Places

I don't go to very many places in Kingston - just a chosen few.

I go to Keegan Ales on St James Street. That used to be the Ulster Foundry & Machine Corp. My father spent most of his working life there. I think he'd be pleased that it's now a brew pub and the bar is where the office used to be. They still have the huge crane that runs along on a set of beams above the machine shop (now brew room). The old push button control unit hangs outside the restrooms and still has tape that my father put on it. The bar foot rail is sections of the track that was used for the carts of iron. It's a good place to take a woman for a few drinks.

I also go to Snapper Magee's on N. Front Street. When I started going there it was named "The Handlebar." It later became "The Bluejay Way." Now, as Snapper's, it is a unique little dive bar. You can meet just about any type of person there, from businessmen and former cops to goths and transvestites - and everyone gets along.

My favorite female bartender works there on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 12-8 and Fridays and Saturdays from 8 to close. Bekkey is one of a kind. She's a caring and trusting type person who has been taken advantage of numerous times but still has not lost her faith in the goodness of people. She still has dreams and thinks they'll come true. Bekkey is about 28, but she has, a few times, been my "big sister," giving me advice. But it's a 2-way street. She comes to me whenever she needs computer advice.

I had the best "shoot down" of my life at Snapper's. A hot chick came in and sat next to me. I said, "Damn you're hot. Where have you been all my life?" I find the old lines work because they've never heard them. But, in this case, she had a quick response. She looked at me and with a slight smile said, "For most of it I wasn't born yet." Rat-at-tat-tat! Crash and burn!

Once in a while I'll go to Valerie's on Foxhall Ave and to Roudigan's Steak House.