Boating: St. Pat’s Day and goodbye Pepper!
With St. Patrick’s Day just a few days away, some of us are practicing for the big celebration while others are listening to Irish Rebel radio and remembering fallen members of the Irish clan. To be fallen, these days, doesn’t necessarily mean that they died. Some of them just stopped paying their club dues and dropped out of site. Taking the “pledge” like so many Irish women did and tried to get their husbands to do is a sure way to fall.
The fallen don’t need to be human either. The “Dead End Canal Yacht Club” is a very canine-friendly club. We have dogs on our boats, in the clubhouse and roaming in and out of meetings. Some of the best unofficial members were of the four-legged variety. I can’t even name them all, but most had a lot of Irish in them. You couldn’t ever leave a beer within their reach.
Recently, ‘DECYC’ member ‘Tim the Restorer’ lost his longtime companion, ‘Pepper.’ He was somewhere around 17 years old and a great friend. ‘Pepper’ was an inspiration to all who knew him. Faithful, loyal and understanding. We will raise a glass to him this St. Pat’s Day while we remember all of our canine companions. I’m not sure Pepper’s breed, but I don’t think he was an Irish wolfhound?
We Irish don’t need such a solemn reason to sip the nectar. That’s why most of us Irish behave ourselves on March 17. We don’t wear outlandish top hats with four-leaf clover popping out of the top. We do wear green in honor of the men and women who were hanged by the Brits for wearing it, but we wear it tastefully. Paddy O’Furniture has been threatening to die the Gulf of Mexico green like they do in his hometown Chicago, but a plane ticket is cheaper than the court costs and fines. We wonder how the green would mix with the red tide?
I won’t drink a green beer. I hope none of my fellow ‘DECYC’ members won’t either. “It’s about wearing of the Green, not drinking it for crying out loud. I never saw anyone drink that swill at the ‘Quiet Man,'” said ‘Irish Kevin.’ He’s from NYC and remembers that long-deceased bar on West 45th Street. It was a very authentic pub from the John Wayne’s movie. If you want to feel like you’re on the ‘old sod’ you’ll have to leave the beach.
They hang up a few banners and die the beer green. Many restaurants and every social club have St. Pat’s celebrations. If the ‘DECYC’ feels up to it, we may journey up the river to Marina Town and an authentic Irish pub, T P Hoolihan’s. The Guinness beer company designed the bar/restaurant and there will be Irish music and dancers all day. Clancey’s is a nice restaurant on McGregor without a bar.
A corned beef dinner at the American Legion is usually all the tradition Mrs. boatguy and I can handle. A one-day return visit to my old club, the one and only day I can ignore the cigarette smoke. I’d rather get my pollution from the red tide while I’m fishing.
I used to love Ballyorney, the Irish place on US41 but it is closed. No wonder? Here is a quote from an online review, “Our bartender didn’t greet us, just said whattya havin’ … I ordered a Guinness… & SHOOP! (Guinness is best dispensed very slowly) -she poured that sucker in ten seconds, gave it to me & never came back to see us, she kinda killed the whole welcoming vibe of the place.”
People who drink Guinness are strange. My son does, and there is this whole ritual of 112 seconds to pour a pint. As a young man I visited Dublin and ordered one of those black beers. The bartender, after taking way too long to pour it, asked if this was my first Guinness. I said it was and he pulled a hot poker out of a small fireplace and stuck it right into my glass. As the ashy foam ran down the bar he said, “Dat will take da divil out of it, Yank.” It was a joke but I was half way over the bar when the whole place erupted in laughter, hardee har har! I can take a joke much better, now.
That little trick would have gotten him in trouble at the Bayside Bar and Grill. Today, I can laugh at the joke and appreciate an attempt at socialization and humor. I don’t need, “Good day, Sir. My name is —-, welcome to our establishment!” A smile and nod along with prompt service goes along way. I can’t fathom what was wrong with the bartender at Ballyorney’s. Was it the reason the restaurant closed? Or was it a symptom of the decay already in motion, a precursor to the eventual closing.
Some restaurant owners don’t appreciate the bond between customers and their staff. A pretty woman asks if I want a beer, gets said beer and smiles as she delivers it. That’s it, the perfect serving experience. Mrs. boatguy does all of that because she’s a good wife but that perfect combination isn’t always there. I’ve asked her to do it that way but she always say’s, “Will you get real!” Maybe I’ll have to increase her tips? I’d rather have smiling servers who ask about my day than a tension-filled, whirling experience. Here’s hoping Eileen’s vacation ends SOON!
Oh, yeah back to St. Patrick’s Day. I wish you all a great day, and I’ll be seeing some of you at the Saturday night ‘DECYC’ St. Pat’s rehearsal party at the clubhouse. The rest of you, please take a cab or have a designated driver.
Boatguy Ed (boatguiEd@aol.com) is a manufacturer of the worlds BEST anti-fouling bottom paint, www.supershipbottom.com. NEVER, EVER TRY TO BUY HIM A DRINK!
This column is meant for educational purposes only. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Void where prohibited. Some assembly required. Do not read while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment.