There are times when you can get over exited for an upcoming event to the point the event is doomed to disappointment because nothing can live up to the expectations. That did not happen yesterday. The annual hometown birthday pub crawl was everything and more than I hoped for. My Favorite Son and a generous collection of high school classmates gathered to produce a very special crawl. It also turned out to definitely being the least expensive crawl ever. That was because my Favorite Panamanian did not accompany me to New Hampshire. She was back home, not feeling well, so she didn’t spend the entire afternoon shopping while the crawl was underway as she has in past years. I still missed her presence, especially late in the day where she usually extracts me from the last stop before the evils of demon alcohol manifest themselves.
The Pittsburgh College Roommate (hereafter
known as the PCR) along with his wife, PCR+1, drove in from Pittsburgh on
Friday. They linked up with Keene Friend for a pre-crawl pizza Friday night. I
awoke in Worcester on Saturday and was greeted by the day’s newspaper headline,
“Best Day of the Year”, talk about portends. My Favorite Panamanian confirmed she
wasn’t going to make the trip north with me and encouraged me to go. She knows
how important this annual event is for me. I drove into Keene to find my Favorite
Son had already arrived at Keene Friend’s house. Our
first stop was going to be 5 Guys for what has become our traditional pre-crawl
meal. PCR and PCR+1 were supposed to
join us but they had taken a side trip up to Newport and ran into a craft fair on
the way back. Since PCR+1 is very crafty that meant a delay. 
The Crew Outside Penuche's
Keene Friend and PCR on the Pub Crawl Eve
The crawl kicked off at Penuche’s Ale
House with the Pittsburgh delegation still missing. My son, Keene Friend and I
walked in at the appointed hour to find one of my high school classmates
already in residence. She’s using a walker due to some serious leg and hip
injuries but she was more than ready to participate and made the longest walk
of the crawl with us. We grow them tough in New Hampshire. A representative
group soon gathered, including Kindergarten Friend and the Cantankerous One. Cantankerous
forgot his hearing aides so his decibel levels were prodigious. He swung home
between stops to re-equip himself. PCR eventually walked having successfully
extracted PCR+1 from the craft fair. We were also joined by another classmate
who made the long drive down from Northern Maine with his wife. 
Headline that Greeted Me
Inside Penuche's
 |
| Son and I Out Front of Group on Walk to Main Street |
 |
| Keene Friend Leading the Rest of the Group Including Courageous Classmate |
Our Group Inside Lab 'N Lager 
My Son and I
We made our way down Main Street for
stop #3 and a first time stop for the crawl, Modestman Brewery. I had initially
opposed this stop since it was a craft beer place with the attendant high prices.
With the loss of Cobblestone and several other bars over the years, we needed another
stop so I caved to the beer connoisseurs who had campaigned for its addition.
Still more classmates showed up here. That was a cool feature of this year’s
crawl as people came and went as their schedules allowed. One classmate showed
up here whose actual birthday it was so we pelted her with a badly off-key
version of Happy Birthday. One of the funniest moments happened here when Keene
Friend showed me his beer. He solved the high prices by ordering a sample size.
I wish I’d thought of that.
The Crawlers outside Lab 'N Lager
Arriving at Modestman 
With PCR and PCR+1 
Keene Friend with his Huge Beer 
Inside Modestman 
Keene Friend and my Son
After fulfilling our craft beer requirements,
we walked around the corner to always one of my favorite stops, the Kilkenny
Pub, the designated dive bar of the crawl. We stayed here a little longer than
usual which was fine with me after the craft beer exposure. Kilkenny’s featured
a new generation of T-shirts which I acquired quickly. I wish the rest of the bars
on the crawl realized what an easy mark I am for this type of attire and stock
them. Our next stop was another new addition to the crawl - Local Burger.
Kindergarten Friend recommended this as they serve beer as well as burgers, so
WIN!! The ability to buy food as well as beer was welcome for those of us who
had been on the crawl from the start. They even had a long table set up to receive us. The sun set while we were inside Local
Burger.
Group Shot Outside Modestman
Connecticut River Boat Captain, PCR, Keene Friend inside Kilkenny's 
Group Shot Outside Kilkenny's
Our next stop was tentatively across the
street at Margarita’s but our local inside contact, Kindergarten Friend had to
leave to take care of his wife who had undergone some surgery. Margarita’s isn’t
the easiest to work with as some of the head waiters require reservations
despite an abundance of large tables. Since it was late in the day now, we
bypassed Margarita’s and walked directly to Central Square and the Pour House
finale. While we had lost some people along the way still more joined us at the
Pour House. This is another favorite stop on the crawl and the owner came over
to greet us as after we established our presence at the front of the bar.
Inside Local Burger
Logging in Our Arrival at Pour House 
Cantankerous and Freind at Pour House 
PCR Leading a Pour House Discussion
This culminating stop was a lot of fun
as it featured BFBs which stands for well, you figure it out as it includes a
ribald description of the size of the beers. This is also where I felt the effect
of the absence of my Favorite Panamanian. She usually is around to extract me before
I have too many BFBs. That wasn’t the case and since I was having such a good
time surrounded by just outstanding people the party carried on. My Favorite
Son and I finally declared victory around 9pm (after 8 hours of the crawl) and
set off for the long walk back to Keene Friend’s house. Because of the long day,
that walk (for me) wasn’t exactly a straight line. We stopped in at Penuche’s
on the way home because I had called for an afterparty there during the lead
up. We confirmed that there weren’t any pub crawlers present due to our long
stay at the Pour House.
Son and I
Late Night Survivors at the Pour House 
Son and I With Our BFBs 
The Cantankerous One
We continued on to Keene Friend’s house
where we were able to order probably the last pizza of the night to be delivered
from local favorite, Athens Pizza. Keene Friend had also arranged a birthday cake
and ice cream for me so the night ended with some serious caloric intake. So
ended this latest, 10th year in a row, birthday pub crawl. Thank you
to all the crawlers for coming out, especially those who made long drives to be
there. I was so proud of my son who spent the day as the youngest (by several
decades) of the crawlers. He was so social, introducing himself and talking
with my classmates throughout the crawl. His presence is always the best thing
about the crawl. I also want to thank Keene Friend for his customary overachievement
as our host. 
My Classmates, Special People
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RECURRING CHARACTERS:
ABFA – Amazing Best Family
Athlete - my daughter
in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter
#3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel -
second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue
about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Connecticut
Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor
of the big river; Curbside Girls – close
friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); FBR - First Blog Reader -
first granddaughter; First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend
since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife –
her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew –
son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends
of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high
school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the
Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather -
my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course
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