Night Breaker
I've made mention in the past that my weekends come in the middle of the week. Such is the price to pay for working the graveyard shift on the actual weekends. Nevertheless, I had a fantastic time last "weekend." It's all I could think of today. Originally, my biggest gripe with having Tuesdays and Wednesdays off is that it was difficult to enjoy a non-traditional weekend nightlife; it's hard to hangout with friends because they all have to work in the morning or pick up a girl because of the same reason. As I always put it to my friends and acquaintances, "It's hard to find a wifey on a Tuesday!" However, the simple truth is, I've grown accustomed to it. I like walking into a place and having a seat at the bar or playing music on the jukebox and hearing it play before last call. You sometimes can't do that on a Friday or Saturday. Not even at a crappy bar.
Perhaps my biggest complaint became a non-issue early last Wednesday morning while I was at Ace Bar in the East Village. Awesome place! It felt like one of my hangouts as a kid only with more booze and I didn't have to run when someone yelled, "Hey! What are you kids doing over there?!" They had pool and darts as you'd see at any other regular bar but they also had skee ball. (I know!) and some kick-ass pinball games. Not to mention the Big Buck Hunter HD game that I almost put half my paycheck into! It had a mix of bar, lounge, pool hall and arcade atmosphere. I don't know how the owner managed to pull that off but that place is fantastic!
Had a great convo with the bartender. Sandra, from Colorado, if memory serves me correctly as it rarely ever does. We mostly discussed music. Actually, that topic came about because of the very limited jukebox selection. I've been to places with an antiquated music selection before but what made this place weird is that it had one of those digital AME jukeboxes that you can download music from. It wasn't connected to the Internet. Moreover, it turns out that management wants to keep a certain rock n' roll aesthetic to the playlist which I found odd considering Kid Rock was one of the selectable artists on said jukebox but anyway.(It looked like a tourist version of a rock list but that's all I'm going to say about that.) It was hard to take that statement seriously but I digress. As my father once told me, I had to work with what I had. I think I did well. No one complained about the tunes. Incidentally, we then started talking about our fathers or should I say, how the last generation had those calloused hands that looked like leather mitts. I think we were talking about that, anyway. In hindsight, I cannot be certain. I was drunk by then and I didn't offer myself too many details in that voice memo I left myself telling me to blog about the evening's frivolities.
Best part of the night was the walk home. And by "walk home" I mean, my walk to the next bar. Just up the street, there on E. 5th st between Avenues A and B. Seeing as that the Jersey boy in me told me to enjoy the extra hours of drink time I had in City, I walked into Sophie's Bar around 3am. I figured, what the Hell! I would have had to wait around for the buses at Port Authority to start running anyways. I might as well milk the time I had. And by "milk" I meant whiskey! I truly was only going to stay for one beer so as not to make it look like I was some vagabond using the bathroom and so I inquired with the bartender if they had any Yuengling. The bartender, Cat, replied: "Yeah...but we don't have any of that." All in the same breath. She made me laugh so hard, I was compelled to stay.
Sophie's had more a saloon feel rather than a dive bar. Nevertheless, that is exactly what it was but it was awesome. It was rustic but that's what added to its appeal. It, too had a Buck Hunter game although not an HD one and a jukebox. An old school, punch-in-the-number-of-the-CD-and-track jukebox! I was rather amazed. I haven't seen one of those since that time I went to Lucky 7's in Jersey City. I remember playing "Ready to Start" by Arcade Fire and "Highway Chile" by Jimi Hendrix. How I remember that is beyond me but I remember Cat liking my music selection enough to send another shot my way. I stayed their until closing and tipped Cat a $20 bill. I only drank 2 pints of McSorley's Dark and not as many shots of Tullamore Dew as I would've liked but I felt obliged to tip big. Sometimes, I don't just tip the for the service but for the smiles I've received. Soon after that, on my way home, I stopped at the Space Market deli near NYU. Man! They make the best turkey and bacon sandwiches!! The rest of the train and bus ride home was a blur but I know I was smiling the whole way. I'm glad I had the wherewithal to record a note-to-self memo to remember some of the details for this blog. That was a night I don't want to soon forget.
