A good kick off

How did your year start?

Mine wasn't too shabby. Had a good night with good friends drinking good beer and eating good food playing one really stupid, aggravating, annoying, idiotic dice game. Farkle this Parker Brothers!

The night could have been better but that is a story that will not come to light. Nothing to do with you kids at the party. And no I did not get arrested.

I wasn't out too later on New Years Eve. Was in bed by 4, trying to get some sleep thinking I would have to be up by 10 to go drinking and watching people jump into the freezing waters of Lake Michigan. Instead I was able to sleep in and go to the lake at 1 to watch most people driving away, shivering like crazy with bewildered looks on their faces. I don't begrudge anyone for jumping into the lake and dodging the chunks of ice floating. I just wouldn't consider doing it myself.

So there I was on the beach watching people get helped into the waters. Yes, helped. There was a bank of ice about 3 feet tall they had to get by and the fire rescue teams were helping people in and out. In the short distant were icebergs about 10 feet tall and ice floating all over. People go in for about 20 seconds and come running out for towels and the warmest clothing they could find. Where is the sport in that?

Once everyone was satisfied that they were cold, we set off back to the south side of Milwaukee to warm up in a bar. A couple years back we went to a little dive bar that played polka music. I think it was called the Bandwagon or something like that. We stumbled into the place because it was open and we were curious to find out what the place was like. What we found was a private party and polka music. The people hosting the party didn't mind that we were there and even gave us cake. Since then the place has been remodeled and renamed Puddler's Hall. It is an interesting little bar. I couldn't tell if the group of people in the tavern were regulars or not but the bartender didn't seem to pleased with having to work.

We had a couple of beers there before taking off in search of food. On the way I noticed some beer signs off to the right were there hadn't been such signs before. It looked like someone had converted a house into a tavern. With my trusty sidekick TJ (name changed to protect the innocent) in the car I knew we could get the women to pull over to check the place out. We walked in to find out it was not a bar but a liquor store. Though they were open, no one was in the place, not even a worker. We hightailed out and went to the bar across the street, the Bubbler.

I have driven by this place thousands of times without stopping in. I did notice it had changed names about a year ago but still figured it was an old man's bar. And it was. Kinda. The clientele was on the old side, older people stopping in for a beer and sitting on their usual stools, drinking the Pabst highboys. The bartender was a kid in his 20s, just out of the military to help his mom run the bar. Mom bought some shots for us because of the polar bear thing and then came down to show off her boa constrictor. She had this 6 foot long snake wrapped around her body and was showing it to the patrons. Sidekick TJ has snakes at home and engaged in a conversation as I went to check out the jukebox. Box had an interesting mix of tunes. I was surprised to see they had downloaded some Richard Cheese discs. Nothing like some lounge to enjoy in a bar like this. Limp Bizkit choo choo!

We had a couple of Pabsts before going on in search of food once again. We ended up at a bar I hadn't been to in maybe 10 years. Another place I go by but avoid because the owner is an asshole. It is called Rookies. And from what I had seen, the place hadn't changed. The owner was behind the bar as unfriendly as ever paying more attention to his buddies than his other customers. We got some beer and wings and paid for everything. Thus when he came running after us to pay a bill when we tried to leave we wondered what was up. Guy tried to charge us for pizzas we didn't order. Guess I won't be going in there for another 10 years.

So to cap it off, Puddler's Hall was ok. Need to check out again. The Bubbler was a good place to enjoy a beer. Cordial family running the place makes for a nice environment to enjoy a drink. Definitely a place I would go back to. And Rookies was like an STD that you need to get a shot for, not have a shot at. Avoid like herpes.

With the day off I am thinking happy hour. Who is with me???