Monday, August 9th, 2010—Bar 211

Day 211—Sunday, August 8th, 2010
Whiskey Trader
Okay, this is the last night my folks are in town, so one more daytime stop on the 365 crawl. It was a nice change yesterday drinking at the Southwest Porch outside in the Bryant Park, but the sunshine zapped me and now I must retreat back into darkness. I saw a bar yesterday about a half block from my folks hotel and it’s a basement bar and looked dark. It’s called Whiskey Trader, so let’s go check that out and get back into the dark. I almost got a tan yesterday and that’s some scary shit!

Here we are at the Whiskey Trader. Goddamn it's bright out here!

Aaahh, but it's nice and dark in here. And plenty of seats at the bar.

And Jim the bartender is a super-friendly guy and quick with a cold beer.

Let's go see who's down at the end of the bar.

Emily was enjoying an early afternoon glass of wine.

And Danielle was wasting no time draining a bottle of beer. Cheers, ladies!

There's a tradition at the bar that people send in money and they put it up behind the bar. Funny money runs the length of the wall.

Jim points out a bill that was sent in from Israel.

Some of the daily drink specials.

There's wooden stools and tables opposite the bar to relax in and enjoy your drinks.

Here's some of the draft beer available.

Travis and Erin were seated next to me at the bar. They took the train in from Stamford, CT. for the day.

There's original artwork on the walls.

It's an ongoing work and the artist comes in when it's closed and adds to the paintings, so they're ever-changing.

It adds a nice dimension to the bar.

This group was down at the end of the bar. From left: John (a.k.a. Mini Me), Mohammed (a.k.a. Elvis), Makeda and Luis (a.k.a. Vin Diesel.)

Here's some lit-up bottles of Tequila behind the bar.

Popcorn!

Makeda and Luis put some tunes on the internet jukebox.

Meanwhile Jim holds court at the other end of the bar.

And I have one last beer before heading off to see my parents.

And here they are waving goodbye to all of you. They appreciated all the nice comments and i had a fun visit with them. And now...goodnight everybody!

Review
The Whiskey Trader is a dark combination of a lounge and sports bar. There’s five plasma-screen TV’s with Direct TV so that virtually every sports game can be seen. Requests for games are taken on a first come, first serve basis. There’s a small elevated lounge in the front and a sunken one in the back with a fireplace, but most of the action happens around the large wooden bar in the middle. The male and female bartenders are friendly and as the night wears on, some of the female bartenders are known to get up and shake it on top of the bar. The crowd is a mix of local business people and tourists and the internet jukebox blasts tunes till four in the morning.

There’s a full bar with a good selection of draft and bottled beers. They feature a daily happy hour from 4pm to 7pm seven days a week with drink specials including three buck Bud LIght pints, five dollar Cosmo, Appletini and Peachtini and five dollar selection of varied shots. On Monday and Tuesday all Stoli flavor drinks and shots are just five bucks.

There’s no food but there is free popcorn at the bar!

Whiskey Trader
71 W. 55th St. (Near Sixth Ave.)
212-582-2223

Sunday, August 8th, 2010—Bar 210

Day 210—Saturday, August 8th, 2010
Southwest Porch (In Bryant Park)
First off, I got a special donation today. My friend and downstairs neighbor, Deloy Stoll sent in a very generous PayPal donation of 25 dollars in memory of her late husband Dennis. Dennis passed away a few weeks ago and Deloy’s message read, “Have a shot and a beer in memory of your friend and neighbor Dennis.” Thanks Deloy and cheers to the memory of Dennis!

I got an email from my Aussie mate, Tim Clack and he sent me a link to an article about expensive beers, that will probably never be drank on this bar crawl. Check it out here: Brewing Superstars. Thanks Tim and cheers, mate!

Okay, on to the crawl. The other day while walking to my parents hotel in midtown, I found an outside, porch type area in Bryant Park called the Southwest Porch. It was packed and there was no place to sit at the bar so I went to Langan’s instead. I’m hoping since it’s a Saturday, it won’t be as crowded. So let’s venture out into the rotten sunlight and see what’s what.

Wow, another bright-ass day!

This gentlemen offered up a nice solution though.

That helps, who is that behind those Foster Grants cheap-ass sunglasses? Oh, it's just me, never mind.

And here we are...

Bryant Park.

Saturday in the park.

Can you dig it?

Yes I can.

And there's a seat at the bar, let's go snag it.

Here's John the bartender who was quick to serve up an ice-cold beer.

Mike, one of the friendly people on staff at the Porch offered to take my photo at the bar.

And here I am, a rare shot of me in the dreaded sunshine. Thanks for the shot, Mike! And cheers to the memory of Dennis Stoll, a good friend and neighbor.

Some of the draft beer available at the Porch bar.

And booze for the cocktails.

Behind the bar is the comfortable porch area with lots of chairs, tables and umbrellas overhead.

Here's a couple at the other end of the bar, let's go say hi.

Meet Andrew and Lynnann who were chilling out at the bar and enjoying a drink or three.

Popcorn!

Ashley was seated next to me and was enjoying a beer at the bar.

After a few drinks at the Southwest Porch, I met my parents in their hotel room for a drink before dinner.

And here's the whole dinner crowd for the evening: From the right, my mom and dad, me, my niece Cara, her boyfriend John and my big brother, Tom. Cheers and goodnight, everybody!

Review
The Southwest Porch is a relaxing and comfortable oasis at the southern end of the Fountain Terrace of Bryant Park. The bar is small and seats about a half a dozen, but there’s a large porch-styled area with large wooden chairs and tables to relax and enjoy a drink and a snack. Large umbrellas loom overhead allowing for plenty of shady spots if you’d like to escape the sunshine (like me.)

There are three draft beers available, four selections of wine and specialty drinks including a Ginger Margarita, Vodka Watermelonade and a refreshing Bourbon Mint Iced Tea. There’s also snacks to nosh on including: Guacamole with tortilla chips, marinated olives, three styles of popcorn and a cookie plate. The menu also offers 15 handcrafted specialty sandwiches provided by ‘wichcraft.

The Southwest Porch is open Monday through Saturday from noon to 9pm and Sundays from noon to 7pm.

Southwest Porch
Bryant Park is situated behind the New York Public Library in midtown Manhattan, between 40th and 42nd Streets & Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
212-768-4242

Saturday, August 7th, 2010—Bar 209

Day 209—Friday, August 6th, 2010
Blarney Cove
Alright, day two of the early bar crawl. It’s just a little after noon and I just posted yesterday’s bar crawl and I’m heading out in the cruel, cruel sunshine for today’s stop before my parents come over for a drink before dinner. Since it’s so sunny, I thought I’d go to one of Manhattan’s darker, dive bars. If you come to Manhattan there’s two bars you have to visit if you’re a true dive bar fan. One is the Mars Bar, which I went to on Easter Sunday and the other is the Blarney Cove, which is today’s stop. This place is a legendary joint on the Lower East Side and I pray I can get some pictures in there. I’ve drank in the Blarney Cove and it doesn’t seem like a camera friendly bar, so let’s go see what happens.

Baaahh, sunshine! It's too fucking bright out here!

Through squinted eyes, I spy a hot dog cart.

A dog and some mustard. The breakfast of bar-crawling champions.

Here's Avenue A, we're almost there.

It looks like it's closed, but I think they don't uncover the front window until the sun goes down.

Here it is in all its darkened glory. As soon as the bartender saw my camera, he told me to put it away. But I took a few shots on the sly, I had to include this joint on the bar crawl. Sometimes you have to break the rules a little. The flash was turned off, so I really wasn't bothering anyone in here.

The sun may be bright outside, but it's nice and dark in the Blarney Cove.

A beer, a shot and today's paper, pretty much all one needs to while away some time in the Blarney Cove.

This guy was enjoying some peanuts with his drinks.

Here's a shot of the Formica bar. Some of the regulars are a little shaky in here, but I doubt that much booze has been spilled. They're serious drinkers in here.

After shooting this self-portrait I was busted by the bartender. He told me in no-uncertain terms to put it away. So I put it in my bag and ordered another Budweiser. I wish I could've gotten more shots, but I hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse of a true New York dark dive bar. There aren't many like it left in the city and I truly enjoyed this stop on the old bar crawl.

And later on it was Happy Hour with my parents at Chez Wombacher on 16th street. I showed them yesterday's comments and they got a kick out of them and said to say, "Cheers" to everyone.

Goodnight, everybody!

Review
The Blarney Cove is one of the last true dive bars in the East Village. The front window is usually shuttered in the daytime and it’s a dark, slim shotgun bar. The bar itself is a long Formica-topped fixture that serves as a holding fixture for the pickled and sloshed masses that are the regulars here. The vibe is not unfriendly, but strangers are viewed with a questionable eye. The first thing the seasoned bartender asked me after I ordered a beer was, “Where do you work?” I’m sure it was a way to see if I was a local guy or not. After I spat out that I worked on 30th Street between 6th and 7th near the Garden I was deemed okay, until he caught a glimpse of my camera and then told me to put it away. They don’t like cameras in here.

What they do like is a beer and a shot and the Yankees. The jukebox is popular in here as well and you’ll here everything from the Drifters to Frank Sinatra to the Beatles to a Spanish song that you’ll have no idea who the artist is. There’s two peanut machines in the back and the booze flows freely in here from 8am to 4am. And some of these snozzled regulars look like when the lights go out, they just pass out on their stools till the dim lights come back on at eight in the morning and have a pint and a shot for breakfast. The Blarney Cove is a true dive bar and a nice blast of the past on 14th street in the East Village.

Blarney Cove
510 E. 14th St. (Near Ave. A)
212-473-9284