I am in deep recovery mode today as I continue to luxuriate in the memories gained yesterday traipsing around my hometown with my high school friends and my son. I’d like to find another mid-thirty year old son who would choose to spend a Saturday afternoon hanging out with his elderly father and friends. Not only did he spend the day with us but he actually seemed to enjoy it. His presence was the best birthday gift I could have hoped for. My high school friends now understand why I am so proud of him. He even chose to ignore his mother’s command to limit my beer consumption. He confessed he only promised to keep my from getting run over as we crossed and re-crossed Main Street, between pubs.
We
linked up with my son at Keene Friend’s house along with the Cantankerous Friend
for our customary pre-crawl meal at 5 Guys. My Favorite Panamanian spent most
of the meal trying to subvert my crawl plans by engaging my son as a double
agent. As noted above, my son resisted the coercion to the frustration of his
mother (she worries too much). The PCR made the arduous trek from Pittsburgh along
with his wife to join the crawl for the second year in a row. I saw a bunch of
messages leading up to the crawl where some other regulars, including the CRC, indicated
they couldn’t make it this year. However, the crawl was a topic of discussion at
the September 50th reunion event and we had one of the best attended
crawls of all time. My son and I have been doing this for 12 years now and as long
as he, Keene Friends, the Cantankerous One, the Kindergarten Friend (my Keene beer
ambassador to the pubs), and the PCR are along, I consider it a complete
success.
With my Best Birthday Present Yesterday
We
started out, as usual, at Penuche’s Ale House which conveniently opened an hour
earlier this year. The crowd slowly coalesced on the very sticky floor which
marked the bar as a true saloon. Any doubts about attendance were quickly
disabused with the arrival of many first time crawlers. After achieving a quorum,
we headed up Marlboro Street for the Main Street turn. The Lab ‘n Lager had a
lot more people than usual and this included a table of additional high school classmates
which swelled our numbers. I was particularly impressed with a regular crawler,
who despite having to use a walker, gamely made it through most of the crawl.
We set up shop in the side room and soon the much younger crowd was trying to
figure out what the collection of gray-haired patrons were up to.
Pre-Crawl Meal
Penuche's Ale House
Our
next stop saw a division of forces. I added the Modestman Brewery last year as people
who qualify as beer connoisseurs bemoaned my Lite Beer prejudice against craft
beer. A number of my high school classmates bypassed Modestman and went
directly to the Kilkenny Pub which was the next stop. Keene Friend managed to
get a very small glass of something I could choke down as the more educated
beer drinkers reveled in the fruity offerings (will never understand the
combination of beer and fruit). This was, predictably, our quickest stop on the
crawl. We snuck out the back door and crossed the parking lot to one of my favorite
stops, the aforementioned Kilkenny. 
Lab 'N Lager
Modestman
We
reunited with my fellow craft beer avoiders and the group was whole again. Although
my son complained about the removal, over the past year, of the dart board,
Kilkenny’s was still a remarkable stop. We next walked around the corner to the
newest stop in the tour, Hennessey’s. This bar occupies the former site of Scores,
the home of the legendary beer towers of earlier crawls. Hennessey’s must have
been very happy to see us as we constituted their only patrons. Since we constituted
their entire patronage this allowed the PCR to make a couple of well received announcements
to the group, now at its highest number of people. He remembered several
classmates we lost recently and to thank some of the people who performed heroic
tasks during the 50th reunion. Hennessey’s was a nice addition and
if they can survive the next year we may change it to the same position as
Scores, as the final destination, after, of course, a Pour House turn.
Kilkenny
Hennessey's 
Pour House
The
move to the Pour House involved my son performing his role of preventing any
interactions with motor vehicles as we had to cross Main Street and West Street
to reach the Central Square destination. The Pour House did a much better job
of serving beer this year although I was bitterly disappointed with their decision
to discontinue the BFBs of prior years. We set up shop at the rear of the bar
as the bar manager stopped by to thank us for the increased patronage. One of
my classmates was campaigning for the addition of an additional stop as I had
excluded Margarita’s for poor performance on earlier years as well as meagre
support during a reunion gathering there in September. At this point of the
crawl I was wide open to suggestion and off we went to Margarita’s.
Pour House Truths
Margarita's
While
we were executing this movement, my Favorite Panamanian finally emerged from
her shopping frenzy to learn our location so she could link up. Although I don’t
have to buy a single beer during the crawl due to my most excellent friends,
this day is annually one of the most expensive for me. My Favorite Panamanian loosed
upon her favorite tax free shopping grounds without having to worry about me
(well except for beer intake) can be transcendent for credit card bills. The
last stop turned to to be a lot of fun as my Favorite Panamanian got to participate
in the now well lubricated fun. It was at this point that I realized I need some
food and we, along with the PCR and his spouse, loaded into the car for a trip
to the Keene Friend’s house for pizza and birthday cake. The cake was memorable
as it was for both the PCR and I and involved two swords. I will avoid all
jokes about crossing swords, although Keene Friend was worried about by
backswing with Bonecrusher in the vicinity of this television. We gave the PCR pair
a ride back to their hotel and as we drove by Margarita’s after dropping them
off, we could see our crawl group, including the Cantankerous Friend, still
partying, eight and a half hours after the start. Truly remarkable people as
this bunch of senior citizens, once again, showed the youngsters how to party.
PCR and I Cutting the Cake
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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; CRC - 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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