A Plate Of Meat Product

Guadalajara isn't realy a town for tourists, unless you are someone who thinks packing up the family and heading to Detroit sounds like a fun time. That isn't to say it isn't an interesting city though, and people come from all over Mexico to shop for things you can't get elsewhere. This means stuff like frying pans, cooking pots, restaurant supplies of all kinds, you name it. A by-product is a huge flea market that covers blocks and blocks. Parked in the streets in front of the market are all kinds of buses that must run regular trips from smaller towns so people can shop. The luggage holds are just jammed with stuff that they are bringing back.

After spending a morning wandering about the place but finding nothing I could use I stumbled upon a set of swinging doors and figured I would check out what was on the other side. Bar Man has never met a set of swinging doors he hasn't liked.

Swinging Doors


On the other side was a classic Mexican tavernaro, just a bricked-in area in the back where an old lady was frying stuff up, a couple of refrigerators, one of which held beer, and a few bottles of tequila on a wooden shelf.

This didn't look like a place I was really interested in grabbing a bite to eat, but I had worked up a bit of a thirst so I ordered a beer. It came with a plate of something I can only describe as pink, moist, and meat-like in appearance with toothpicks sticking in it. I would have avoided it completely but the waitress presented it with such enthusiasm and then watched expectantly to see if it would meet with my approval. I had no choice but to try it.

Bar Man With Beer And Meat


Think baloney, old room-temperature (and in Mexico the rooms are quite warm) baloney, sprinkled with vinegar. Yummy it wasn't. I did manage to smile my way through a couple of pieces, and encouraged her to continue to serve it to other gringos who might be foolish enough to enter their premises. Bar Man does what he can to promote tourism and good will.

Later I wandered along a desolate stretch of discount auto-part and plumbing fixture stores and who knows what else to Guadalajara's pride and joy of a park. It really wasn't too bad, large cages of parrots like you see in a lot of restaurants, a butterfly enclosure that had, by my count, about six buterflies, and a bird house with about the same number of birds.

In the middle of the park, however, I did stumble upon the archealogical ruins that the park had been built around. A "genuine" pyramid and maus0leum of some type.

The Ruins


This was an exciting find indeed. Although the two buildings were locked, I was able to peer through the windows of the mausoleum where I could see the bones of what I presumed to have been a rather large ancient warrior decked out in the garb he was interred in.

Bones Of A Fallen Warrior


All in all it was a wonderful day. I returned to my hotel room shivering with excitement, a slight fever, and a bit of diarrhea. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Guadalajara

Well, here I sit on my small balcony in Puerto Vallarta at four in the morning banging away at my laptop. I haven't been able to get a DSL connection in my unit yet so I have to try to suck from someone else's wireless connection. I can only pick it up out here and it is too bright during the day for me to see my screen. Not unlike a vampire I drain drain the wireless connection and work in the dark. I shall sleep on the beach during the day, avoiding the sun and having Igor bring me my drinks.

I left New York on February 6th on a 6:00 AM flight to Guadalajara with a short lay-over in Atlanta. As I was waiting for my connection (airplane, not drug) Shawn, the mayor of International Falls was on CNN talking about how cold it has been up there. You may remember her, she was at Woody's Pub where I had a party for bar number 777.

The Mayor And Me


I got to Guadalajara with no problem and I must say that compared to the hassles you generally have to go through returning to the United States from abroad, getting into Mexico is a piece of cake. It goes without saying that the Mexicans seem to like us better than Lou Dobbs likes them.

I stayed in the Morales hotel right in what is known as the Historical District. The hotel was very nice although it didn't seem to be doing much business. Apparently it was very popular with visiting bull-fighters when bull-fighting was a much more popular and glamorous sport than it is these days.

Hotel Morales


The hotel is right across from a little park where the primary activity seems to be either shining shoes or getting your shoes shined. There is also a little horse and carriage that is always on the corner and never seems to go anyplace.

The Park


The carriages used to be the means of transportation for the wealthy who, when they weren't using them, allowed the drivers to hire them out. To signify that the carriages were available the drivers would wear a yellow arm-band. Hence, the carriages for hire were referred to as canaries and they are still called canarios (Spanish for canaries).

The hotel had a nice little roof-top area where, supposedly, you get get cocktails on Friday and Saturday evenings. Alas, that never seemed possible. I suspect this was because there were so few guests that it wasn't worth their while to open the bar. The views were nice though.

