The February Issue Of Chicago Magazine

I perused the February issue of Chicago Magazine the other day. The cover story is "Best New Bars," and as usual, I was not overly impressed with their choices. Of the 10 new bars, only one really appealed to me, the tenth out of ten, which is Monochrome Brewing, located in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. From the description, it sounds like a nice, laid-back place popular with families and beer drinkers, where everyone feels at home. Most of the other choices seemed to feature cocktails I would not drink in a million years, served by bartenders dressed like the guy in the cover photo. And no doubt expensive as hell. On the other hand, I did enjoy an article by Rich Cohen titled Unlovable Losers. Cohen laments the fact that all of Chicago's sports teams stink these days, which reminds him of a similar situation in 1981, when he was 12. The only winning team that year was the Chicago Sting, a pro soccer team that no longer exists. Every other team in the city was horrible. But just two years later a golden age for sports in Chicago began: the White Sox won their division in 1983, the Cubs won theirs in 1984, the Bears were gearing up for a blowout Super Bowl win a few years later, and Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were about to lead the Chicago Bulls on their run of six titles in eight years. The message: Chicago sports fans should not lose hope. Better times are coming. Perhaps I should get my bets down on a White Sox - Cubs World series this year. Or perhaps not.

A Cold Day To Be Sitting Outside

I took a short walk in Denver's Washington Park yesterday afternoon. It was 14 degrees outside, and so there were very few people out and about. I took a photograph of the Washington Park Boathouse from the far side of a frozen Smith Lake, and when I turned around, noticed the guy sitting on a bench in the photograph above. I can see taking a short walk when it is 14 degrees, but definitely not sitting down on a bench and hanging out. The man had a bicycle next to him, and so perhaps he was just catching his breath. Hopefully he wasn't homeless, which is a horrible thing to be in these temperatures. There are cold weather shelters people can go to here in Denver when it gets this cold, and the libraries allow the homeless to hang out there during the hours they are open, but some people prefer to stay outside. The other day I drove past someone camping out on the freeway overpass on East Evans Avenue in equally miserable weather conditions, and wondered how they could possibly stand it. Mike Johnson, Denver's new mayor, has made housing the homeless a priority, and has achieved many of his goals in a short period of time. But they can't force people to go inside. If I was in a similar situation, I would head to San Diego immediately.

A Trip To Clear Creek In Winter

I stopped in Golden yesterday afternoon and took a short walk to Clear Creek, where I took the above photograph. There were a fair number of people walking around, despite the 28-degree temperatures, but the tubers and kayakers that are drawn to the creek in the summer are long gone. Coors Brewery, the largest single brewing facility in the world, is located on Clear Creek in Golden, just downriver from where I took this photo. I have always joked that Coors simply takes the water from this creek as it passes by the brewery, and immediately adds it to their kettles, with all those tubers and kayakers simply adding to the flavor of the beers they brew. But now that RFK Jr. is the new Health and Human Services Secretary, could that become a reality? After all, he believes in drinking raw milk and is against putting fluoride in the water. Not to mention being a rabid anti-vaxxer. Could he decide treating water is bad, and advocate for "raw water" instead. Now THAT would definitely put you off your beer.

Watching Tottenham Play Manchester United With Mark And The Colorado Spurs

My friend Mark - seen in the photograph on the left - and I went to Esters Pub in Denver's Virginia Village neighborhood to watch the Tottenham Hotspurs play Manchester United with the Colorado Spurs Supporters Club. We arrived before the game started, but every table in the place was taken, and we were about to leave when a young couple invited us to join them at their table, which was a really nice thing to do. Before moving to Denver, they lived in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, in addition to Lincoln Park and Lakeview, and so we had a lot to talk about.

The Tottenham fans were very enthusiastic, and the guys sitting at the bar would occasionally start singing "When the Spurs go Marching in," to the tune of "When the Saints go Marching in." Several times they went into a chant that featured "Yeats." None of them looked like devotees of late 19th and early 20th Century Irish poetry, but you never know. We also heard that chant the last time we were at Esters, but I haven't the vaguest idea what it is all about. Tottenham has been struggling lately and are currently in 12th place in the English Premier League, but they wound up beating Manchester United 1-0. Since Manchester United is in 15th place, the win was not surprising, but it definitely made the fans at Esters happy. A very fun morning.

Winter Returns...

