"I Want to Cry”

Cars are circling the parking lot looking for an open space at 10 AM Saturday morning. The crowd is pouring in to say goodbye to Jack’s Lookout and its owner and namesake, 88-year-old Jack Creedon. 

Creedon was forced to close the neighborhood bar after 38 years. Saturday was the farewell party for the iconic Marco Island dockside bar that for years has humorously promised Free Beer Tomorrow on a sign out front. Damage from Hurricane Ian is being blamed for delivering the finishing blows to the rustic watering hole, nestled among the charter fishing fleet at Rose Marina. 

For decades Creedon has leased with the marina. In fact it was revered Marco Island philanthropist and Rose Marina owner, Bill Rose, who talked a middle-aged Creedon into opening Jack’s Lookout back in 1984.

"He drew me a wonderful lease when I first started,” Creedon smiles, recalling Rose. “He was just a wonderful, wonderful guy. He just said to me, 'Why don’t you try this? See if you like it.' I said, 'Yeah, let me try that.' He said, ‘We’ll work something out.' Whatever he gave me for a lease at that time was practically nothing." 

Customers file in one by one and two by two Saturday morning. As they cross through the doorway and onto the dock floorboards of Jack’s Lookout, everyone is greeted by a friend, or two, or three.

The last day is like all of the other days over the past 38 years at Jack’s in one way—the scene is real. There are real feelings being shared. Real emotions. You could say that Marco Island has never seen such a gathering and outpouring of emotion over the closing of a business of any kind.

"Everybody got along,” Creedon said. "All walks of life. You could be sitting next to a painter, and the next guy owns 17 packing houses. The people were from all walks of life. It was unbelievable, you could mix and match the crowd we had here. That’s the way I look at it. It’s almost impossible to put that together because you don’t really see that too often.

"It should stay forever, actually,” Creedon said of Jack’s. "They should have to build around it. Of course you couldn’t do anything here. You’re into a situation now, you can’t even prepare food over the water. You could never replace this because this is over the water. So that’s a big factor. Parking is a tough situation here. There was just no future for me."

Jack’s Lookout's closing feels like the end of an era on Marco Island to most - if not all - of the gathered crowd Saturday. It’s the end for a neighborhood bar that has fostered friendships as deeply rooted as the local mangrove trees. Funny that the seawall under Jack’s Lookout is one of the reasons being given for the bar’s demise.

Many patrons bidding their farewells to their old haunt compare the experience to attending a funeral. Many say they feel like crying.

Creedon understands how they feel. He’s right there with them.

"I had that feeling myself you know,” Creedon said Sunday morning, as Easy Street Moving and a number of Creedon’s friends were taking the place apart piece by piece, ahead of the wrecking ball.

 "There were a lot of people crying,” Creedon said. "Like the girls who worked for me. They were here for a long time. Holly was with me 20 years. Others have been here 10 years, 12 years. They were all great, easy-going people. You don’t get staff like that.”

"For me it was almost like a death in the family,” Creedon said. He said he’s cried. "Of course I cried,” Creedon said. "I try not to, at my age. You try to face everything with reality. You have to live with it. But that’s the way it is. And I’m certainly going to miss them all. Because they are like family. I knew what it was going to be like to face everybody here. Because they were in the same mode that I was in. Their loss was almost as much as my loss. That’s the way I looked at it."

Though Creedon is 88 he could pass for 68. His daughter, Erin Good, feels that’s Jack’s Lookout reflected her father’s attitude. 

"He wakes up with that attitude that no matter what happens, it’s a good day,” Good said of her father. “I’ve never seen him have a really bad day. My husband is blown away by it. Just the upbeat attitude. Things seem to go his way, always. We hope to all be like that. He’s 88 and he always says Jack’s has been 38 years of the best retirement he could possibly have.”

The crowd has settled in - at least the early birds are - when Creedon arrives for the farewell party at 11:20. He strides confidently through the parking lot. Now he’s about to enter Jack’s Lookout, full-to-overflowing with people for the last time.

He appears calm and confidently, but inside his emotions are almost overwhelming as he approaches.

"It was a great sight to see all those people,” Creedon said wistfully, “but it was a very sad sight. To look at it. And to look at the sign. You know I came down the side street and saw the sign and thought, ‘That’s going to be gone. The building's going to be gone.’ It’s something you can’t replace. They’re going to be talking about it, I assume, forever. Which will be good for me, I guess. Not financially, but on my tombstone.”

The legacy of Jack’s Lookout and Jack Creedon should be a long one, judging by the stories circulating through the crowd Saturday. Of course, the crowd at the farewell party is just a tiny sampling of the patrons this tiny bar has impacted. It seems everyone in attendance wanted a piece of Jack’s Lookout. And there were plenty of pieces to go around. There were 38 years’ worth of memories covering the walls and ceiling. Sunday morning the place looked like an American Pickers set. Wooden signs were removed from the ceiling, including one with great sentimental value to Creedon’s daughter Erin. It stopped her in her tracks when she looked up and saw it.

Look for more on Jack’s Lookout in the next edition of the Coastal Breeze News.

Here’s What They Were Saying at Jack’s Lookout Saturday:

Steve Law (a customer since 1988): “It’s a sad day. I’ve been coming here since I was 14 when I moved to Marco from the Keys with my parents. We used to come and get hot dogs. As I got older, when I came back from college, this became my regular hangout. This bar feels more like the Keys than any bar I’ve been to around here. It’s a real shame to see it go. I don’t like the way it happened. We’re never going to find anything the same."

Darryl Johnson: “This place is a true icon on Marco Island. It’s been here for years for a lot of different reasons. A lot of families have been coming here. My kids come here. My grandkids are coming here. If this goes away, it’s going to be a real loss to Marco. I think we can still save this and keep Jack’s right here. We’ve got to get a lot of support around this. We have to have verification that this is not a stable facility.”

Steve Burge: “When you first come here this is a place you find and meet people. Where they come from. What brought them here. What business they were in. We’ve just met a ton of nice people here because of Jack’s.”

Roger Gonzalez: “Jack’s has been an institution for a lot of people here on this island. People come from all over the world to come here because of the wonderful environment. I believe it is a complete travesty. Today is a day of celebration in a way. Because we get all our friends and family together for one last hurrah. It’s almost like a funeral. I just wish there could have been other options where Jack and his family could still be here. Because this place has meant so much to the island. So many people are in awe that it’s closing. Friends of mine from Chicago have been calling me saying they saw it on Facebook, social media, what have you. It’s sad. It’s very sad."

Julio Terrasi: “It’s the Cheers of Marco. Where Christina knows your name and favorite beer. It’s going to be a sad situation when you don’t have a place to congregate anymore. Because everybody will go to their own places and that will be it. It’s the end of an era. And it should never come to that quite honestly. Because these are things that should continue for generations. You could probably close any other restaurant or bar on Marco Island and people would say, ‘Oh, that’s too bad. We’ll just go to another restaurant.' It’s not like the with Jack’s."