Views From The Top




I don't know how many people are familiar with the thing New York had with cows a few years ago. For some reason if you were an artist you could get a plastic cow and then decorate it as you saw fit. These were then placed in various locations around the city, some of which are still there. For some equally strange reason Guadalajara seemed to have the same kind of a thing going on, but their cows seemed to be decorated in what I can only assume is a more Mexican style.

Vaca de la Muerte (Cow Of Death)


I particularly liked this one of a cow displaying his victory over an enemy elephant. Go figure.

Vaca Victoriosa (Victorious Cow)


I will post more about my stay in Guadalajara in a day or so, but I did want to share a couple of pictures of a bar in which I had one of my more interesting experiences. I don't remember the name of the bar, you had to kind of take it on faith that there was actually going to be a bar behind the door.

The Door To The Bar


Actually, a lot of bars seemed to have fairly obscure entryways, for one reason or another. Anyway, the reason this place was a bit unusual was that above the bar was a small television that was showing the movie "A Dog Of Flanders." Not exactly the most upbeat of movies and the woman bartender had to serve me my beers through her tears as she sobbed during all of the sadder parts (and there were many). One of the few times it was the bartender and not me crying in my beer.

"Enjoying" A Beer At The Crying Bar


I would have liked to have gotten a picture of the bartender but she kept waving me off. I guess her mascara was running or something.

Well, I hear a rooster crowing which means the sun will be coming up soon, so it is time for me to head inside and put on the coffee. Until manana then.

Stay Tuned

Just wanted to say thanks to all of you who continue to visit my blog despite a bit of a dearth of new content recently. I am no longer hitting multiple bars on a daily basis but, as you can see, I haven't stopped going to bars either. Right now I am sitting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico using a pirated wireless connection that I can only get while sitting on my small balcony. As a result I can pretty much only log on after dark or I cannot see my screen. On the other hand, what would I be doing typing away on my laptop while the beach is mere steps away.

I will soon be posting about my travels here in Mexico, including a brief stay in Guadalajara before I took the bus here, about a five hour ride. I hope you find them interesting and will continue to post your comments or send me emails with you suggestions.

Once I get back to Brooklyn at the end of March I will also try to update this site on a more frequent basis, but it won't always be just about bars (sorry, the liver can only get so big).

As a teaser though I will post this picture of me at a bar in Guadalajara with a billboard for the gay strip club accross the street. After visiting Mexico for about 25 years I have finally figured out that terraza means terrace. Languages are not my strong suit.

Mi Terraza


Stay tuned, there will be more to follow and you can be sure the Mysterious Chinese Woman will be making an occasional appearance. She is relentless in her pursuit and can be found lurking almost anywhere.

The Lurker

Cask Head Cask Ale Festival

A local pub in my neighborhood holds several Cask Ale Festivals every year. This was their tenth tri-annual festival and the third of the year, if I am not mistaken. For some reason I usually miss them either because I am busy or I don't find out about them until it is too late. This one lasted three days and to make up for lost time I visited each day.

The Brazen Head


The Brazen Head normally has two Real Ales available but for this event they were going to have between 25 and 30 over the three days. Needless to say this required the addition of several more barrels.



Helping out with this even were a couple of friendly and knowledgeable guys.

Andy


Although Andy seemed to know a lot about the Real Ales he was pouring, the only thing I saw him drink was Pabst Blue Ribbon out of a can. I guess he didn't want to over-tax his palate.

The other fellow, Alex, was willing to quaff the Real Ale on occasion though.

Bar Man and Alex About to Quaff


Alex also had the job of mopping the floor and ceiling when one of the tapping jobs went a bit awry.

Alex Mopping The Ceiling


The regular bartender, Joy, kept busy behind the bar where two of the Real Ales were available as well as their usual fine selection of beers and other potables.

Barman and Joy Enjoying A Real Ale


On Friday I met a couple of congenial fellows who stopped in for the Festival and we shared a few beers.

Art, Jay, and Bar Man


Jay didn't care for the Cask Ales though so he had to content himself with one of the other offerings, of which their were plenty available.

Jay had such a good time that he came back on Saturday with his wife, Lorraine.

Jay and Lorraine


The Mysterious Chinese Woman and Lorraine hit it off, probably because the could commiserate over how much their men-folk were imbibing. They graciously agreed to pose in front of the list of the offerings.


Mysterious Chinese Woman and Lorraine


On Saturday the four of us headed to Pete's Waterfront for ribs and then stopped in at Montero's for a few beers and tequila shots. I should have taken more pictures but, for some reason, lost my focus.

The Brazen Head has a small outdoor area where you can sit if the weather is nice, or pop out for a smoke. I thought it was put to excellent use this weekend.



On Friday I had:

Hoptical Illusion - 6.2%
A good IPA type of beer.

