FAVORITE BARS

I no longer crawl pubs, so this entry is purely nostalgic. As far as I know, most of these places are gone, so these are not recommendations. An'hoo, these are the watering holes that left their marks on me as I developed in Steeltown (in no particular order)....

STONE'S- I started off shining shoes there with my brother, then graduated to having a tipple there occasionally. They sold Killian's Red beer, and had a kickin' jukebox, with everything from country to funk. Some of the clientele took exception to my presence, but they didn't make much of an issue of it.

THE ANGRY BULL- Live dancers and Colt 45 on tap....is this a great country, or what? The place had a reputation for rowdiness, and it occasionally lived up to it; I never had a problem, except for the time that dancer told her guy that Donald and me were tossing hints her way-fortunately for us, he decided we weren't worth shooting.

CZECH'S- a guilty pleasure, the sort of dive I'd visit just for sheer trip.

THE FOX INN- My friend's bands played there often in the Seventies, so there wentest I.

NINA'S- Very similar to Stone's, but with an IQ trivia machine at the bar, on which I blitzed off every other player's name one Saturday night.

SHIRLEY'S- Cheapest 151 and Coke (they used Paramount rum) on Broadway, and a jukebox packed with oldies....a quiet, laid-back drinkin' bar.

BUCK'S / LAMBDA TAVERN / CLUB 1504- Of course I knew it was a gay bar; how could I hang there for over fifteen years, and not know? As I told someone once, it was close to my lodgings (at one point, right across the street), the drinks were cheap, I knew the owners, and at least half the reguar clients, no one bothered me and, even if someone was looking for me and saw me go in, they probably wouldn't go in after me.

THE CAROUSEL- My friends and I spent much time and money in that place during the Seventies and Eighties; we were there when we heard Lennon had been shot. I used to write poetry in one of the booths.

L'CHAIM!