This is Part Two. Part One can be found HERE, and you really should read that first, otherwise even this blog bit's title won't fully make sense to you.
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This woman's voice is almost like a dog whistle but she's kinda cute, so cut her some slack, eh?...
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Virginia City Is The Wild West
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI8-72-v0HI
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For some time, things had been occurring which I interpreted to be signs from God indicating that I should return to strict sobriety. I had also come to realize that alcohol was restricting my Spiritual walk. Furthermore, even the slightest amount of alcohol usually strangled my ability to dream, and I considered my dream life to be a significant component of my Spiritual life.
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I might make jokes about those "signs" -- as I did in the following text, which I sent to my friend Trainyard Julio -- but deep down, I knew that eventually I would need to face up to those signs and respond to them.
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So, I'm at the Palace Saloon, having a cold Mojito, when an ad comes on the TV screen about an organization called "Make America Sober Again". Quite obviously a Communist plot of some sort. I'm sure Les Nessman will get to the bottom of it.
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But I finally reached that point when I knew the decision needed to be made. I am determined to NOT let anything interfere with my reAlationship with God and my Big Brother Savior, Christ Yeshua!
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I decided to go up to Virginia City again for one last round of saloon-hopping and then and there, return to a life of strict sobriety. So, on the morning of 11/24/2017, I drove up Geiger Grade and checked into an 1870s hotel:
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After meditating in the Miner's Park, I spent the first half of the day exploring the sites I love so dearly. And then at about 2 PM, I ordered a beer and began my final party.
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Please go saloon-hopping with me now, as we
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First, I had a pint of Cerveza Chilebeso, probably my favorite beer of all time, at the Virginia City Brewery And Taphouse, and that got the party started...
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Next, I went across the street to the recently opened Cigar & Bar and swapped real-life ghost stories with the bartender while I drank a Scotch & Soda...
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After that, I walked 1.5 to 2 miles down to the Gold Hill Hotel Saloon and had a Margarita followed by two Modelo Negra beers...
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Trudging 1.5 or 2 miles back up the hill to Virginia City, I stopped in at the Silver Queen Saloon for a Hot Buttered Rum. Yes, I know about not mixing too many different kinds of alcohol but... I didn't care.
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Then I headed up to B Street and one of my favorite watering holes in Virginia City -- the Old Corner Bar -- to see Lisa, my favorite bartender in Virginia City. I sent the following text to beer brother Trainyard Julio, aka 6-B and Bryan Pedas:
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Utilizing my White privilege, I just ordered a White Russian at the Old Corner Bar. I would have ordered a Black Russian, but a gang of them kicked my ass one night in Kentucky in 1983, and I've avoided 'em ever since.
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He responded with this funny text:
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Just watch out, comrade. In communist Old Corner, White Russian drinks you.
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Ha!-Ha! Well, he was right! Lisa made that White Russian good and strong, and it went down so nicely, so deliciously, that I ordered TWO MORE!! I tipped Lisa $20 and walked out of the Old Corner Bar...
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At this point, I was no longer feeling the pain of life, but I still felt I owed myself one more beer. So, walking back down to C Street from B Street, I stopped in at the Mark Twain Saloon and drank another Modelo Negra...
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I seriously debated returning to the Virginia City Brewery And Taphouse for a final Cerveza Chilebeso, but I finally 86'ed that idea and returned to my 1870s hotel for the night. Good thing, too. Because despite sleeping pretty well, I still woke up with a hangover. It wasn't an A-List E-Ticket hangover like the old days, but I'm older now and any hangover of any degree is no bueno!
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Shortly after The Palace Restaurant & Saloon opened at 11:00 AM on Saturday, November 25th, I went in for the previously planned final 2 drinks. I ordered some Mozzarella Cheese Sticks with their wonderful Ranch Dressing and a Blackberry Mojito. I'd never had the Blackberry variety before, and it was delicious. But I had to sip and eat slowly to make sure everything stayed down, boy, DOWN!
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An hour later, I ordered The Last Of The Mojitos -- the regular lime type -- in a plastic to-go cup, and I headed to a semi-secluded special spot of mine, away from C Street and the tourists. There's a place in a small half-circle of trees in a barren area where a telephone pole has fallen between two piles of mine tailings, creating a kind of "log bench".
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There I poured the remainder of my Mojito into my silver cup...
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...and just as I did back on September 22, 1995, I had my last drink (again) and returned to strict sobriety for Spiritual purposes.
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Interestingly, as I was enjoying the last sips of The Last Of The Mojitos, a HAWK seemed to appear out of nowhere and began circling in the sky before me, while squawking loudly. At first, I thought maybe it was a mama Hawk and I was too near her nest. But, heck, the trees were all barren and it was late November. There couldn't be a nest.
