in which our hero breathes a little easier
my favorite bar in the whole world just went smoke-free (along with every other bar in michigan, but nonetheless...). I celebrated by going there with the folks from our tiny student church and having a Founder's Red Rye. It was delicious. I was a little worried: the place has been seasoning in the smoke fumes of a million college students and beer aficionados for 27 years or so. I've heard that the smell after the smoke is gone can be appalling and even worse than the smell of smoke itself. But the windows were open to the humid, rainy afternoon and aside from a faint hint of spilled beer and VFW hall, it was good.
Ashley's is a funny place. It has a lot going for it: 80 beers on tap and waffle fries (which will somehow always be better than any other fried potato shape). So many strangely formative events have occurred at Ashley's in my tenure in Ann Arbor. I just realized today that I've been here for eight cumulative years, with a six year hiatus. Long enough that the beer has gotten more expensive, but sundays are still dollar off all drafts all day long.
There's something about it, though I've never been able to pin it down. It's a place I tend to run into people. It's a place where the beer is so strong that I tend to end up tipsier than I planned. It's a place where Bri got multiple phone numbers from multiple women in a single night, which is funny because he generally prefers men. It's the only bar I will go to when K's gone and I want to be around people, though no one I know is available. It's one of the few places where I have had long conversations with complete strangers. I think it has a spirit or some sort of presence, partly made up of all the people but also more than the people.
I think it's a nexus. A crossover of many invisible lines of life and energy, like the switchboard of the town. No, not like that--that seems too public, too busy, too purposeful. It's like the secret switchboard. Like a speakeasy with an open door policy. And today I'm happy it's smoke free.
Ashley's is a funny place. It has a lot going for it: 80 beers on tap and waffle fries (which will somehow always be better than any other fried potato shape). So many strangely formative events have occurred at Ashley's in my tenure in Ann Arbor. I just realized today that I've been here for eight cumulative years, with a six year hiatus. Long enough that the beer has gotten more expensive, but sundays are still dollar off all drafts all day long.
There's something about it, though I've never been able to pin it down. It's a place I tend to run into people. It's a place where the beer is so strong that I tend to end up tipsier than I planned. It's a place where Bri got multiple phone numbers from multiple women in a single night, which is funny because he generally prefers men. It's the only bar I will go to when K's gone and I want to be around people, though no one I know is available. It's one of the few places where I have had long conversations with complete strangers. I think it has a spirit or some sort of presence, partly made up of all the people but also more than the people.
I think it's a nexus. A crossover of many invisible lines of life and energy, like the switchboard of the town. No, not like that--that seems too public, too busy, too purposeful. It's like the secret switchboard. Like a speakeasy with an open door policy. And today I'm happy it's smoke free.
random bits cobbled together by j-dub
1 Comments:
I think I need to find this kind of place in Baltimore.
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