Division Avenue’s Finest

Willie firing up his latest catch....

Some have remarked on the “sadly named” Division Avenue where the Cracker Johnson House is located in West Palm Beach, because it has made a certain kind of headline in the past. But on Friday nights on the 1400 block there’s only one Division to speak of: either you “family” or you ain’t. If you family, as fisherman and cook extraordinaire Willie so defines it, you are entitled to partake in his  Friday night ritual. Willie gathers up the week’s catch. “I do a looooot of fishing,” he explained. This Friday it was bluefish, barracuda, sand perch and of course catfish.

He breaks out his propane-fueled deep fryer on the Division Avenue sidewalk and sets up a table and offers his food free of charge. Don’t even bother offering him money for his food. It’s for “family only.”

Whoever makes the cut gets to eat slightly marinated, lightly breaded fish with a squeeze of fresh lime which had hours before been swimming in the Intracoastal waterway that divides West Palm and Palm Beach.

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