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Then I got the idea that maybe this Hawk was a sign from God, squawking approval of my decision to quit drinking again. I thought to myself: If this is a sign from God or Christ, the Hawk would fly over me. I had barely completed the thought when the Hawk completed its last circle before me and flew DIRECTLY over my head. I looked STRAIGHT UP at it thinking: WOW!!! ...And then my second thought was: I hope it doesn't poop on me.
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The Hawk then started flying East toward Sugarloaf Mountain...
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...and when it was near the Mountain, suddenly a Second Hawk appeared from somewhere and the Two Hawks joined each other in the sky and continued flying East until they both became mere dots on the horizon and disappeared from my view.
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The Father and The Son... Anyone familiar with the Biblical Law of Two Witnesses understands what that was all about. I got it immediately, and was very grateful.
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And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
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Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
~ Matthew 26:26-29
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Looks like I'm returning to Hot Buttered Nothings for Christmas from now on.
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But I'll leave you with some Fun Facts:
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Not only was Virginia City the richest and most important mining town in American West history (the North would have lost the Civil War without it), which gave us Mark Twain and even the beautiful, mystical love story 'Somewhere In Time', it was actually the real birthplace of Psychedelic Rock in the 1960s! (See the videos below.)
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Red Dog Saloon (documentary excerpt)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQKlhKFeO3U
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Red Dog Saloon (documentary excerpt)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeQ-enoKwLI
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There's just something very, very special about Virginia City, Nevada, and I believe souls that have lived there in previous lifetimes return to it time and time again.
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Somehow, the lovely Squeek Steele managed to capture the magic of Virginia City in the haunting melody of her 'Virginia City Waltz'...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-X1ZLb2T0Q
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If you ever have the opportunity, be sure to visit this magical place. Look here and see what you're missing...
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VisitVirginiaCityNV YouTube Channel
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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Stephen dawlin'
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your decision, and even bigger kudos for being able to follow through with it. I promise your life will be more blessed these days forward.
I appreciated seeing your photos and tales from Virginia City, and now I'm excited about my battle on the 15th more than ever. Just kicking myself for not including more photos in that post. (shoot, it hasn't dropped yet - I may just go add more!)
Hold on to these memories and visit them often.
~Mary
Thanks, MMQE!
DeleteMostly, I'd just like to get my dreaming back! My dreams were like living a second life, and one that was much more interesting than my conscious, earthly one.
I'm glad you liked the blog bit, my friend. I have to confess, though, that all of the photos used were collected from the Internet. I myself am not responsible for any of them. But thank God for good people who post these things on Al Gore's invention.
You've got me real curious to see how your 12/15 BOTB installment might relate to my VA City series.
My first guess is that you're using some 1960's Psychedelic Rock song, and the Red Dog Saloon documentary videos are therefore relevant.
Well, I'll find out in a couple weeks, eh?
I hope things are turning out OK for ya!
~ Stephen
HaHa! I love that I for once am keeping you guessing. Not a Psychedelic Rock Song, but I do have a pic with a Saloon in the post. At "my saloon" they drop their prices once a year to the prices they had in 1970 for Prime Rib. One of the best meals I ever had at that saloon.
DeleteNo word yet. Of course, their offices were closed today and through the weekend. I hate this waiting game!
~Mary
MMQE ~
DeleteAs Tom Petty sagely sang, "The waiting is the hardest part."
Any BOTB installment with a saloon in it can't be bad!
Rolling their prices back to 1970 reminded me of that convenience store scene in one of my very favorite movies, 'FALLING DOWN'. Have you ever seen that? It stars Michael Douglas, and my Internet avatar of the California license plate that reads "D-FENS" comes from that movie and was the inspiration for my pseudo-pseudonym "D-FensDogG".
~ Stephen
That funny text reminded me of this: On Aeroflot, inflight movie watches you!
ReplyDeleteJOHN ~
DeleteThat's a funny bit, and there are a number of variations on that Russian joke. I'm sure Beer Boy Bryan had heard a couple before and that's what he was riffing on when he applied it to the White Russians. (Which, by the way, were outstanding! Man, at the Old Corner Bar, one gets a generous drink for $4. It's almost enough to make a person re-think his vow of sobriety. ;^)
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...
Now "The Last of the Mojitos" takes on significant meaning beyond just being a funny joke.
ReplyDeleteI hope your dreaming returns. I am sure it will. You seem more in tune with your "spirit" side than just about anyone I know, and if this is the action you were led to take, then I am sure it was God-directed. I'm not so sure about you being led to take a last bender... but what the heck?
