My Brother's Bar

My sister Susan and I stopped at My Brother's Bar (seen in the photograph on the left) in Lower Downtown Denver this past Saturday night for a beer. And yes, there is no sign outside identifying it - everybody in town just knows where it is. This bar and restaurant is the oldest in Denver, and has been in continuous operation since 1873. I have not been in the place since the 1980s, and did not remember how charming it is, what with the old wooden bar, tin ceiling, and cozy atmosphere. Members of the Beat Generation, including Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac, used to hang out here, and unlike other places they used to frequent, such as Charlie Brown's Bar and Grill, it actually serves draft beer. The Buckhorn Exchange, dating from 1893, is another place that doesn't serve draft beer. What is the deal with that? They don't still light those places with gas lamps, after all, so why not put a few microbrews on tap?

In the back of My Brother's Bar is an outdoor patio, which features the Platte Street Streetcar seen in the photograph on the right. I am not sure how they obtained it - perhaps the driver of that streetcar crashed it along the side of the road, left it there, and then went into the bar for a stiff drink. Another possibility is that it was left behind when the Forney Museum of Transportation moved out of the Denver Tramway Building next door to make room for REI: "Oh my God! We forgot the Platte Street Streetcar!" "Never mind. We can't go back for it now." I much prefer guessing what happened than just looking it up on the internet, as regular blog readers have probably guessed by now. More fun - and a lot easier - that way.