Tuesday, May 4th, 2010—Bar 114

Day 114—Monday, May 3rd, 2010
PS 450
Okay, tonight was my first night back at work and I’m really tired. The Midwest bar crawl really caught up with me today but the crawl must go on! I found a bar within walking distance from where I work, so that’s tonight’s destination. The bar is called PS 450 and while it sounds like a public school, the name is actually a play on the bar’s address—450 Park Avenue South. So shouldn’t it be called, PAS 450? Well, let’s go and find out, I’m not afraid to ask the tough questions!

Here we are at PS 450.

Some of the specials and Happy Hour announcement outside on the sign card.

It's not packed, but a decent crowd for a Monday night and the bar looks nice.

Bartender Shelli was taking a little break when I got there but quickly rose to the occasion with a cold beer.

Cheers to you all!

Seated next to me was Tony (on the left) who called Scott over to join in the picture. Tony told me he's a regular here and said that Scott lives in the joint!

Here's Scott with the pretty Kaitlyn who was seated on the other side of me at the bar.

Some of the beers available on draft at PS 450.

Seated at a table up in the front of the bar was this group who were more than encouraging with the Bar Crawl idea. From left: Phillip, John, Joe and Summer. We may see some of them later at Off The Wagon bar, a Sunday stop they encouraged me to try.

The back of the bar is a candle-lit lounge area with comfortable seating.

There's also a DJ booth that comes alive on weekends.

Shelli and Tony share a laugh at the bar. There's lots of laughter and camaraderie in here and that's a good thing.

Here's another view of the bar.

Corey showed up just as I was getting ready to hit the road.

I met Todd and Dani on my way out and it turns out Todd is from Chicago and has been to Club Foot. We traded some Chicago tales and then it was time for me to hit the road, my mission here is done. Goodnight everybody!

Review
Take equal parts of a comfortable lounge bar and a friendly neighborhood joint and throw in lots of orange and you’ve got PS 450. The atmosphere is chill-lounge, but the bartenders and patrons are anything but chilly. First timers are greeted warmly by the regulars that populate the bar area and the friendly and talkative bartenders. The music on weeknights isn’t ear-shattering and ranges from classic rock to ‘70’s punk to hip-hop, but the volume gets turned up on weekends as DJ’s man the booths and the scene gets a little noisier. There’s ample seating at the bar with tables in the front and opposite the bar along with a lounge area in the back with a DJ booth.

There’s a full bar with six bottled beers available and five drafts including their own PS 450 ale. Specialty cocktails include Blueberry Lemonade, Rasp-Coco Ricky, Sparkling Sangria, and a Mexicano Mojito. Lunch and dinner are available here and some of the offerings on the menu include: BBQ Chicken Pizza, Braised Short Rib Nachos, Blackened Salmon and five varieties of sliders. Brunch is available on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 3 pm. Happy Hour is Monday through Friday from 4 pm to 8 pm with four buck drafts, six dollar specialty cocktails and twelve bucks gets you a burger and a beer.

The bar has a friendly vibe and if yo’re lucky like me, you’ll get to share in some of the local gossip. You’ve got to stop by to know what I’m talking about, it was all off the record. This isn’t Page 6, and I know how to keep a secret! Shit, I forgot to ask about their name, oh well, maybe Mike Wallace will stop by and get it on the record.

PS 450
450 Park Ave. South (Near 30th St.)
212-532-7474

Monday, May 3rd, 2010—Bar 113

Day 113—Sunday, May 2nd, 2010
Sunny’s Bar
I received a much needed donation today from Doug Monroe who’s stated purpose in the donation is, “To buy Marty a beer.” Thanks Doug! Doug’s a teacher and a writer and you can learn more about him by checking out his website right here: Doug Monroe. If you’d like to send a donation, you can either click the PayPal button to the left or send me an email on where to send cash or checks. Again, I don’t feel like I’m begging for money here, if you’re enjoying this blog and come here daily and could pledge just five bucks a month it would help out a lot. This bar crawl isn’t cheap and I’ve scrimped and saved to do it and could use some help. Think of it as a cover charge. Alright, on with the crawl!

