Slithering Along on the Greenwich Village Literary Pub Crawl
Crawling from pub to pub in New York City isn’t my usual Saturday afternoon activity of choice. But this particular day was unique. Accompanied by my Divine Daughter-in-law, Hannah, and lovely wife, Nancy, we were enjoying a thoroughly captivating and humourous tour of some of the Big Apple’s oldest and historic watering holes. Bakerloo Theatre’s weekly Greenwich Village Literary Pub Crawl was our venue. Best of all, a handsome and talented young actor was regaling us with anecdotes about the murky pasts of the establishments we visited and the famous authors that frequented them. Coincidentally, the personable young performer happened to be my oldest son, Eric Chase. Entertainment defined our adventure. Eric and his co-conspirator, Curt Kingsley, amused and amazed us with scandalous stories of literary giants living on the edge. Stout was our brew of choice at the Whitehorse Tavern where Dylan Thomas drank himself to death, collapsing in the tiny toilet room and dying shortly after. Eric brought him into our midst with a compelling recitation of Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. We crawled On the Road with Jack Kerouau at Kettle of Fish, formerly Lion’s Head and Monty’s Bar, a frequent haunt of Bob Dylan. Urban legend has it the sight of a ferocious brawl between Mr. Tambourine Man and Andy Warhol. Perhaps they only exchanged nasty looks - accounts vary. Continuing our crawl through the narrow streets of The Village, obligatory visits were made to the former home of Edna St. Vincent Millay and the erstwhile site of the jailhouse where Mae West was temporarily confined for naughty behavior. Creeping ended in a dank, below-ground bar, Marie’s Crisis Cafe, previously a speakeasy and house of lesser repute. Bud Light was the choice of beverage in this Eugene O’Neill hangout of a bygone era. All pretty heady stuff for a small town boy from Topsham, Maine. Coupled with a magnificient dance performance that evening by Hannah in View Partially Obstructed at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, it was enough to convert this rural Mainer into a big city kid. Visit the Bakerloo Theatre website at www.bakerloo.org/pubcrawl for particulars and photos of the pub crawl. Maybe you’ll get Eric as your tour guide! They take walk-ins.
For information on our book, Mountains for Mortals - New England, and exciting adventures outside the New York City limits, go to our website, www.ronchaseoutdoors.com.