I have been to Virginia City NV about 50 years ago, but not since. I've been to Virginia City, MT much more recently: maybe 8 or 10 years ago. It is a cool little western town, but not on the par with YOUR city.
SIXBRO McITCHYFINGER ~
DeleteHey, first of all, I got the new address. Thanks!!
Yeah, now you know how I came by that Mojitos / Mohicans pun to begin with.
Thank you! I had what was probably my best dream last night since the Labor Day weekend.
Truthfully, though, my Spiritual life has been off the beam for years -- probably the entire time you've known me -- and I'm just now revving it back up again. (Maybe God has re-inspired me for this last dash down the Revelation Road leading up to 2029.)
You know, for a guy who likes to believe he's smarter'n the average bear, I sure can be dense sometimes! ...Just this morning while I was lying in bed reading from my Bible, it suddenly occurred to me that my return to booze probably occurred in the same general time period when I also had stopped my daily meditation sessions.
I can't be sure, but I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb in guessing that it probably wasn't too long after I ceased meditating that I also returned to the "warmth of whiskey". I'll bet those two things are like hand-in-glove twins.
Happily, I began daily meditation sessions again in late September of 2016. And here we are a little over a year later and I am returning to my non-drink-havin' choir boy identity.
It seems that when one leaves the other returns; and when the one returns, the other leaves.
A person smarter'n the average bear would have figured this out sooner, damn-it!
But, BTW, God abbalouly did NOT lead me to engage in that final "bender". That was entirely MY idea. No way was I gonna quit quietly. Ha!-Ha! No, sir, if I was gonna quit (again), I was damn sure gonna get in one final toot in Virginia City.
It worked out well... except I'm now wishing I had crammed in that last Cerveza Chilebeso, so that my number of drinks that night would have gone "UP TO ELEVEN". Oh, well, I guess I saved #11 to have later with Jesus in Heaven. He can have His wine again, and I'll go back to my jalapeno beer.
[*Let this prove to anyone who may have wondered if sobriety was going to alter my personality and make me a boring choir boy. I'm the same goofy, smart-ass joker whether drunk or sober.*]
You, sir, are correct! I wouldn't mind seeing VA City, MT., someday, but I've been to so many "ghost towns", and although they're all neat and captivating in that Old West way, there really is something different about VA City in Nevada. For one thing, it's bigger and more active than most. Also, it's simply more important, historically, than any of the others. And then, for some people (probably those who have a past life connection to it), there's just some "magical" element to VA City that is impossible to put into words. But I do love everything Western.
Have you ever been to Bodie in Northern California, not far from Yosemite? That is a protected Historic State Park in a state of "arrested decay". It's the least "touristy" Old West ghost town I've ever been to, and it is really worth seeing.
In fact, come to think of it, Bodie is that ghost town featured in that Windham Hill VHS music program I gave you, 'WESTERN LIGHT'.
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...
What's wrong with that lady's voice? I liked the way she sounded. The video was very enlightening--put things in better perspective for me. Maybe my wife would like this town better than Oatman.
ReplyDeleteThat pizza at Red Dog looked great. I wonder if you can still get good LSD at the saloon? Of course if I dropped any LSD I doubt think I'd be eating much pizza. Interesting facts about psychedelic music at the Red Dog--never heard of any of this.
I could have never kept up with your drinking adventure. You'd have probably left me after that first pint. And mixing all those drinks would probably not have worked well for me. Never has.
Good story telling. And I wish you well with sobriety. I hardly drink at all these days which is not to say I don't do anything else, but after all it's now legal in CA.
Maybe I'll go to Virginia City one day but I don't know when. If I go then you can show me around.
Lee
Tossing It Out
LEE ~
DeleteThat woman's voice is in some high-pitched register that is a bit irritating to my eardrums.
However, it's not as bad as the voice some woman has where I work. She's got the most bizarre, itchy-n-scratchy voice I've ever heard. The first time I heard her, I thought: Oh, come on! She's GOT to be putting that on!! ...But, nope. It hasn't changed in two years. I've never heard her yell, but that would probably send me right through the roof in an epileptic seizure.
I am CERTAIN your wife would like VA City better'n Oatman. Y'all could fit a trip to VA City in with a vacation to Lake Tahoe. They're only 43 miles apart.
I'm pretty sure you'd need connections to get LSD at the Red Dog Saloon, but it's probably available. One could possibly take a trip just by licking 1960s residue off the walls.
Some people love that Red Dog pizza. It's OK, but I've had so much better. Good food is a bit lacking in VA City, IMO. The omelettes are good at the Delta Cafe, and there's a BBQ place at the South end of town that's supposed to be good, but being a vegetarian, I couldn't say.