Okay, I’m back in New York and I’ve been invited to a literary reading at Sunny’s Bar in Redhook, Brooklyn by author Manny Howard. I checked my social calendar and I’m free today (my next engagement is in the year 2525 with Zager and Evans) so I thought I’d go. Manny’s one of the readers and he’s reading from his new book, “The Empire of Dirt.” Here’s Manny on YouTube explaining the book:

Okay, it’s off to Sunny’s!

Here we are at Sunny's Bar. It's in Redhook, Brooklyn and I made it here after the cab I took got lost about a half dozen times and the fare was 26 bucks. I mentioned the PayPal button earlier, right?

I love this sign!

Gabriel's the curator of the reading's at Sunny's and has been in charge of them for the last eight years. Check out Gabriel's website here: Gabriel Cohen Books.

Jeremy and Bridgett were waiting for the joint to open up. Where's Sunny?

Why he's right here! Sunny owns the bar and his artwork hangs in the front room. Sunny's a great guy and supporter of the arts.

Mary is the co-owner of Book Court and was selling all three author's books who were reading today. Check out Book Court's website here: Book Court.

Sunny greets Mary.

Here's aforementioned Doug Monroe who contributed ten dollars today. Thanks again, Doug!

These statues are all gifts people have donated to Sunny's.

A view from the front window.

I got there early so I was able to snag a choice seat at the bar, which was lucky...

Which was lucky because within a half hour, the joint was packed.

Victoria and Tina were enjoying themselves at the bar.

Alexander got the choice job of cutting up the pastries for the event.

The pastries are cut and Alexander joined his friend, Amy at a booth opposite from the bar. He also pointed out that I had a sticker on my jeans that I had gotten for my birthday last Sunday, thanks, Alexander!

Sunny rings up a sale from the vintage cash register at the bar.

Marcy was seated next to me at the bar. She's a singer and a voice teacher, check out her website here: Marcy Jellsion.

Bartender Tim serves up a can of Pabst before the readings begin.

First up was Virginia Vitzthum reading from her book: "My Blind Date Went Blind! True Stories of Dates Gone Wrong." She had some hilarious stories she shared from her book.

Here's the man who invited me, Manny Howard who was there to read from his book, "My Empire of Dirt." The story of how he turned his Brooklyn backyard into a farm. The story originated and was originally assigned to Manny as a feature for New York Magazine. The editor who assigned it was none other than Faye Penn, a woman who was one of my first editors when I moved to New York back in 1993. It is a small world after all.

Manny had some help during the course of his reading from his two children. Sorry for the fuzzy shot, but my camera's battery was running low.

Virginia Vitzthum relaxing during a break during the readings at Sunny's.

Here's the backroom at Sunny's.

Here's where the music happens in the comfortable back room at Sunny's.

Here's myself and Sunny. Mucho thanks, Sunny and goodnight everybody! (My apologies to Lizzie Skurnick who was the third reader, my camera conked out and I didn't get any shots of her. Check out her book, Shelf Discovery right here: LIzzie Skurnick, Shelf Discovery.)

Review

Every once in a while, this bar crawl turns into a magical time and today at Sunny’s Bar was one of these mystical and fun  moments. Sunny’s bar is one of those great places where the bar’s charms are equally matched by the owner, Sunny. Sunny’s one of those rare people who when you shake his hand you can feel a real warmth and friendliness radiating from it. Sunny has a long shock of gray hair, a mesmerizing smile and a laid back quality that made me think of the Chief from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

Sunny’s has an odd schedule, it’s only open on Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays, with a reading by local authors happening the first Sunday of the month, but not in June and the second Sunday in July, you may want to call. There’s also live music in the back room and art on display from local artists and Sunny’s pieces decorate the front room.

