popped up in the plaza, just like several others around the island at that time, in the era before Blockbuster Video and before we had access to international TV channels. Enterprising businesspeople, with apparently no fear of copyright infringement, invested in racks of VCRs hooked up to one of those mammoth satellite dishes, which looked like a smaller cousin of the Very Large Array radio telescopes in New Mexico. They would record hundreds of programmes and movies at the same time, then rent the tapes out for $1 per night, with an extra $1 charge if you didn’t rewind before returning them. It took about two minutes to rewind each tape, but it honestly felt like a lifetime when you were in a rush and needed to catch the club before it closed. The extra dollar seemed a small price to pay.

This is how my family learned about shows like ‘Laverne & Shirley’, ‘All in the Family’, ‘Happy Days’, ‘Love Boat’ and ‘Fantasy Island’. Thank goodness none of us were into the daily soap operas – it would have cost a fortune to keep up… and imagine the rewinding!

As a teenager, I actually got a Saturday job at Rene’s hair salon. I don’t think I lasted very long, as I managed to get shampoo and hot water into the eyes and ears of my very first customer. I also wasn’t a huge fan of sweeping up the hair on the floor, left over from various chops and trims. You might say I wasn’t ‘cut’ out for the job, ha-ha.

Red Rabbit was always the place for stocking up on wine, beer and booze when we hosted a party, and Gene was such a lovely man – greeting everyone with a smile. Mum said if we were lucky, he’d treat us to a song by one of his favourite groups, The Carpenters, as we entered the premises.

I also went to school with Gene’s daughter, Susanna. As small a world as Cayman is now, it was even smaller back then.

Finally, at the western end of the plaza, there was Durty Reids, run by one of the most unforgettable characters on the island – Reid Dennis.

My first introduction to Reid was when we arrived on the island in August 1975 and I was only a young kid. Around that time, a very indie company called Hefalump Productions was filming ‘The Cayman Triangle’ here, and as my Dad had a small part, playing a French pirate, I saw Reid in full buccaneer regalia – complete with peg leg – in his lead role of Durty Reid Walker. He was a pretty imposing man, and with me at six years old, he left a lasting impression. It was a few years before I realised that perhaps he wasn’t quite the marauder he was portraying in the film.

I also discovered that his leg had not been lost to the dreaded ‘turtle shark’, a mythical creature that featured in the story. Instead, it had been the cost of a serious injury in the Vietnam War, part of a distinguished military career that had him awarded “The Bronze Star medal with combat ‘V’, The Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and Vietnam Campaign Medal”, according to a US veterans website. He was medically retired as a captain in 1967, and later that same year, travelled to the Cayman Islands. The New York native fell in love with the place and decided to stay.

Although his official first name was Charles, everyone knew him as Reid, and he quickly became a fixture in Cayman, working in the restaurant industry and as the manager and editor of The Caymanian Weekly, which later merged with the Cayman Compass. (Reid’s bachelor’s degree was actually in journalism and, fun fact, the late owner/publisher of the Compass, Brian Uzzell, played the hunchback in ‘The Cayman Triangle’.)

An avid Washington Redskins fan, it really was no surprise that Reid combined his bar and restaurant experience with his passion for sports, resulting in Durty Reids, which proudly promised “Warm Beer, Lousy Food, Surly Help” when it opened in the late ’80s.

It was a casual, incredibly popular hangout, and on any given day, people could walk in the door and find Reid and his buddies gathered around a table, talking football and discussing their guesses about which teams they thought would emerge victorious from upcoming games.

Many fans posted about their memories of Durty Reids on the Old Cayman Facebook page when a picture of the joint was posted.

Marita Ebanks talked about great staff, great friends and “mostly country music. Can’t forget Carol [Jackson] entertaining us with her dancing. In other words, fun times.”

Jay Christenson said, “Went there for lunch while we were building Hurley’s. First time there, through the back door, Reid spotted me and said, ‘You look like a strong fella’. Next thing I know, he had me changing the barrels of beer! Damn, I miss that place.”

Sidney Terry remembered his favourite dishes, focussing on the “chicken wings and mini-burgers!! Those were the days.”

Unfortunately, like all good things, Red Bay Plaza came to an end. The building was old, but it also had to be removed in order to facilitate the new east-west arterial corridor that we know today.

Durty Reids subsequently moved its operation to Pedro St. James – another ‘Cayman Triangle’ coincidence, as one of the big local scenes had been filmed there with several well-known Cayman personalities playing roles, such as Ryhal Gallagher as Blackbeard.

Reid eventually spent more time in the US, and on 4 April 2020, he passed away at his home in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the age of 79.

Messages poured in from friends and fans who had all appreciated the larger-than-life character who brought so much joy to others.

Arek Joseph, Reid’s co-star in ‘The Cayman Triangle’ said, at the time, “I never pass the site of the old Durty Reids without smiling and remembering something he said or did.

“Thanks for the memories, Reid. Hopefully the spirit of Durty Reid will continue to haunt us, and may you rest in peace.”

’The Cayman Triangle’ is now available to view online, offering a fascinating glimpse at what Grand Cayman looked like in the 1970s.

If you have some old photos that you’d like to submit, we’d love to see them to consider them for publication. Be sure to include the credit for the image and any information you have about it. Email to [email protected].