And then there's a new-ish (by my standards, anyway) Tex-Mex place called Cafe Del Rio that's supposed to be very good. But the one time I went in there, it was a "cash-only" business and all I had was a debit card, so...
Yeah, "cash-only" in 2017. I'm tellin' ya, VA City is a world unto itself, loaded with character and characters. It's not in step with the rest of the world, and that's by choice. (Thankfully, all the saloons take debit cards or I'd have been thirsty in town many times.)
If you ever decide to go to VA City, you can be sure I'd meet you there and be your personal tour guide. I would be better at it and have more info to share (and at a lower price;^) than any of the "professional" tour guides in town.
~ Stephen
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...
POSTSCRIPT:
DeleteThank you, Lee, for the compliment on my story-telling, and for the good wish on my new non-drink-havin' identity.
~ D-FensDogG
Well, now I'll dissolve into tears of joy for you and tears of sadness for my 37-year-old son who is an alcoholic and can't seem to stop drinking for more than two weeks. He says I don't understand, and he's right. He and my daughter share the fantasy that there isn't a God.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
JANIE ~
DeleteI have a theory about why some people (maybe all people) drink to excess, but, like me, it's very unconventional and most folks would just scoff at it.
However, there's hope. Just the fact that your son has even attempted to quit drinking (even if he only lasted two weeks) proves that down deep he knows he should quit. So, the absolutely necessary, must-have seed is already present.
No one can yak him out of drinking, but the prayers of those who care can help soften his heart toward the idea. I will pray for him. (If you want to provide the first name, that would be good, but not essential.)
Few if any people really hold to the fantasy that God doesn't exist. Atheism is not disbelief but ill-founded anger toward God.
Funny, I was just yakking with a friend about that a few hours ago.
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...
Please pray for David. Yes, I think he knows he needs to quit, but he needs something to help him get past the two or three weeks. He won't go to AA or a free rehab.
DeleteYes, I'll pray for David.
DeleteOf course, A.A. is not a must (countless alcoholics have quit without it) but I think it is valuable for many, especially in the early stage of sobriety.
I have a good friend who quit in '86, and he was heading for cirrhosis of the liver and an early grave if he hadn't. A.A. was definitely beneficial for him.
Anyway, I'll talk to Jesus about David.
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...
Thank you. I talk to Jesus, too.
DeleteTo coin an expression... What A Friend We Have In Jesus.
DeleteHmmm.... That's not bad. I wonder if I could make a song out of it.
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...
I've been there! An interesting place. Damn, what a long walk though. Get rather parched, even with packing a drink up the wooden walks. Its kinda hard to take it all in in just one day though. I will eventually go back - just not in late July.
ReplyDeleteI loved the history in the videos. I'm a fan of the old west, and psychadelic music, especially when wetting my whistle with a glass of wine.
Good luck with the sobriety.
Thanks, WILD THING.
DeleteYes, there really is way too much in VA City to explore in just a single day. And that's especially true if one is really into American West history and starts digging into everything there is to know about this town.
I like both the tourist area (mainly C Street) and the off-the-beaten path places. I like to hike around in the hills there, discovering old mining frameworks, tunnels, and artifacts from the 1800s just lying around in the dirt.
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...
Stephen,
ReplyDeleteI thank God for not ever getting myself sucked in too far with drinking. Lucky for me I didn't care for the taste. I applaud you for committing to sobriety. Without first experience, common sense tells me that you're right. Alcohol or any thing that alters the brain chemically effects everything in our lives. I think even bad relationship poison the mind, suppresses our desires, and hinders our walk with God. I realize that these "demons" are always a part of a person life and sometimes is not so easy to banish them. I pray that you'll always find strength to the fight and am very happy that you trust God to give you power over this problem. Now, I've not been out west but if we ever venture that way it would be lots of fun to visit these old western cities to see the reenactment of the wild west. Thanks for sharing and for voting in Dec. 1st BoTB, my friend. :)
Thank you, CATHY.
DeleteI was not an out-of-control drinker. In fact, I was quite good at it -- probably my greatest talent. But I realized that my reAlationship with God and Christ could be so much more potent (like it was years ago) if I went back to total sobriety.
There's nuttin' wrong with a person drinking a bit. After all, the very first miracle our Savior, Christ Yeshua, performed was to turn water into about 900 bottles of wine. (He knew how to contribute to a party! Ha!) But if drinking in any way impedes one's Spiritual progress, it should be taken out of "The Way".
BTW, those Old West shootout reenactments are amusing to watch, but they're totally unrealistic. Other than a scant few occasions, that's just not the way those showdowns went down.