Legacy Hoptmus Prime - 9.5%
A bit of a perfume nose to it, but in a good way.

Heartland Smiling Pumpkin 5.5%
Not a bad pumpkin ale and kind of appropriate for this time of year.

Sixpoint Ginger Righteous Ale - 7.2%
A bit on the thin side with only a hint of ginger flavor. I will have to try this one again because my palate wasn't at its sharpest at this point.

Captain Lawrence Pleasantville Smoked Porter - 6.4%
This was a really good smoked porter, lots of smoky taste which I tend to like

Brooklyn Brewery Blast IPA - 8%
This is what I thought I had a Peter's Waterfront Ale House the other day, but it wasn't. This was more of what I expected, a very hoppy and quite tasty IPA.

On Saturday I had:

Chelsea Cream Stout - 7.5%
Heavy and chocolaty with a nice creamy head.

Stoudt's Juniper Scarlet Lady - 5%
On the thin side with almost no head at all. It did taste like juniper berries though.

Warwick Valley Doc's Cider Cherry - 4.5%
A surprisingly refreshing cider with a hint of cherry to it. Not overly sweet. It tasted really fresh, like something you might find at a roadside stand, if you were lucky.

Paper City Winter Palace Wee Heavy - 7.6%
This had a dark color to it but had a very nice crisp dry taste.

Sly Fox IPA - 7.2%
Really dry, too dry to be much of a thirst quencher, but pretty good.

Defiant ESB - 6.5%
This was a really dark brew with a strange head, almost like little soap bubbles that never really accumulated but kept building and popping for a long time. It was dry and very hoppy.

On Sunday I had:

Butternut Pork Slap Pale Ale - 4.2%
This was very heavy and sweet with almost a butterscotch flavor. Would have been good for desert. The little kids would love it.

Thomas Hooker Imperial Porter - 7.8%
Very heavy and dark and very hoppy.

Rogue Brutal Bitter - 6.5%
This was very good. Rogue seldom disappoints. It was a dark golden color and was very dry and bitter.

Paper City Blonde Hop Monster - 9%
I guess this would qualify as a barley wine. Quite potent but the alcohol didn't overwhelm the flavor. It was very hoppy and had a nice floral nose to it.

Captain Lawrence Captain's Reserve Double IPA - 8%
Very hoppy and, considering the alcohol content, went down way to easily.

Defiant Christmas Ale - 8.4%
This was quite heavy and sweet but the high alcohol content kept it from being cloying.

Now one of the things that I liked about this festival is that you buy tickets for either $3 for a 10 ounce glass or $5 for a 16 ounce glass. No little sippy cups here. You can exchange your glass for a clean one when you switch your drink so you don't get any of that hated taste overlap. It really is a great way to spend a day or two or three and learn something about Cask Ales in the process. I don't really think of it as drinking, I think of it as furthering my education.

Buck Fever

I walked by this bar on Atlantic Avenue and had to do a double take.

Bucks Lodge


The reason for the double take was that just a week or two ago Bucks was

Soju


The interior underwent a bit of a change as well. Kind of like from Geisha House


to basement rec-room.


The owner's are the same, I guess they just decided to go with a change. Soju was a primarily gay bar with a Japanese theme so I guess it was natural to switch to a rustic, cabin-like decor with poker tournaments and chili contests. I will have to stop in some Thursday when ladies in cowboy boots get $1 off all liquor drinks.

I was told to come back after they get the deer-heads mounted. You can be sure that I will.

Halloween at Peter's

I guess I am a bit too old for trick and treating so I decided to visit one of my old haunts in the neighborhood, Peter's Waterfront Ale House. It does look a bit spooky at night.

Peter's at Night



Nothing to crazy going on here except for the usual eclectic menu that included a Buffalo Flank Steak Salad (that I ordered) and TexMex Turkey Meatloaf (that the Mysterious Chinese Woman ordered). Both were very good but man, you had to be ready for some heat if you ate the meatloaf. It started out hot from the first bite. Not burn your tongue hot, but a good mouth hot. Then it built from there. By the time you ate your third bite you were just beginning to feel the full extent of your first mouthful. It was just right, in a forehead and nose sweating kind of way.

Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale



I generally like Rogue products so I thought I would give this a shot. It is also known as Rogue Buckwheat Ale. Rogue has a line of "Signature" Morimoto products, having hooked up with Chef Masaharu Morimoto, who you may remember as one of the Iron Chefs.

Soba is just another name for buckwheat, which is not actually wheat, but a member of the rhubarb family and therefore a fruit. I keep telling you, read my blog and you learn something new every once in a blue moon (the second full moon in a single calendar month).

