RE: Your Favorite Watering Hole... And Its Food.
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Fri, 03/7/08 12:59 PM
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#19 )
Hello All,
Ort, thank you so much for this thread.
Once again you prod our minds to honour
and search for a "temple" that provides
good food, good drinks, and good times.
You have a gift, my friend.
When I first read, "watering hole," I thought
of the Long Branch Saloon from the T.V. show,
"Gunsmoke. I thank you for that memory, especially
when I recalled Miss Kitty. As a boy, I thought
she was sexy.
In my checkered past, I've had many watering holes
that unfortunately no longer exist. They were
owned by locals, and the city fathers of Harrisonburg, Va.
made their lives so miserable that they went out of business.
The bars now in my area are like Fast Food places, and
are owned by corporations. They are too pretty, too expensive,
and the food is re-heated frozen, zombie corporate tasting material.
I am older now and rarely seek a watering hole, so perhaps there
are places that defy my opinion.
We have a place, "The Little Grill" which many go to. It is a
co-op restaurant/bar. It promotes vegetarian food and socialist
politics, with a bit of beer on the side.
"Cally's" is a restaurant/brewery, which has good beer, but is
so yuppie that my old soul can't call it my watering hole.
"Luigi's Pizza Company," is a great place to have good pizza and
cheap beer.
But the day of going to a bar and finding good food, good drinks,
and becoming part of a community is past my interest level now.
And the day of a bar wanting to make you feel a part of their
community is past...it is just making a quick buck around here.
It was not always that way, at least in my experience. But I
have always tried to find "family" wherever I go, and perhaps
I am just too simple and naive.
Let me end with the memory of the best watering hole I have
known..."The Elbow Room."
The beer was good and cheap.
The food was good and you could tell they
hand-made the burger patties themselves because
they weren't uniform; the salads, fries, and whatever
were just great.
They had wonderful pin-ball machines.
They had local road-house bands that played music
that everyone grew to love as the night went on and
more beer was consumed.
They had sticky, beer-soaked carpet that was clean by
the next day.
There was always long lines to the restrooms, (both sexes,)
where you could meet the most interesting people.
The beer-tenders were rude with style.
There were no social-class distinctions. I drank and talked
to college students, rummies, government workers, even a judge,
professionals, blue collar workers, etc.. It was humanity as
far as jobs and humanity as far as religions, lack of religions,
but always full of points of views. All enjoyed and expressed
themselves with civility, humour, and a shade of "what an as-hole"
he or she is.
Ort, thank you for reminding me of what I loved. The only way
I could search and find a watering hole again is if I got divorced,
and went looking for a new woman.
Ort, thank you for reminding me that I have a watering hole...
it is with my wife and family, which is pretty much like the
Elbow room.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle
