LOCAL ENTREPRENEUR JILL MARTINI is taking her last name as a subliminal calling for a new career path. Having been an established interior designer for over eight years with several architectural firms, all while maintaining side-gigs in restaurants and bars, she decided not to throw away the server apron, or measuring tape, but to grab them both for a new venture melding the two. “It was time to really put my design skills to the test,” she says. “I began digging into what was involved in a mobile bar business.”

Photography by Wyatt Kostygan.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY WYATT KOSTYGAN.

Endless searches online and one converted VW bus/bar found on Instagram later, Martini’s own wheels began to turn. The search party for the perfect vessel eventually stumbled upon a 1978 straight load horse trailer in Bradenton. What it lacked in horses, it more than made up in potential. Going in for the krill, Martini developed the concept to retrofit the vintage trailer into a modern boutique bar, sketched a design and called upon local carpenter Robert Kurvin of 4 Elements Industries to bring The Wandering Whale to life. “To some, this may have seemed like a hot mess, but for me, I was right at home and could see the potential,” she says. After a lot of scrubbing, installing a swing-open service window, hammering on wood plank accents, assembling a sink into the counter and jerry-rigging a kegerator/tap system, the derelict trailer morphed into a polished specimen.

Martini then took to the interior for “the fun part,” she says. “My design skills came to play in knowing that a successful project comes together when you have a strong concept to start with.” Used to tearing a home down to the studs for a project, building out the interior of the Wandering Whale was not far-fetched. “It’s the same process, just a different medium,” Martini says, and she set about painting multiple coats of white varnish, sealing the handsome whale logo onto the exterior, DIY-ing aluminum backsplashes and implementing winsome touches like fairy lights pinned around the ceiling, all joining lush greenery trimming the rims and fanciful decor. 

Photography by Wyatt Kostygan.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY WYATT KOSTYGAN.

After sourcing an outdoor rug, bohemian seating with ottomans and mini table tops, the mechanical whale was ready to dive in with style and a cooler of ice in tow. Martini learning how to smoothly hitch/unhitch the trailer to her truck by herself is a story for another time. The Wandering Whale currently serves as a photo backdrop and bartending service honoring cocktail, or mocktail, requests for various markets and corporate events, weddings and private parties.

Photography by Wyatt Kostygan.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY WYATT KOSTYGAN.

Realtors planning an open house can have Martini turn on some tunes and mix up refreshing lavender lemonade for prospective buyers to keep cool on a hot Florida day. Businesses who want to treat their employees can book a team appreciation Happy Hour. Bachelorettes can have a full-service Mimosa Bar pull up to the bridal shower, with sunflowers setting the scene. And the Snow Cone Package, with the option to spike the snow cones with alcohol, goes swimmingly for summery get-togethers. No matter the occasion, The Wandering Whale is showing up to blow guests’ expectations out of the water.