Morimoto Soba Ale is brewed with Roasted Buckwheat, Pale malt, Munich Malt, 13-17 Carastan Malt, and Crystal Hops. The flavor is toasty-nutty with medium body and good hop bitterness. I quite enjoyed it.

I also had a Brooklyn Blast Pale Ale. It is a fairly strong beer, 8% I believe, and is marketed as an IPA. This is, I think, unfortunate. My palate was prepared for the typical dry, hoppiness of most pale ales so I wasn't prepared for the somewhat heavy and sweet flavor that I got. It did have a hoppy back-taste, but somewhat subdued. Knowing what to expect I would order it again, but to me it was not an IPA.

(Note about Brooklyn Blast Pale Ale; that wasn't what I was served, even though it was what I ordered. I had a Brooklyn Blast Pale Ale at the Real Ale Festival at Brazen Head and it was very good indeed and tasted like an IPA should taste. Not sure what I actually drank here.)

Peter's has been covered by scaffolding for over a year now so I thought I would take a couple of shots of the place now standing naked in the sunlight. I think they still need to put up their sign.

Naked Peter





As usual at Peter's, we had a good time and headed back home before it got too spooky outside.

Up North

I haven't had much of a chance to post anything lately because I was up in Northern Minnesota visiting friends of mine who live on Dove Island in Rainy Lake. The closest town is Rainier and the closest "large" town is International Falls, population a little over 7000.



My friend, Bruce, had made some spruce beer and was eager for us to try it. He used the green tips of spruce branches either instead of or to supplement the hops. He should market it as Spruce from Bruce, or something like that.

Chris, Bruce, And Bar Man Sampling Spruce from Bruce



As you can see, the beer had a bit of a head on it, but it did settle down after about five minutes or so. We are enjoying our beer on Bruce's deck.

The weather was a bit mixed but we did have several very nice days and managed to do a bit of fishing. Chris caught this nice Northern, 31 inches and about 10 pounds.

Chris With His Catch



The Mysterious Chinese Woman busied herself in Bruce's basement kitchen and brewery but, alas, it was not to make trimmings for our fish dinner.

Mysterious Chinese Woman Busy In The Kitchen



After being whacked in the head with a hammer the fish made a brazen leap for freedom as it was being placed on a table by the lake to be filleted. Oh, what tales he will have to tell to his children, at least the ones he doesn't eat.

There was a bit of sad news though. You may recall my review of Sha Sha's from the last time that I visited up here. It was a very nice bar that had all kinds of hand-made furniture, a lovely bar, and all kinds of mounted trophy fish. Sadly, it burned down and the owners have put up a large tent and a Tiki bar to get them through the season.





As you can see, a Tiki bar on the Canadian border at the end of September doesn't do a lot of business.



Maybe the troll scared everyone away.



Well, it didn't scare everyone away.

Bruce and Bar Man at the Tiki Bar



The bartender said they lost a lot of business because women didn't like using the porta-potties that had been put up to replace the bathrooms that were destroyed in the fire. This also cut down on a lot of the bigger parties that they host during the year. They plan on being back in business next year though.

Sadly, even the chipmunk that guarded the old bar suffered in fire.

Here he is guarding the old bar:



Now he has a butt-crack, although it goes the wrong way.



One neat place that we went to for dinner was called the Y and it is out of town a bit at a place where the highways do form a bit of a Y.

The Y



It had kind of a typical "up North" look to it and a friendly crowd at the bar where I had a drink.

Bar Man at the Bar



The restaurant had recently changed hands and the new owner, Suzie, was very friendly. I certainly wish her and her husband well, the food was not only plentiful, but delicious. They do a great job smoking ribs and I would like to go back for their smoked prime ribs one day.

Suzie and Bar Man



Just remember, if you come up here for the fishing, you need a big worm to catch a big fish.

Bar Man, Big Worm, and Mysterious Chinese Woman



We had a wonderful trip and managed to watch The Twins tie with Detroit for the lead in their race for a division title. It was an extra innings game that I watched with my friends Rico and Sandy in the cozy Bob's Bar.

Sandy, Bar Man, and Rico (AKA Bob)



Sadly, I didn't have enough time to visit Nye's in Northeast Minneapolis. It was just selected by Esquire Magazine as the best bar in America. It wasn't one of my thousand bars either, although I have visited it many times when I was living in Minneapolis. Their ribs and sauerkraut is to die for but their specialty is a prime rib. Next time I am in Minneapolis I will visit it for sure and take plenty of pictures while I am there.