Like much of the country, Colorado is experiencing still more snow and cold this weekend. In the mountains, some towns, such as Vail and Grand Lake, have received over a foot of snow, and while Denver received only an inch or two, the cold temperatures kept virtually everyone out of Washington Park yesterday. In fact, with only two exceptions, including the jogger in the photograph on the left, the only people in the park were walking their dogs. And this coming Tuesday and Wednesday, Arctic cold will return, with highs in the teens and lows God knows what. The only good thing is that in Colorado, it will not be long before the sun comes out and the temperatures climb into the 50s and 60s, as opposed to Chicago, where once winter comes, it can stay miserable for months on end.

Denver proudly states on its tourist brochures that the city has over 300 days of sunshine a year. And I am here to say that the sun shines a lot here. However, when local newscasts have looked into how this figure was calculated, nobody can find the answer.  I do - they made it up, but it might be true. In any case, away from the park people were out and about, shoveling sidewalks, driving to the grocery store, and doing other assorted errands. And some brave souls headed up to the mountains in an attempt to get to the ski resorts, hoping to take advantage of that "fresh powder." And wound up driving for hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic, on snow packed roads, through a snowstorm. Fun! And expensive! As for me, just hanging out in Washington Park for a short while is the best way to experience "fresh powder." And it is free! My favorite price point.

Brooklyn Memories

And no, I am not talking about one of the 5 boroughs in New York City. I am talking about Brooklyn's the restaurant and bar located on lower Colfax Avenue here in Denver. It is now actually called The Original Brooklyn's to distinguish it from the Brooklyn's on Auraria Parkway near Ball Arena, home of the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets. This Brooklyn's is located at the edge of the parking lot for Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos. Needless to say, it is packed during the football season, but much quieter during the offseason. Lower Colfax runs below the Colfax Avenue overpass that connects downtown Denver with the Sloans Lake neighborhood and was once an area filled with warehouses and factories.

The building Brooklyn's is in was built in 1896 and located in the predominately Jewish neighborhood of Colfax. Around the turn of the 20th Century, a number of shopkeepers incorporated a small section of the town and named it Brooklyn, after Brooklyn, New York, due to the many Jewish immigrants who settled in the neighborhood. At the time, anyone heading to the foothills or going into Denver, including herds of cattle, had to pass by this building. A man named Eli Schachet, a prominent member of the Jewish community, rented and eventually purchased the building to house his meat business, and it eventually became a mercantile and community gathering place. Customers included Jack Benny, the Marx Brothers, and Bugsy Siegel. Eli's son Nelson took over the business, and from him it was purchased to become Brooklyn's, which opened in December of 1983.

I have had dinner here a number of times over the years and really enjoy the ambiance. The last time I visited the place was when the Colorado Buffalos and Colorado State Rams were playing each other in Empower Field. The place was packed, and I went out into the outside patio and had a beer at the bar. It is a really pleasant space to hang out, although as you can see from the photograph on the left, it is not too popular during the winter. Also, on that occasion, the neighborhood was still filled with factories and warehouses. When I stopped by the other day, I noticed that a huge apartment building was going up right next door. And there are plans to turn the parking lots of Empower Field, just across the street, into a mixed-use development. Also, Meow Wolf, the interactive art museum (called Convergence Station here in Denver) is located just up the street. Evidently a lot of visitors to that art space stop at Brooklyn's first, because their web site warns them to make sure they arrive on time at Convergence Station, since they are sticklers concerning ticketed entrance times. Otherwise, if you are turned away, you might wind up back at Brooklyn's to drown your sorrows. There are worse things that can happen in life.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is Valentine's Day, and in honor of this holiday, I am featuring a photograph of my then-wife Lisa and myself down in Stuart, Florida back in March of 1985. That was 40 years ago, which is a lot of time under the bridge (the Palm City Bridge), as seen in the background of the photo.  Astute Stuart, Florida aficionados will recognize that the bridge was still a single span at the time that photo was taken. And let me tell you, it was no joy living close to that bridge as they pounded the pilings into the St. Lucie River while building the second span. But I digress. Lisa and I always enjoyed our time down in Florida and visited not only my mother Mary in Stuart, but Lisa's grandparents, too, who lived across the peninsula in Venice, Florida. We divorced a little over 2 years after that photo was taken. We still keep in touch, but for both of us, it seems like a different lifetime. Hopefully, most of you out there are still together and will enjoy a pleasant and happy time. Happy Valentine's Day!