FUN FACT: I used to play a gunfighter character (Muddy McFly) for tourists at a Western town amusement park in Phoenix called RAWHIDE.
I later changed from gunfighter to train conductor because too many of gunslinging coworkers were racists. I got sick 'n' tired of hearing that garbage.
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...
Thanks for sharing your journey to Virginia City, Stephen. It looks like a fascinating place to visit, likely with more than a few ghosts. ☺ I'm surprised your hangover wasn't more severe, with all that booze-mixing going on. Sounds like you're determined to stick to your convictions and I applaud you for that. Best wishes!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good wishes, DEBBIE.
DeleteYeah, they have a few ghost tours up there and pretty much everyone in town speaks of supernatural experiences they've had.
[link> Most Haunted Cities: The Ghosts Of Virginia City
Truthfully though, the modern building where I worked as a security officer in Phoenix for 15 years was at least if not more "infested" than any building in Virginia City. I've got so many true stories related to that one site.
With the generous amount of Irish blood coursing through my veins, I have (had!) a large capacity for consuming alcohol before getting too wrecked. (Which is not to say I never got wrecked because... oh, wow! I've got a few alcohol-related scars on my body.)
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...
I just noticed, upon reading this over a second time, that we were both drinking the same racist beer. What are the odds? I'm not going to stop, though. I bought a full twelve pack (it was initially for the Pop-in-Law), and I aim to drink it. It's not bad for cheap Mexican beer. Probably one of the few cheap Mexican beers I like.
ReplyDeleteAgain, what an awesome sign. I hope that means that good things are a-comin' along with that dry spell. And hey, what a coincidence, you're expecting Hot Buttered Nothings for Christmas, and that's exactly what I got you!
What are friends for?
6-B ~
DeleteI genuinely like Modelo Negra, and it's the ONLY Mexican beer that I do. The rest of them are illegal aliens in my opinion. ("Build the wall!")
What's funny is that, yesterday, when I saw you mention Modelo Negra on YOUR blog, I thought you had picked some up AFTER seeing it mentioned on MY blog. It never occurred to me that, independent of any influence, one on another, we were both drinking it at the same time.
Yeah, the Hawks were an awesome sign. And I have no doubt that, while I was drinking my last cold Mojito, they were sent to confirm for me that I was doing God's Will.
As you know, I tend to receive a lot of signs from God. And there's some unexplainable thing about them that I nearly always recognize as Supernatural at the moment they are occurring. It's like I have a Spidey-Sense about them. Probably more accurately called "Holy Spirit Radar".
OK, now try not to be a racist anymore, 'ite?
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...
And Stephen,
ReplyDeleteNice post as well as the one before. I do recall that climb up Geiger Grade from 1986...much after that, not so much. I'm glad the sigh of such tragedy as the worst hangover ever has been transformed into a place of spirituality. Welcome to the Non-Drinkin' MF's Club.....Again!
JW,
Pooh
Thanks, GENERAL POOHREGARD.
DeleteYou may not recall much after that '86 drive up Geiger Grade, but the Bucket Of Blood Saloon bartender recalled you from the night before!
[;O)}
BTW, do you recall that it was YOU who coined the expression "Hot Buttered Nothing"? You wrote it in a Christmas card to me early in my first (6+ years) bought with sobriety.
And here I am again just a non-drink-havin' mofo. It was a good, long party, but it COULDN'T last forever.
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...
Are you boycotting the Bucket of Blood or is it gone. I noticed it wasn't part of your bar hop. Thanks for the credit.
ReplyDeleteWhoops! In my previous post, that should have been "BOUT with sobriety", not "bought". A person doesn't buy sobriety; they buy the opposite. (Guess I already need a cold Mojito!!)
DeleteThe BUCKET OF BLOOD SALOON is alive and well as the white building on the right in this [Link> VIRGINIA CITY, NV. - Live Web Camera view proves.
However, in truth, other than its name and logo -- which are the best in Virginia City -- I'm not much of a Bucket O' Blood Saloon fan. It's too bright inside and the drinks are more expensive than probably any other bar in town.
With that name and their location in the center of town, the BOB Saloon captures the majority of tourists who imbibe. But I prefer the locals' watering holes, such as the Old Corner Bar, and the Mark Twain Saloon (and best of all, the Gold Hill Hotel Saloon before it became kind of... uh... "funny").
Pooh, you'll be glad to know, though, that this year I did stop in once or twice at the BOB Saloon for "a shot 'n'-a beer" and thought of you when I did. [John Wayne!-John Wayne!]
~ D-FensDogG
Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...