Tuesday, May 18th, 2010—Bar 128

Day 128—Monday, May 17th, 2010
Raccoon Lodge

Ding, ding, ding! Once again the PayPal donation board has lit up with some much-needed dough for the bar crawl. Tiki Bar Susie not only  leaves great comments here, but she is the number one donater and her fourth generous donation is for 35 dollars! Thank you Tiki Bar Susie, you help the 365 Bar Site to keep on crawling and I appreciate it!

Okay, once again I’m joining forces with Gene, Debbie and Terry, the Baltimore Bar Crawlers I hung out with last night. These guys are real pros, I just spoke with them and so far today they’ve gone to 128 bars today and had roughly 10,479 drinks between the three of them. Once again, since they’re the guest bar crawlers, I let them pick the joint and they chose the Raccoon Lodge in the Financial District. After all those drinks, I wonder if they’re still standing? Let’s go and find out!

The Raccoon Lodge, love the neon, sign of a great bar!

And speaking of signs, this says it all. I think this is going to be my kind of place.

Okay, these guys look familiar. Let me get a beer and check out the situation.

Bartender Arbor provides a Pabst to help me check out the situation.

And here they are, fresh from visiting over 800 bars today, the super Baltimore Bar Crawlers, Gene, Debbie and Terry. Gene starts a new "wearin' of the Pabst tradition."

Together again! The Super Bar Crawlers reunite!

Hats, knick-knacks and bric-a-brac at the Raccoon Lodge.

Alex, Rashan, Hana and Christine were gearing up for one hell of a night. I won't go into details, but let's just say they had more fun than me and probably you. I thought about you guys last night!

You can't call your bar the Raccoon Lodge without some classic Honeymooners photos in it.

Dana and Justyna were celebrating their one year anniversary together. One of the cutest couples yet on the bar crawl, congratulations!

Okay.

The well-stocked bar at Raccoon Lodge.

A Moose head hangs over cases of Budweiser, you gotta love this place!

Some of the games in the middle of the bar.

And the legendary upside down hippopotamus which hangs from the ceiling. This puts your pink elephants to shame. "Bartender, I need another Pabst!"

Not everyone wants their picture taken in here. Linda enjoys her drink while Tarantelli good-naturedly flips me the bird.

Keith was in New York from Chicago and knew the bar Club Foot that I crawled to when I was there a few weeks ago. Here he flashes the 365 card.

Gene picks some tunes off the jukebox.

And Terry is chatting with someone at the bar.

And that someone is Tim, who lives in Ireland but travels the world as a consultant. He's even familiar with my hometown of Peoria. Cheers to Tim!

And sadly, I have to report an ATM without the letters, ATM on it. Sorry, Joey D. You can't win them all. Goodnight everybody!

Review
The Raccoon Lodge would make Ralph Kramden scream, “And awaaay we go!” It’s dive bar with an alcoholic hunting lodge theme going on. Moose heads and an upside down hippopotamus decorate the joint with Christmas lights, collections of baseball caps, vintage beer signs and beer trays on the ceilings joining in on the mix. The bar is drinker-friendly with chatty patrons, a pool table, games in the middle and a table nook in the back for lounging around.

There’s a full bar and the drinks are cheap. Happy hour runs from 11 in the morning to 4 pm with one buck off bottled beers. The jukebox is loaded with classic rock and the bar has the distinction of being one of the first watering holes to re-open after September 11th and was a favorite for fire-fighters and workers during that time.

Great choice from my Baltimore Bar Crawling buddies, Gene, Debbie and Terry. They’re here for one more day, and I’m letting them pick tonight’s bar as well. Stay tuned for more from this edition of the super bar crawlers expedition!

Raccoon Lodge
59 Warren St. @West Broadway
212-227-9894