Saturday, January 8th, 2011—Bar 363

Friday, January 7th, 2010—Bar 363

The Tartan Inn 

First off, the old donation bell has rung twice today while I’m here in the home stretch! My friend, Torquil Scott-Dewar has sent in a generous donation of 30 dollars and included this message: “For beer and a couple of shots of Jager!” This isn’t the first donation that Torquil has sent in and I appreciate your generosity, my friend. However, I don’t think I’ll be doing any Jager shots, the last time I did those I ended up in jail. It’s a long story and one I’ll tell at a later date, but suffice to say, it wiped out the taste of Jager for good for me! Thanks, Torquil!

Steven Altemus sent in a generous donation of 50 dollars and his message simply stated: “For the finale.” Thank you so much, Steven! This bar crawl has not been cheap and every cent that was sent in was used in buying drinks for myself and people I’d meet. If for some reason you sent money in and I didn’t thank you, it’s because I get tons of spam email and maybe missed your notification from PayPal. Thanks to you all, I don’t think I could’ve afforded to keep going on my own limited fundage.

Okay, today I’m hitting the Tartan Inn. I’m here in Peoria and while there are lots of places to go to, my friend and Journal Star writer, Phil Luciano recommended this place, so you know it’s going to be a good stop (and if you missed Phil’s column yesterday which was about Peoria, New York and Yours Fooly, check it out here: “It’s A Wonderful Life.”) Plus it’s rumored that my old friend Joe Waugh may be stopping by, so let’s go check it out.

Here we are at the Tartan Inn. My mom grew up about a block from here.

It's just a little after noon, so there's plenty of seats at the bar, hey that guy looks kind of familiar.

And it's none other than Phil Luciano, bottle of Bud in hand (would you expect any less?) As noted yesterday, Phil is one half of the Markley/Luciano radio show, get the details of the show here: Markley/Luciano show.

But thoughts of Phil vanished as the pretty and friendly Val approached me with the first beer of the day.

Jimmy C. was seated next to me and he's a regular at the bar. He lives in the neighborhood and is a good guy.

And here's Gary, seated at the end of the bar. I didn't have to ask if he's a regular here, he's just got the look of one. Hey, after 362 bars you get to have a sixth sense about this stuff.

And here's Val and Gary, chatting at the end of the bar as I wander around and bug people with the 365 camera.

They have a state of the art dartboard in here.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're proud to introduce the musical stylings of Karen Carpenter! Okay, that was a little tasteless, but would you expect anything less from me?

Val pumps up the volume...

As Phil puts some tunes on the jukebox. The party is kicking into high gear now.

There's tables and stools up front, but I'm staying away from them right now, a little too bright for my tastes!

Check out the specials on the board, there's free hot pussy tomorrow. Damn, I'm going to miss that...and I love Chinese food.

Here's Mike at the bar who just got here to enjoy the afternoon's festivities.

It's starting to fill up in here.

Here's a trio of hooligans up to no good on a Friday afternoon. From left: Phil, Yours Fooly and Nate. Nate works third shift and lives in the neighborhood, as do a majority of the fine patrons in here.

And here's Justin! Justin's a fan of the 365 blog, so he immediately knew what pose to strike, excellent work, Justin!

And here he is, my old friend Joe Waugh! Joe and I have had many adventures in the past and I'd love to write about them, but I don't know if the statute of limitations is up on any of them. Thanks for coming by, Joe, I'm sure I'll see you and maybe some other Waughs before this is over.

Here's the legendary Peck with Phil at the bar. Peck's done a lot in his day and it turns out he was friends of my uncle Bill Wombacher. The two of them hung out at the Puff back in the day. Oh if only the Puff was still open, it would've made the bar crawl for sure. To Peck and my uncle Bill!

Here's a shot black and white shot of Peck behind the bar that Phil discovered somewhere. Let's just say that Peck is "mugging" it up for the camera.

And here's the lovely Val serving it up. As you can see, Justin is a little more than hungry. I wonder what that fellow has been smoking?

I was getting ready to go when Donna wandered in and posed with me for the 365 camera.

And here she is with Phil unleashing her inner Gene Simmons.

Okay, final shots are poured...

And drank! Thanks to everybody for stopping by and to the Tartan Inn and to Val for the hospitality, definitely a highlight on the old bar crawl! Cheers and good afternoon, everybody!

Review

The Tartan Inn is a nice neighborhood joint in West Peoria. It’s not fancy, but it’s clean and a nice, friendly place to have a beer or seven in. The patrons are an eclectic mix of mainly neighborhood locals, but strangers and newbies are treated friendly if you walk in with a smile on your face and maybe a few bucks to buy a few shots for some of the new friends you’ll make in here. If you’re lucky, Val is bartending and you’ll be treated to one of the prettiest and friendliest bartenders in the Peoria area. If you see Luciano, buy him a beer, tell him a story and the odds are you’ll get two beers back and three stories to boot. And his stories are always killers.

There’s a full bar with a good selection of bottled beers and a couple of draft selections to be had. There’s nightly drink specials and pizza and chips are available to soak up the suds. Sometimes hamburgers are passed out in here and other times the patrons are (hardy, har har!) And the sign on the wall guarantees that there’s free hot pussy...tomorrow. The story of my life!

 The Tartan Inn

428 N. Waverly

Peoria, Illinois

309-495-8149

Friday, January 7th, 2011—Bar 362

Thursday, January 6th, 2010—Bar 362

Jerry’s Bar

First off, I’d like to thank Phil Luciano for writing about me in his column today in the Journal Star, check it out here: "It's A Wonderful Life." Phil joined the bar crawl the last time I was in Peoria and if you missed that post, here’s a link to it: Phil and Marty at The Trolley. In addition to writing for the Journal Star and teaching at Bradley, Phil also has a great morning radio show with Jamie Markley on 102.3 Max FM. Check it out here: Markley and Luciano. See you at lunch today, Phil!

Alright, time to reveal where I’m traveling to (pretty much everyone knows anyway)...Peoria, Illinois. Yeah, just like Bob Dylan, I’m bringing it all back home.  One trouble with today’s bar is I’ve done the early morning bars in LaGuardia Airport and I only have so much time in O’Hara Airport in Chicago to make my connection to Peoria. So where can I go for my nightly bar? Well, the answer is simple: Jerry’s Bar in my parents basement. This is a bar that’s been transplanted from the house I grew up in, to the place where my parents live today. I’ve had a lot of kooky times at this bar through the years, I’ve probably drank over thousands of beers here, I’ve passed out on top of it and tonight, I share a drink a few beers with my parents at it. And you’re welcome to join the party! But first we have to get to Peoria, so let’s go see if the car service guy is downstairs.

Okay, he was right on time and we're off to LaGuardia Airport. Usually these cars smell like a combination of bad curry and diarrhea have a distinct odor to them, but today's is fine. But the driver is rattling on about his girlfriend and I can only understand like every fourth word. This is going to be a long ride.

And through the magic of the internet, here we are! Check out the sign in the back, thanks for the Jefferson Airplane moment, LaGuardia Airport!

Been there, done that, but I need a couple pre-flight drinks, so we'll do it again.

Caroline's the pretty and friendly bartender on duty. (I think it's Caroline, I lost the napkin I wrote your name on, if I'm wrong feel free to correct me in the comments section below.)

Cheers and prepare for take-off...

And landing! Welcome to Peoria...deja vu...didn't we do this like a week ago? Lisa Fink should make a donation for all this free advertising I'm giving her!

And here we are, Jerry's Bar! Let's get inside, it's downright freezing here in the midwest.

It's located at the foot of this tartan-colored stairwell.

And here it is, just how I remember it. There's a couple people at the bar, but I see a seat at the end, let's go snag it.

And here's the friendly bartender Jerry, serving up the first of many ice-cold Budweisers.

Cheers, from Jerry's Bar. I better behave down here or I'll get sent to my room for the evening.

Free snacks! Pistachio peanuts! Actually there's a whole pantry of food upstairs, I always gain about five pounds when I come here.

The bar is illuminated by this unique lamp at the end.

The official Jerry's Bar coasters.

As you can see, it's not quite a "full bar..."

But there's plenty of beer in the refrigerator off to the side of the bar. I think that'll hold me for the night.

And here I am with the other pretty and beautiful patron at Jerry's Bar, my mom!

The base of the bar is made from wooden casks, sadly they're empty.

Comfortable stools line the front of the bar.

There's a pool table off to the side of the bar. This doesn't get much action these days, but back in the days when my parents would go on vacation and my brother Jim and I would have a week-long party in the house, the pool table and bar saw lots of action. I'm sure it's bringing back fuzzy memories to a lot of readers out there. I bet there's even a fellow clutching an axe while reading this and remembering the good times of our youth.

A long shot of one end of the bar.

And a shot from the other end of the Formica-topped bar.

Here's bartender Jerry posing with some fellows that are hanging around.

And here I am with four good Buddies at the bar. Goodnight, everybody!

Review

 

There’s no place like home. (Click heels three times.)

P.S. Once again while in Peoria, I won't have much access to the internet, so I won't be able to comment much here or on other people's blogs. Thanks for following me to the home stretch!

Jerry’s Bar

Peoria, Illinois

Thursday, January 6th, 2011—Bar 361

Day 361—Wednesday, January 5th, 2010
Slate

First off, another last minute donation, from friend, commentator, blogger and DJ extraordinaire, Gidget! Gidget sent in a generous donation with this message: “ok 20 bucks for you back home in peoria. and an extra five for good measure.” Thanks Gidget, that’s very generous. For those of you that don’t know Gidget started the 365 Facecrack fan page and maintains it with our resident artist, “Boris.” And she has a great radio show on Woody Radio, check it out here: Woody Radio.

I got a nice write up today on a friend of mine's blog. Check it out here: Groovyrick's Blog. Thanks, Rick, I'll see you soon on the bar crawl!

Okay, I’m not working tonight because tomorrow I’m traveling. Yes, that’s right, I’m traveling, as in flying out of New York City. What’s going on here? Well that’s for me to know and you to find out. Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah! Anyway, I need to find a place nearby because I still need to pack and get to bed early because my car service to the airport is coming at the ungodly hour of 7am. Yikes! Luckily I remembered a place I’ve been meaning to go to for a while, Slate on 21st Street which is just five short blocks away. We’ll be there before you know it. Watch.

See, here we are, let's go check it out.

Wow, a long and winding bar. And since it's four in the afternoon, there's tons of seats. You should see this place on the weekends, it's three deep at the bar then.

Here's Jamie, the friendly and pretty bartender serving up the first beer.

I'm keeping it down to my minimum of three beers tonight, because I still have to go home and pack. I need to keep my wits about me, my last trip I forgot my cell phone and camera charger. But I guess that's better than the time I left my suitcase at the Hilton Bar across from the O'Hare Airport and showed up at my parents house empty-handed at Christmas. Whoops! I think I'm the only person in the world who's mom says to him before he travels, "Now don't leave your suitcase at a bar on the way home again."

Peace, love, beers and cheers!

As you can see, it's a full bar in here, I don't think they're going to run out of booze anytime soon.

The bar from my point of view.

Louie was seated next to me at the bar. He's the manager/operator of Slate. He was very supportive of the 365 idea and was happy I chose Slate as my last New York bar. Last New York bar? Did I say that, well, never mind.

Here's a shot of the bar from the other end.

I found this lively crew up front by the door. From left: Abby, Carla, Nerissa and Colin. Nerissa is part of a blog called, Magenta Speakers that's part fashion, part music, part fun and part sex. Well I gotta check that out and so should you, here's a link to the blog: Magenta Speakers.

Here's the lit-up stairwell that leads to the pool tables and games on the second floor. "And she's buying a stairway to...billiards?"

There's lots of tournament style pool tables down here.

Foosball!

Ping pong!

And if you don't feel like playing games, you can always play the piano! I'm having a Bill's flashback.

Meanwhile back at the bar, Jamie's taking care of business.

Okay, my third beer is done, I have to go home and pack. God I hope I don't leave my luggage in a bar tomorrow. Goodnight, everybody!

Review

Alright, as I said up in the introduction I’m traveling today. And no I’m not saying where, but I don’t have time to write a review because the car service will be here any minute. Here’s a review from New York magazine (it's a critics pick).

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Like playing games with your date? Well, whether you're looking to work through dominance issues or you just want to meet up with friends to shoot some pool, this is the best billiard joint in Chelsea. Though it's not the cheapest place to rack 'em up, this well-lit bi-level pool hall maintains its tables beautifully. And unlike with many of its competitors, there's more than enough room between the tables: You'll actually spend more time between shots conversing with your own group than enduring the inevitable drama at nearby tables. There's also food available in the attractive upstairs dining room. — Charles Runnette

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Okay, I’m off! Stay tuned to see where my travels are taking me. Cheers!

Slate
54 W. 21st St. (Near Sixth Ave.)
212-989-0096

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Bonus art from The Chief!
The Chief who runs the fine Peoria Bar Review, sent in a piece of art he created at our Christmas stop, The Last Chance. The drawing is of someone I took a photo of. See if you can match it up! Thanks for the artwork, Chief!