A Long Stroll But Few Bars

I figured today, because it was fairly warm and the sun was out, I would just take a bit of a stroll and limit myself to just three bars. I did more than anticipated yesterday and that, coupled with a fair amount of wine at dinner, led me to believe today should be a day of moderation.

153) La Nostra Soria

In Park Slope on Seventh Avenue this place is more of an Italian restaurant than a bar, but they do have a nice little bar with a huge metal eagle sitting on the end. The bartender was very nice and I chatted with her while I enjoyed:

A glass of 2003 Stella Sangiovese (a red wine).

154) Snooky's Pub

Down Seventh Avenue a bit is this nice old neighborhood bar. It had six TVs but all of them were off except one showing CNN. There were pictures of old Yankee's teams adorning the wall, but I forgive them. It had a nice long bar and wood plank floors. There were a couple of ladies sitting at one end of the bar doing crossword puzzles and everyone seemed to know everyone else and were all quite friendly. I told them about my quest and passed out a few of my cards. The bartender wanted me to say that she was an "Attractive, older bartender with a great personality and a loyal following." She really wasn't older, at least by my standards, but she was attractive. And remember, this is only my second stop of the day.

I thought they had a pretty decent crowd in there seeing how early it was, but I was assured that if I came back after 5:00 P.M. the place would really be jumping. No reason to believe that it wouldn't be, but I am afraid I will have to pass for the time being.

I had a draft Anchor Steam.

155 Tea Lounge

Now this was a bit of a stange place, for a bar, on Union Street between 6th and 7th Avenue but closer to 7th. More like a 60's kind of coffee-house, but with internet access. Kind of like a beat Starbucks with a little bar in the back. Mostly a college-aged crowd banging away at their PCs and a few young mothers with kids in tow who looked like they gathered there on a regular basis. Even though it is called the Tea Lounge, they did have a large Tiki carving on the bar and a surfboard propped up against the wall. They had 9 draft beers, including a Chimay, and a sign that said no Budweiser. The Doors were playing on the sound system.

They had neat overhead fans shaped like leaves and a set of the same shaped fans mounted on one of the walls, but these went back and forth. Lots of sofas and plush chairs strewn about with coffee tables. It looked like a lot of the crowd just used this as their living room, and I could see why they would. The place was pretty packed. A large selection of coffees and teas and a nice selection of pastries.

I had a Lindeman's Cassis (black current) Lambic Begian Ale.

I thought 155 was a nice number for the day so I headed on home. I had a fair ways to walk so I stopped into Hank's and used the bathroom. Of course the bathrooms are for customers only so I had a Dewars and soda but, because I have been here before, cannot count this towards my thousand. The guy next to me was kind of in the bag and said he gave a stand-up comedy routine at a club up the street. He tried to try out a routine on me that involved someone defecating in a supermarket aisle. I chugged my drink and bolted.

Only 845 left to go. I was thinking about trying to hit 200 bars before I leave for Mexico on the 16th, but I have some family gatherings to attend and a Superbowl party on Sunday. Probably won't be able to make it but we will see how it goes. Might be spending some time with my mother-in-law celebrating the Chinese new year. We are moving out of the year of the monkey and into the year of the rooster, whatever that may mean. I think 175 bars before I leave with a few days off before departure to pack and stuff is a more reasonable goal.