MySideOfTheBar

Walking ten feet or so ahead of me was Flossie, both of us on our way from the Dome to the Dingo. As Flossie came abreast of the bar entrance a handsome Rolls-Royce drove up to the curb  and from it stepped two lavishly dressed ladies For a moment they hesitated. They looked at the Dingo questioningly. They peered in the windows between the curtains. Flossie, seeing them, looked her contempt. As she passed into the bar she tossed a single phrase over her shoulder, “You bitch!” Where upon the lady so addressed nudged her companion anxiously. “Come on, Helen,” she said, “This must be the place!” - from This Must Be the Place, by Jimmie "The Barman" Charters. As most of you know I am a huge Hemingway fan and pride myself on reading almost everything he has written, including magazine articles, letters and even books written by his niece and brother. I was browsing some books awhile back and discovered an interesting piece of literature wri...

Not too long back I was in the Lake of the Ozarks and happen to stop in at the Osage Cigar Company for a Cigar Event. The Osage CigarCompany is owned by Charlene McCaslin whom you may remember if you have stopped into the shop at either this location or its former location at Cigars and Pars. Charlene was an employee for 9 years prior to becoming owner in the last year. Charlene is charming and knowledgeable as well as very passionate about cigars.   On this day the Cigar Event had a Cigar Roller on hand. Fred an American Cigar Roller from the St. Louis area was rolling sticks as fast as he could trying to keep up with the demand of the customers (myself included) who were purchasing them as fast as he could roll them. I was fortunate to purchase a few that were dry so I could enjoy a smoke and chat with Fred for a couple of hours while he worked. Fred and Charlene Fred purchases his filler and binder pre-rolled for events in order to keep up with demand ...

Even though I have been to the Louver and Monet’s House in Paris, I do not profess to be an expert in what passes for art.   I know what I like and what I do not like and try to spend a couple of days a year in the Nelson Atkins Art Museum here in KC.  You also have to amit that you do not normally think of bars as being a display of fine art. I do however know something cool when I see it and here are a couple of examples I found recently. Bar Louie is a bar in the Power and Light District and has a great Happy Hour with five dollar Martini’s made with top shelf alcohol. Central Patti had “The Dirty” and I of course had a Manhattan. For the Dirty they used Effen Vodka and in my Manhattan the used Makers 46. Check out the Menu and you see that this is a great place to have Happy Hour. In addition we snapped this photo of some wall art that we both thought was pretty neat. We also just attended the West Port Art Fair and happened to stop in the Dark Hor...

A short while ago I had the opportunity to attend the Alec Bradley Event at my favorite smoke shop, Fidel’s.   You may remember my review of the Presado at Smokes and Booze  last year, however the back story on this cigar is surprising. I had the previlege to meet the owner Alan Rubin and he was as nice and charming as his Cigars are smooth and great tasting. Back to the Presado story: I was in Fidel’s one Friday night last winter enjoying a smoke and some Bourbon and as the time to leave approached I decided to buy some Cigars for the weekend so I went around the front room and choose several sticks that were on display. When I grabbed one at random the next day and started to smoke it I was shocked at how good the stick was. I looked at the label and noticed it was an Alec Bradley Presado and when Central Patti asked how it was I replied, “this is one of the best Cigars I have ever smoked.” The next day I started to write my review and when I finished I looke...