It was a great night. People have asked me many times how I can go to a bar all by myself and still enjoy it. They're amazed at how easily I can strike up conversations with perfect strangers or simply listen to some good tunes from the juke and sip beer and smile. Too be honest, I don't have a clue as to how or why I'm as sociable as I am. More often than not, I'm labeled a hermit by many who know me. That being said, I love exploring and meeting new people. It's been a while since I "broke night" but I'm glad I did. I have to do it again soon. Maybe even tonight!
Perhaps my biggest complaint became a non-issue early last Wednesday morning while I was at Ace Bar in the East Village. Awesome place! It felt like one of my hangouts as a kid only with more booze and I didn't have to run when someone yelled, "Hey! What are you kids doing over there?!" They had pool and darts as you'd see at any other regular bar but they also had skee ball. (I know!) and some kick-ass pinball games. Not to mention the Big Buck Hunter HD game that I almost put half my paycheck into! It had a mix of bar, lounge, pool hall and arcade atmosphere. I don't know how the owner managed to pull that off but that place is fantastic!
Had a great convo with the bartender. Sandra, from Colorado, if memory serves me correctly as it rarely ever does. We mostly discussed music. Actually, that topic came about because of the very limited jukebox selection. I've been to places with an antiquated music selection before but what made this place weird is that it had one of those digital AME jukeboxes that you can download music from. It wasn't connected to the Internet. Moreover, it turns out that management wants to keep a certain rock n' roll aesthetic to the playlist which I found odd considering Kid Rock was one of the selectable artists on said jukebox but anyway.(It looked like a tourist version of a rock list but that's all I'm going to say about that.) It was hard to take that statement seriously but I digress. As my father once told me, I had to work with what I had. I think I did well. No one complained about the tunes. Incidentally, we then started talking about our fathers or should I say, how the last generation had those calloused hands that looked like leather mitts. I think we were talking about that, anyway. In hindsight, I cannot be certain. I was drunk by then and I didn't offer myself too many details in that voice memo I left myself telling me to blog about the evening's frivolities.
Best part of the night was the walk home. And by "walk home" I mean, my walk to the next bar. Just up the street, there on E. 5th st between Avenues A and B. Seeing as that the Jersey boy in me told me to enjoy the extra hours of drink time I had in City, I walked into Sophie's Bar around 3am. I figured, what the Hell! I would have had to wait around for the buses at Port Authority to start running anyways. I might as well milk the time I had. And by "milk" I meant whiskey! I truly was only going to stay for one beer so as not to make it look like I was some vagabond using the bathroom and so I inquired with the bartender if they had any Yuengling. The bartender, Cat, replied: "Yeah...but we don't have any of that." All in the same breath. She made me laugh so hard, I was compelled to stay.
Sophie's had more a saloon feel rather than a dive bar. Nevertheless, that is exactly what it was but it was awesome. It was rustic but that's what added to its appeal. It, too had a Buck Hunter game although not an HD one and a jukebox. An old school, punch-in-the-number-of-the-CD-and-track jukebox! I was rather amazed. I haven't seen one of those since that time I went to Lucky 7's in Jersey City. I remember playing "Ready to Start" by Arcade Fire and "Highway Chile" by Jimi Hendrix. How I remember that is beyond me but I remember Cat liking my music selection enough to send another shot my way. I stayed their until closing and tipped Cat a $20 bill. I only drank 2 pints of McSorley's Dark and not as many shots of Tullamore Dew as I would've liked but I felt obliged to tip big. Sometimes, I don't just tip the for the service but for the smiles I've received. Soon after that, on my way home, I stopped at the Space Market deli near NYU. Man! They make the best turkey and bacon sandwiches!! The rest of the train and bus ride home was a blur but I know I was smiling the whole way. I'm glad I had the wherewithal to record a note-to-self memo to remember some of the details for this blog. That was a night I don't want to soon forget.
It was a great night. People have asked me many times how I can go to a bar all by myself and still enjoy it. They're amazed at how easily I can strike up conversations with perfect strangers or simply listen to some good tunes from the juke and sip beer and smile. Too be honest, I don't have a clue as to how or why I'm as sociable as I am. More often than not, I'm labeled a hermit by many who know me. That being said, I love exploring and meeting new people. It's been a while since I "broke night" but I'm glad I did. I have to do it again soon. Maybe even tonight!
Comments
Post a Comment