There’s a full bar here and it’s a haven for artists, musicians, writers and free-thinking people. I didn’t see one person texting the whole time I was in the bar. It’s that kind of place and one I wish there were more of. Discovering places like Sunny’s makes this bar crawl worth the trek. Cheers to Sunny and all the writers who read today, you were great and a good time was had by all. This is why I moved to New York.

Sunny’s Bar
253 Conover St (Near Reed St.), Brooklyn, New York
718-625-8211

Sunday, May 2nd, 2010—Bar 112

Day 112—Saturday, May 1st, 2010
O’Briens (in the O’Hare Airport)
Okay, it’s eight in the morning and I’m getting ready to check out of my hotel. I’m going to catch a cab and go to O’Hare Airport in Chicago a little early in hopes of finding a bar I can do the crawl thing in so I don’t have to do one when I get home tonight because I’m beat. Taxi!

Self-portrait of myself after a week vacation in the Midwest. I'm trying not to think about going back to work on Monday.

And what better way to forget about working Monday than stopping in to a bar at nine in the morning on a lovely Saturday.

There's an open seat with my name on it. Lovely!

Bartender Rick not only serves up the first breakfast beer, but he flashes the 365 card as well.

Cheers and top of the morning to all of you!

Lots of food on the menu, but it's too early for food. I'm thinking about a side order of ice.

Robert was seated next to me. He was headed to New Mexico for his son's first communion.

Some of the beers available at O'Briens.

Here's Stan and Catherine who were on their way to a bowling tournament.

Here's Donna and John. Donna caught my ear when Rick asked what she'd like to drink and she said, "The biggest beer you got." That's my kind of woman!

Okay, time to head to boarding gate H8.

I'm in group five.

Which just got called, here we go!

I'm seated and watching others board. Wow, she looks in a bad mood!

Okay, if you’ve been following this blog you’ll recall that on a recent trip to Cleveland, Ohio, the male stewardess sniffed at me when I ordered a beer in the morning. He gave me attitude, but at least he got me one. Today was a different story. This woman reminded me of Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest." She came by with the drink cart and I asked her what kind of beer she had on it. She looked at me like I had just ordered the head of Alfredo Garcia with a nut sack sewn into his left ear lobe for breakfast.

“There is no beer service at this hour,” She told me trying to withhold her disgust.

“Are you telling me, there’s no beer, or that you just won’t serve it to me?” I asked, trying not to sound out of order.

“There’s no beer,” she told me with a tone of ice in her voice, “it’s a little early.”

Years ago I would’ve told her to stuff a Tonka Truck up her ass and then do the Charleston Waltz like she’s a fucking June Taylor Dancer on crack. But back then you could wise off to an airport employee and walk away. These days if you so much as raise your voice to an airport employee you can find your ass in jail. Those of you who know me or followed my old Marty Wombacher Show website know what I’m talking about, so I won’t go into it, I’ve obsessed over it enough over the years. Basically I got fucked over by American Airlines for an entire day, finally lost my cool at a check in gate and spent a night in the Boone County Jail for yelling at an American Airlines employee. And if you’ve ever had the bad luck to sit in the Boone County Jail for an entire evening, you’d never yell at an American Airlines employee again. So I didn’t, I let the drink cart go and fell asleep. But now that I’m safely on the land I can say this: American Airlines sucks diseased donkey dicks and they can go fuck themselves five ways from Friday. Too early for beer service? We’re up in the air, American Airlines, there is no "too early" up here you fucking ding-donged airborned assholes on toast. Too early for beer service? FUCK YOU AMERICAN AIRLINES!

I awoke to see New York in the window!

I had a great time in Peoria and Chicago and it was a blast seeing old friends and making new ones, but it sure feels good to be back in New York Fucking City! Goodnight everybody!

Review

If you’re in the H gate area, stop by O’Briens. If Rick is working, tell him I said hi. He’s a friendly airport bartender and this is a nice bar to hang out until your flight takes off. And if you’re flying American Airlines, have a double, because those jackasses don’t serve booze in the morning. Too early for beer service? FUCK YOU AMERICAN AIRLINES!

O’Briens
O’Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois