A Clean Well Lighted Place

This was Hemingway's name for a bar in Latin America, and also his metaphor for the need to find one's oasis from the tumult of the world. I was at one of mine last night --Trulucks.

They're going to celebrate their one year anniversary soon. The manager, Ilde, came over and joked about putting up my name on a plaque by the side of the bar. I told him one should only get such an honor after ordering his 10,000th martini, and I had quite a way to go. But, I reminded Ilde --I never shy away from a challenge.

I took Mirta in for a spell, and we caught up on all the chisme (Spanish for gossip). I told her a tale about a friend's divorce, with developments right out of "The Sopranos." We caught up about her sons and grandkids, and the Ds and Wifey.

The bartenders Ian and George greeted her like a sister. George handed her a recipe card someone had left behind, for Ropa Vieja --literally old rope --a Cuban dish that is delicious when cooked well...

I had one drink, and Mirta her usual --a pomegranate martini, and we shared some cheeseburger sliders.

It really is nice to go where everybody knows your name...and with $7 per cocktail prices, I can be Mr. Big Shot each visit without dipping too deep into the old 401K...

We left after about an hour, and I saw my old friend the piano player. I gave Mirta a tip to put in his jar, and he thanked us.

Folks ask me all the time why I don't travel more. The answer is I love it here. Give me a drink, good conversation, and some good music, and I'm as happy as I can be...

Still, we leave Sunday for a one week trip. For the last 3 years, we've taken a Fall trip with Eric and Dana. The first was North Carolina, and last year we toured Maine. This year we decided to go lazy, and booked a cruise on one of the new mega ships, the Something or Other of the Seas...I never remember.

Anyway, Wifey invited her best friend Edna, and her husband Marc, and we 6 will be off this SUnday...

More drinking, more good conversation, and a lot more food. We're going to Nassau, St. Thomas, and another St...We'll show our friends Graycliff in Nassau, one of the restaurants of my family lore... In St. Thomas we plan to visit with our new friend's brother, who is a rabbi there, and maybe see the very old synagogue, built in Columbus's time...

I look forward to laughter, of course. Ahoy.

And then I'll return to Trulucks, of course, and tell my tales to George and Ian. It's nice to have a clean, well lighted place...