Life At 36" High

View from atop a barstool

[barobservationist]

Winter Cosmo @ Culpepper's, Rockwall Texas

After a trying week at the office, I simply wanted a quiet place to drink an exquisite cosmopolitan. When nothing came to mind, I opted for quiet first and decided I would figure out the right beverage secondarily.   The truth about me is that I can carry a grudge.......for a really long time. Some time years back during lunch at Culpepper's in Rockwall, I was served something that was the equivalent of a fish stick of Salmon. At this point, I can't remember if it was on a salad or on top of a bed of noodles, but two of us ordered the same thing and my piece of fish was so small I sent it back asking for the rest.  Sadly, the staff didn't see the opportunity to make it right and told me that was all the fish I was getting, even if it didn't match the size of my companion's fish.  I told them that if that was their decision, I would simply never eat there again, and they were ok with that.  And THAT my friends is why I only drink at Culpepper's, something like 10 years later. It's not my go to location, but it DOES serve a purpose on occasion, to provide a well poured drink in a quiet atmosphere.  The people that cycle through the bar are also very interesting.  Culpepper's tends to attract a wealthier and sometimes douchier patron.  I LOVE to visit with the douches.  They remind me not to ever take myself or life, too seriously.   Anyway, I DO like Mike, one of the regular bartenders there. Mike says he knows exactly what I need, and steers me to the Winter Cosmo.  This martini glass of goodness is JUST what the doctor ordered with premium vodka, white cranberry juice and cointreau with a splash of lime. And just like that, the week melted away and I'm in love.......again.  

[barobservationist]

Tanning for NOLA

Only me. No really, only ME.

I wanted to have a little color before heading out on this trip, and I kept forgetting about it until today. So I booked a mobile tanning person from my area to meet me at the house at 7:30 tonight. I have to do a week'a worth of shaving and exfoliating before she arrives.

Fridays at work, we often have a beer down. A little relaxing time at the end of a week where we have all been killing ourselves at the office. 2 beers in I exit to come home. Traffic sucks...bad.....and I didn't pee before I left the office because I'm thinking about how to accomplish what I need before the tanning lady gets there.

I pull up to the ATM in town to get cash for said lady and I'm already doing the potty dance while seated in my car. "Card reader cannot read your card" x 4. I try it the 5th time and decide that maybe it hasn't had time to clear so I hit the cancel button right as the PIN number screen flashes briefly before my cancellation takes over. So now I'm hanging out of an open car door yelling at the machine "are you effing kidding me???" but you know.....the real one. Repeat 5 or so swipes to get another chance. I get my damn money and I now have my thighs so flexed out from having to pee that they're starting to cramp.

I get to the house and throw the back door open for the dogs as I run by on the way to my bathroom and then run smack into my bedroom door because somehow, it's locked.

So in the time it takes to gain some initial relief by going to the guest bathroom, one of the dogs has run off and the clock is ticking on the spray tan lady's arrival. I think it's much more effective to bellow my dog's name to scare him into coming home, so now I've also let the neighbors in on my insanity. I can't get the door open, I gotta EXFOLIATE NOW.

So it's pretty anticlimactic at this point because I have a daughter who has a razor and gloves that her mama got her so alls well except for poor Sam who had to come home and climb thru the window so I could get other clothes cuz somebody isn't very good with a shower curtain during emergency exfoliation and my clothes that were on the floor have become the barrier for escaping shower water.

All this so I could have a little sunny glow for 3-4 days in a town full of people I'll never see again.

Pfft.

[barobservationist]

Guadalupe River RV Resort - aka "The RV"

Yep, the only RV park in Texas with a bar. Man, what a place.  We're actually from Kerrville, Texas and have passed this opportunity up many times as my sister-in-law just says, "Y'all wanna go to the RV?" Yeah, that sounds good, like redneck trailer trash + my hispanic husband sounds like a recipe for disaster kind of fun. Sure, why not? So we go to "The RV", kinda early, you know....cuz we're old OR we needed an escape from local family early in the day. One is as likely as the other.  Hmmmm....drinks are good and the beer is ice cold and if you didn't bring a koozie, it's ok! They have one you can borrow. (Remind me to tell y'all about how our koozies go everywhere with us and how many friends we've made for just that reason. Have koozie, will travel).   It's summer time and we're relaxing in the shade at a table formerly known as a cable spool for the local telephone company.  It's breezy, it's shady, it's freaking perfect.  It's not too long before Karaoke breaks out. Oh hell, we're gonna have to go before the trailer cats start howlin'. But wait!  These guys are good! Some of them are karaoke good, but some of them are get-me-a-record-contract kind of good.

We're having a great time and then things get weird, cuz this little Mexican feller is going to do some singing and before you know it, you're listening to Johnny Rodriguez sing karaoke to, well of course, Johnny Rodriguez!  

Are you kidding me? 

The night proceeds to get a little weirder when the DJ flat falls off his DJ stool and I'm sure he's dead drunk or just plain dead.  Some folks run over to check on him but one guy decides to cover for him and just sing a little a cappella until the situation changes.  Sure enough, the guy wasn't dead, although I think he took the rest of the night off, and the party and the singing continues.   I'm not sure if I would want to stay at "The RV" if I was looking for rest, but if I was looking for good drinks, great music and was open to hearing/seeing/tasting/feeling/touching anything, this is the place to go.

[barobservationist]

Munich, Germany - The Hoffbrau.  Share a beer and a table with the world's friendliest patrons. Language is no barrier here!

[barobservationist]

The Bulldog - New Orleans

[barobservationist]

Eating Face in New Orleans

Cachon in the New Orleans warehouse district. We really like this place….a lot. We had the Wood-fired oysters with chili garlic butter, the Boucherie plate and the Mac & Cheese. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should tell you that Mac and cheese is a standard go-to for us. All were amazing, but I was surprised at how much “face” is on the Boucherie plate. Not that there’s anything wrong with face, it’s just…..you know…….face. We had head cheese and some type of ham that also came from a pig head, which loosely means to me that the tamale meat market got more competitive.

Here is the genius of their menu: Smoked ham hocks at $24 and spare ribs at $14 means nice margins for the owners. That said, not one person I talked to complained about the price tag, so there you go.

We shared a shot strawberry infused moonshine to finish……exquisite. Totally the way to go......literally and figuratively.

[barobservationist]

Life at 36" High

We like bars. We’d like to think we have observed a great deal sitting at approximately 36” high. We sit at the bar height tables at lunch counters, sandwich shops, ice cream parlors, you name it, we just a feel more comfortable here.

At 53, my husband and I decided to travel more, beginning with an 18 day tour of Europe with our 21 year old daughter. As we were posting about our adventures, friends mentioned that I should really consider writing stories about our bar experiences and observations...especially while on the road.

I hope to note exceptional experiences and make you smile at our exceptionally bad experiences. As I tell my husband during the trying times “It’s all about the story”.  Just ask him about that bus ride from Cabo back to San Jose  ;) Woohoo!