75th Street Smokeout

It's awfully hard to blog about beer when you take two weeks off from drinking.  I was getting a little "pudgy" around the edges...so I took it upon myself to undergo a beer diet.  Should have just drunk any kind of lower-calorie stout beer instead of completely cutting myself off...  I'm pretty sure that'd count as a beer diet?  

I was planning to hold out one more week, but was invited to the 75th Street Brewery last night, and decided to partake in the debauchery.  I lost count of how many beers were downed, but man, it was WORTH IT!  I'd started off with an IPA, went next to their pale ale, then on to the raspberry brew, then it starts to get a little fuzzy.  I do know that we ended up at Lew's Grill and Bar at some point, and that I found myself enjoying some Old Style.  Nothing like a good Old Style.  Or a doggy-style for that matter.

Back at the 75th Street, it had just turned 9:00, and my pals Ward Parkway, Keystone Light, and Darjum noticed that the room had all of a sudden filled with smoke.  W.P. said that, "it must be 9:00."  It was, and the patrons didn't hesitate to light up.  Keystone Light and Darjum were thrilled, and they dove into their packs of smokes pretty much head first.  It was nice to see them so happy!  Although I'm not a big fan of smoking in bars, I do have to admit that the clove fumes K.L. and Darjum were exhaling (in my general direction) were pretty pleasant.  It was common practice to smoke the cloves back when I was in school at K-State.  But that was YEARS ago -- and that's not all I smoked (no "pole" references implied).  

The bartender swung by our table and said, "smoke all you can people, this is the last night before the ban takes effect."  K.L. and  Darjum were visibly shaken by this statement, and thus spent the rest of the evening smoking all they could, sucking down some serious memories!  You could see the twinkles in their eyes.

Bull E. Vard will not hesitate to tell you that it's a cryin' shame to see this era of history come to a smokin' halt.  And, I will miss the scent of cloves (but not the scent of cigarettes lingering the next day on my clothes, hair, and pillow).  Yes, it's a bittersweet moment in time.  I'm sure we'll all look back on these days and tell our grandchildren stories of smoking in public places.  "Back in my day, after we'd walk uphill to school in the snow, we'd sit right there in the classroom and light up--even Sister Mary Alice would fire up her bowl, right there at the chalkboard!  And you even used to be able to go to a restaurant and choose 'smoking or non' for a seating preference."  The grandchildren will stare up at us in awe, mouths fully agape, as you stand tall, shouting from your weezing lungs, "Let my people SMOKE!"  

So remember, keep these memories close at hand.  They'll come in handy when you write your memoirs later on in life.  Smoke on people!  Smoke on.

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