March Results

Well, we finished the march on Saturday. Let me just say, man do I feel old. I was out of commission all day Sunday trying to recover. I want to throw a huge shout out to my wife Joyce, for picking our asses up and saving us cab fare. We meet up at Dell’s mom’s house to start things off like always and ventured east down 79^th street. Here is a brief rundown of each bar we visited.

Papa T’s – And it began. I knocked back a Moretti's, maybe the only Italian beer that I like. I was surprised they carried it so, when I saw it I jumped on it. The bar was pretty dense and there was not much of a crowd for a Saturday night. They had some retro 80’s music coming out of the jukebox (a personal favorite Talk Talk’s, Its My Life.) We bellied up to the bar and watched a little of the Black Hawk’s game on one TV as the classic film, A Walk to Remember was playing on the other TV. All in all while the place is not my favorite at least they have a decent beer selection. (By the way, I was still lucent at this point, as I get drunker the details of each bar may get hazier.)

Tic and Tin – Dark and dingy as ever, the TNT was pretty dead. I consumed an Old Style as quickly as possible so, we didn’t have to spend much time in the dump. We sat at the bar and tried as best we could to fit in. To our left were a 40ish single woman and a 50ish gentleman in the process of hooking up. It was a sight, let’s just leave it at that. There was a college football game on the TV and there was some music playing but, I can’t remember what it was. For my money, the Tic and Tin is my least favorite bar on the march.

Q Ball – A new participant on the march. As we left the Tin, Rob noticed a sign for the place. Q Ball used to be located in the strip mall on 87^th and Harlem. Apparently they moved to the Strip mall located just north of 79^th street, that used to house the Auchan and the Omni. While, it technically is not on 79^th, it is close enough, so we ventured in. There, I choked down a Budweiser. I used to be a big Bud guy. In my late teens, I drank Stroh’s. (Basically, because Dell’s brother drank Stroh’s and since he was our alcohol source, we drank the same thing.) Then I as most of Suburban Chicago drank Miller Genuine Draft as I became of the legal drinking age. By my mid twenties I was drinking Budweiser simply because, a friend of mine on the Peace Frogs (one of my softball teams) drank it and he bought a lot of rounds and always bought Budweiser. Then, one day after it had been a few years, I had a Miller High Life and that has been my brand ever since.

But, I digress. Q Ball wound up being really nice. Yes, billiards is the main draw of the place as they had a ton of pool tables. I am not a big pool guy, so the three of us found a nice little area in front of the projection screen they had set up. It was pretty sweet as they had couches to lounge on and a couple of massage chairs. Rob put a fin in one of the massage chairs, and I think he needed a towel when the fifteen minute massage was over. We watched the end of the Hawks game and as irony would have it Gwen Stefani’s bad version of Its My Life was played on the jukebox at some point. Q Ball was actually rather nice, and I would go back on a non-march.

The Sayre Lounge – The Sayre was pretty crowded all things considered. It was a bit of an older crowd, (yes even older then our late thirties asses.) I looked over the beer selection and ordered a Corona. I have come to like the Sayre, ever since new owners took over the place. Our posse was once kicked out a long time ago as we were marked for having gone to the Garden bar (the name of the Tic and Tin back in the day.) We were told we don’tt server Garden people here. Being tagged as a Garden person still gives me the cold sweats at night from time to time. Now, the place is much friendlier. Someone put some Thin Lizzy on the jukebox which wetted my appetite. So, I threw in a buck and played Jailbreak and War Pigs by Black Sabbath. Dell took three leaks in the fifteen minutes we were there and were then off for our first good walk of the evening.

Champs – The walk from the Sayre to Champs is really not that bad. However, the wind was blowing right in our faces and about half way down I realized I myself had to take a major leak. As I held it in, in the throws of a light drizzle and wind gusts I was never so happy to see the bright Champs sign calling us in. I took my leak and ordered a Pabst Blue Ribbon, a personal favorite. Usually Champs has bands playing and we feared having to pay a cover charge. Thankfully, when we walked in, the bouncer at the front asked if we were here for the band, we told him no, and we able to get in without the cover. It is a big bar, but it seemed to be pretty empty. We were able to secure a table and enjoyed our PBR’s. Knowing Frank’s Place was next Rob ordered a pizza so it would be ready when we got there. Some bad pseudo-metal was blaring over the speakers so, we drank our drinks and got the hell out of there.

Frank’s Place – I swear, the bartender at Frank’s Place has been working there, since our first marches we did back in the mid 90’s. Frank’s Place is where we consume our first shots of the evening. It is your choice so, I figured I would pick the pussiest shot I could think of. Outside of an Apple Pucker, Root Beer Schnapps is about the weakest shot out there. It is about the equivalent of a Bartels and James wine cooler. I chased the shot with a Miller Genuine Draft. The bar wasn’t packed but it wasn’t dead either. No music was on, so I headed up to the jukebox and played some tunes. (Memory gets a little hazy at this point. I think I played Tubthumping by Chumbawamba in my set, thus proving my inebriation.) We chowed the pizza we had ordered and drank our drinks. The pizza was pretty good, form what I remember of it. The walk after Frank’s Place to the Castle is the longest stretch of the march without a stop. Georgios really needs to stay open longer if for no other reason, it breaks up that walk. So, as we finished up we bundled ourselves up to prepare for the walk ahead.

The Castle – The Castle in two words was a mob scene. They were hosting a birthday party and it must have been someone pretty young because the place was packed with a lot of twentysomethings. We were lucky enough to settle into the very corner of the bar like the old men we were. We could not have looked more out of place. The Castle is the bar, where we have our traditional shot of Jagermeister. I hate Jager, I always have and always will. But, Rob insists on the tradition, so I knocked it down chasing it with a Miller High Life. Whoever organized the party also had a DJ there and he was playing bad, hypnotic, monotonous beat, dance songs that the youngsters seemed to like. I saw Jim, the owner and one time sponsor of our softball team. He is a really nice guy, and reason enough to keep frequenting the Castle on nights when the usual bar flies frequent the joint. We eventually knocked back our drinks and headed off to the last bar of the night, Durbin’s

Durbin’s – At long last we made it to Durbin’s. As per usual, it was karaoke night and try as we might we could not block it out. I drank my last beer of the night, in a Rolling Rock. My strategy is to save the lighter beers for the end of the night, as the last thing you want to do at the end of a march is force down a Heineken. We also did our last shot of the night. We traditionally knock back a whiskey. I ordered the weakest whiskey I could think of in B&B and told the waitress if they didn’t have that to just bring me a shot of Cuervo. The waitress brought the shots, and didn’t say anything about not having B&B and since she didn’t have a salt shaker and lime with her, I assumed it was not tequila. So, when I knocked the shot back, I was surprised to taste the warm flavors of Mexico’s finest sprits. Thankfully, at this point Joyce called and asked if we needed a ride home. In proof of her sainthood she picked all three of us up and dropped all of us off without one word of complaint.

So, I have another year before another 79^th street march. I took pictures of the events and I will post them in the next day or two as embarrassing as they are. I need to dry out in December as January brings with it the football playoffs and the merriment that comes with it.