I survived the dangers involved in a forward recon of the November birthday pub crawl due to the stalwart assistance of my fellow reckoners, the Keene Friend and Kindergarten Friend. Okay it wasn’t as dangerous as it was fun, but someone had to do it. Well, if the truth be told, it wasn’t actually required but it was a valuable glimpse into the future, capturing the minor changes each year brings to the Downtown Keene, New Hampshire pub scene. Luckily the Kindergarten Friend is an internationally recognized expert on that scene, so we were in good hands. I tried to follow the agenda we will explore on November 16th which meant a pre-crawl lunch at 5 Guys.
The Intrepid Recon Team at Penuche's
After the essential text tormenting my
kids about passing by the location of the kindergarten I attended (my son’s response,
“this is the worst!”) Keene Friend and I linked up with the Kindergarten Friend
at Penuche’s Ale House, the first stop of the crawl. In the past year we
learned that one of our dedicated crawlers, despite being a lifelong resident
of Keene had never been to this auspicious location, always joining us later.
You know who you are! I anticipate severe peer pressure over the next month to
get her there for the crawl. Hopefully they’ll mop the sticky floor and get the
flies eradicated from the rest room by then, but of course, this is part of the
charm of the ‘Nuche.
Kindergarten Friend and I Stepped out of the Nuche
The Kindergarten Where we Met 64 years ago is Behind Us
The Lab
Then we ambled up to Main Street for the
Lab ‘n Lager. Here the Kindergarten Friend proposed adding an optional stop 2A
in addition to the Lab. Across Main Street a cigar bar resides. Since I have
never and will never smoke a cigar, I’ve never explored the location. We agreed
that some of our fellow crawlers might not be so biased and could break off to
smoke a cigar while the main group occupies the Lab. Moving down the street, we
arrived at the Modestman Brewery which features the only craft beer offerings on
the crawl. In other words, another location I may have unwarranted biases
against. We will still keep it as Stop #3 because the Kolsch was pretty good.
Modestman
We walked out the back door of Modestman
to arrive at one of my favorite stops on the crawl, Kilkenny’s Pub. They still don’t
accept credit cards but had new cheap t-shirts, which I ended up carrying for
the rest of the recon. The next planned stop was fraught with danger. Walking
around to Railroad Square we approached Madame Sherri’s, a new bar. It occupies
the former location of the fabled beer towers of Scores, the well-remembered final
stop of the first few crawls. It’s had three different bars in that location
since Scores lamentably closed. The newest one, named after a famous house of
ill repute from the 1930s in the western hills above Keene, the ruins of which served
as a party location for my generation in the 1970s. This new bar is LBGTQ friendly
which I guess is what used to be called a gay bar. I hadn’t been in one of
those since 1979 in Frankfurt, Germany when a friend and I thought we were
doing really well with a couple gals when they invited us to their favorite
bar. We entered to find ourselves the only males in a very crowded and
decidedly unfriendly (towards us) bar; but that’s a story for another day. 
At the Pour House, Meant to Take a Picture at Every Bar
Couldn't Find the One form Kilkenny's
I Took One. Honest.
I was interested to see what old Scores
had evolved to but when we entered, the staff said the bar didn’t open until 4PM.
With only three of us we were moving faster than the crawl will so that timing
will work on the 16th. We decided to return after checking out the
Pour House. While enroute there we noted that Local Burger, which we usually
stopped in for a mid-crawl snack has closed. There was a sign saying it would
re-open on July 18th but it didn’t list a year. I love reaching the
Pour House as it is located on Central Square and offers awesome views of the city,
including the rotary around the common where Keene kids learn how to drive and are
therefore never intimidated by traffic circles, having survived the crucible of
Keene’s Central Square. Our group was momentarily distracted by well-endowed neighbors
before concluding our recon of this, the final stop. We added to the momentous finish
of the crawl path by making the traditional inebriated call to the PCR. We
caught him in his car, but he deigned to speak with us and proclaimed he would
not be making the trip north to join us for the crawl this year. We demanded to
speak with his wife, the real brains of the operation, but he claimed to be a
long way from home. After we hung up with him, we called her directly only to
have him walk in from the garage, putting his long-distance assertions in
doubt. He will become another target of peer pressure over the next month as we
hope to get them back where they belong on November 16th.
Madame Sherri's
The Kindergarten Friend had to return
home while Keene Friend and I retraced our route to check out Madame Sherri’s. Madame
Sherri’s will definitely be the cleanest stop on the crawl, and we were warmly
welcomed by the staff. It was a little jarring to see the former televisions playing
sports removed and to have table clothes in place, but it was still the place I
remembered so well. The bar staff was warned of our planned November 16th
arrival and were pleased to hear they had made the cut. After finishing our beverages
there, we made our way across the street to Margarita’s, the last recon
objective. This is where the post crawl party usually forms up after declaring victory
at the Pour House. They were removed from the crawl itself for poor bar service
during an earlier event but serves perfectly as a final dinner destination for
the crawlers. We were able to coax the Favorite Panamanian from her shopping
spree at this point to join us form dinner.
Central Square
We returned to Keene Friend’s house after dinner to watch some college football.
At least that was the plan. An afternoon long recon, however, can be physically
taxing as the photo below demonstrates. My wife was amused enough to take this
photo while my friend and I conducted an inner eyelid inspection. We had a
really fun and productive day. This morning we breakfasted at The Pub and then
walked up the street to catch the annual Fireman’s Parade, a well-remembered event
from our youths. Seeing the Keene High marching band was entirely nostalgic. I
now consider the battlefield for November 16th properly shaped for a successful
crawl. 
Dinner Time
Recon Recovery 
Waiting for the Parade
 |
| KHS Marching Band |
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 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; Seis Amigos
- two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother-in-law (whom I miss more than I can ever
explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course
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