On Saturday, we took my sister's fiance out for lunch in lieu of a more adventurous bachelor party. I had offered to plan an excursion to The Golden Banana or some other such burlesque house, but Chris said he'd prefer a "mild" event to a "spicy" one.
So we took him to the Parting Glass, a place in Saratoga Springs that has decent sandwiches and pub food, an excellent selection of beers and whiskeys, and a large dart hall. We decided to make things interesting by giving each guy in our group a chance to hit a bullseye. For each dart that hit the outer ring, Chris would have to drink a pint of beer, and for each dart in the inner ring, he'd have to drink a shot of liquor. This game of chance would have been more exciting if we were better dart throwers: Only one hit the mark, and Chris only had to drink one beer.
As we sat down to our lunch (I had the infamous Harry O'Reilly sandwhich, corned beef and swiss on egg-battered toast), I ordered a Powers on the rocks. When I went to Ireland in 1999 I spent 10 days sampling the various varieties of ouiska bah ("water of life" in gaelic), and through careful research determined Powers is my favorite. When the drink arrived, many in our group remarked on the impressive size of it. Suffice to say the Parting Glass serves generous libations.
At this point I was struck by a powerful wave of nostalgia and it hit me: I have been a patron of The Parting Glass for half of my life. I received a good portion of my education in Irish folk music at the Glass, sampled more than 100 varieties of beer (try the Belhaven Scottish Ale), played many games of darts and once watched a large rugby player prevent a fight by screaming at another guy in Japanese. The years I lived in Saratoga, before we moved back to Johnstown and got married, Jen and I used to drink beer and play darts there nearly every weekend.
I suppose I'd have to say the Glass is my favorite pub, if only for all the history I have with the place. Perhaps this is a good place for a list of my favorite pubs (Irish and otherwise):
1. The Parting Glass, Saratoga Springs, NY
2. Le Vieux Dublin Pub, Montreal, Canada
3. O'Donohue's, Dublin, Ireland
4. The Thirsty Scholar, Cork City, Ireland
5. Paddy O'Reilly's, New York City
6. The Hawk and Dove, Washington, D.C.
7. The Coat of Arms, Portsmouth, N.H.
8. The Press Room, Portsmouth, N.H.
Perhaps I'll add more to this list as the memories come back to me. Keep in mind I haven't listed these places because they make a good Cosmopolitan or the menu is exceptional. They're simply places I've been where little chapters of my personal history have been written, where decent pints of stout have been poured, good live music has been played, where authentic atmosphere and genuine characters have made a lasting impression.
3 comments:
Ah, the Old Dublin Pub. . . . . the memories come flooding back now. Haven't been there with you in a quite a while (almost 12 years I'd say). Wasn't that the night you almost took a trip to Ottawa? Oh, but that's a whole other blog completely. . . . I enjoy the good words from your blog Smokin', keep them coming.
the American hotel brings back fond memories of B.K. and John Jackson. "Do you want a piece of me Jackson?" Lem was there to wittness the confrontation. Ah the foolishness of youth!
I think I was about 10 years old when they tore down the American Hotel. I remember dad and I were in his city vehicle driving past it one night, and we heard police being dispatched there because someone who had been kicked out had decided to get revenge on the whole bar by throwing a live skunk in through a window. That takes either a lot of determination, or a lot of Genny Cream Ale.
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