Accordingly, My Favorite Bars

Was talking on the phone with a pal. It seemed we both needed to confess that 2020’s accumulating sense of despair is taking a toll. Like me, he’s a geezer who’s been struggling with the lack of sleep … the vexations thick in the air we breathe … the no-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel bleakness ... the goddamn indignities.

We talked for a good while. Between the aforementioned confessions we shared some familiar laughs from hearing old stories recounted, again. In hard times I suppose that's what longtime friends do for one another. Facilitating momentary escapes to a joyous time has always been a good thing. 

Accordingly, we also laughed at the grim and daunting notion that folks may never again crowd into live music shows, or go to cinemas, or to ball games. At least, not like they used to. After we got off the phone it dawned on me that for the time being the natural conviviality of a happy hour -- something I’ve experienced countless times -- can’t be found in reality.

Instead of answering the beer-thirty call, we must settle for reading magazine pieces like this one. And, of course, watching old movies. Especially those with bar scenes in black and white. 

OK, I freely admit that up until I was about 50, I probably spent way too many hours bellied up to the bar. In my favorite bars, I generally preferred to stand as I drank my bottled beer.  

Now my septuagenarian eyes can see that maybe, in the future, America will be better off with less of its social life centered around saloons. Maybe. But right now I’m thinking about my all-time favorite watering holes. Not favorite places for lunch or dinner. Not popular live music venues that served food and drink. Bars.

After that intro, that’s what this piece is about -- my favorite Richmond bars.  

To be continued…