Race Well Run

The Crawl Leaving the Starting Line at Brew City - Bar 1&7

I re-discovered yesterday why pub crawls are so much fun. It’s not all about the adult beverages sacrificed to our effort – it was more about hanging out with a fun bunch of people as we swayed up and down Shrewsbury Street. My favorite cousin showed up just before noon followed shortly by my sister and brother in law. We decamped immediately for the start/finish line at Brew City. In a major surprise my excellent boss had traveled from Eastern Massachusetts to join us for a few bars.

Ralph's - Bar #2

We had lunch while the crowd gathered and were ministered to by our Favorite First Friday waitress who was still not putting up with any guff from my Operations Manager/Pigeon. They were both in high form and their confrontations are always entertaining. She even produced the fake pigeon that has become his Friday appellation. By the end of lunch we had the entire starting team of nine assembled.

Funky Murphy's - Bar #3

After vanquishing Brew City we crossed Shrewsbury Street for bar #2 – Ralph’s Tavern. I’d spent many a Friday afternoon looking across at Ralph’s from Brew City but had never been inside. It was not what I expected. Despite a fairly large exterior next to one of Worcester’s finest restaurants the bar was kind of small and “divey”. I don’t consider that a criticism. The bar tendress was very welcoming and pointed out there was a lot of credits on the juke box and cajoled us to play some music, as long as it wasn’t rap music (score!). Our arrival immediately doubled the number of patrons in the bar which consisted mostly of older locals who looked like they were getting their serious Saturday afternoon drink on.

The Flying Rhino - Bar #4

Leaving Ralph’s we faced the longest walk of the crawl which was met with some consternation by certain members of the group. I reasoned the longest walk should always be scheduled early in the crawl for public safety purposes. During the walk we passed a building currently undergoing renovation to become a future British Beer Company pub so the walk next time will have a watering station. Our destination was Funky Murphy’s (bar #3), a much more cookie cutter type location. It was very sedate and quiet when we took over one end of the bar. The bar tendress was a very cute young lady who seemed impressed we were on the crawl. When she learned we had just left Ralph’s she proclaimed she loved that place and had been there until late the night before. I may have to re-assess Ralph’s in light of this information.

Crowd Reduced at Burger Bar - Bar #5

Leaving Funky Murphy’s we re-crossed Shrewsbury Street and started back down the street towards the finish line. Our next stop was bar #4, the Flying Rhino, kind of a hipster restaurant with a well-appointed bar. Before entering we had to say goodbye to the Excellent Boss who had to head home. The Operations Manager, always large in the personality department, was convinced by the bar tender to try the recently re-born Narragansett beer. He spent the rest of our time there complaining how bad the beer was (glad to see it was reincarnated with the same level of taste as the original). I think the term “skunk urine” was uttered several times but in a much more colloquial manner.

The Pigeon and His Girlfriend with his Gansett Beer at the Rhino

Leaving the Rhino we lost the Operations Manager and his girlfriend who had to return home to see what kind of depredations her teenaged sons had inflicted at home. The rest of us ambled down to bar #5, the Burger Bar. You had me at “Burger”. We carved out a niche at the very busy bar and my cousin was soon deep in conversation with a guy sitting next to our group. My cousin coaches high school girls basketball in Western Massachusetts and this other guy was a referee from a neighboring town.

The Parkway - Bar #6

We left the Burger Bar and made our way to the penultimate stop, bar #6, the Parkway Restaurant and Bar. This looks like a diner from the outside but has a very well appointed sports bar on one side. We took up station at a table in the bar and were soon proud owners of a bucket of Coors Lite which met its fate in short order. The Parkway was kind of quiet, at least before we showed up, but I liked the vibe in the place. The CFO and her sister, our resident experts on the Worcester bar scene, said the Parkway is usually a lot more boisterous. While we were there I received a texted photo of the First Blog Reader from my Cali-Daughter. This had the predicted effect of having me tear up, much to the amusement of my fellow crawlers.

The Photo That Had Me Tearing Up

Leaving Parkway as the sun was setting we reached the finish line back at Brew City (bar#1 & 7) which was packed. We’d had intentions of scoring dinner there but were relegated to leaning against the wall with a small shelf for our beers to rest on. That was until our favorite waitress noticed us and somehow made a table for six appear in the main dining room. It always pays to tip well. She took very good care of us although she continued her opinions in the whole pigeon manner. She noted his absence from the finishing group – something I’m sure he’ll have to deal with next Friday. The CFO and her sister departed at this point as their brother/free uber driver showed up to transport them home – or at least to their neighborhood bar.

At The Press Box - Bar #8

My brother in law took one for the team yesterday and served as our designated driver so when we left I guided him to the CFO’s bar, called the Press Box (bar #8), on the other side of Worcester. I like the Press Box because it truly is a dive but has great people. Those two phenomena usually go hand in hand. The CFO had promised a six foot female bar tender but unless I’m sorely mistaken the bearded gentleman behind the bar was not her. The CFO and her sister were pleased to reunite with the crawl survivors and we had a very nice time there.

We made it safely home a little over eight hours after the crawl started in Brew City. My sister was pleased she’d made it to the end this time and my cousin stayed awake even through the last bar, reclaiming the dignity lost in the Keene pub crawl. I had a fantastic time because I got to hang with my cousin who was the closest thing I had to a brother in my family growing up. We don’t get to spend near enough time together but when we do its usually memorable. Yesterday certainly was no exception. Of course I can never get enough time with my sister and brother in law so the afternoon was awash with more fun than is perfectly legal.

My Cousin and I at the Press Box

My sister and brother in law had to return to Rhode Island last night while my cousin and I tried to watch a movie with rapidly drooping eyelids. My cousin’s wife checked in from her Vermont getaway with the girls and was truly impressed her husband was still in a fairly conscious state. I can’t begin to fully describe how much fun yesterday was sharing a full afternoon with friends, family, and Shrewsbury Street. I can now declare my 60^th birthday celebration is complete, but this is certainly not the last pub crawl – too much fun to wait for another birthday to explore. Panama, anyone?

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