Irish Pub Night Just Got Better

Well, I've been REALLY neglecting my blog lately...sorry that I haven't written since the joy of Kansas...not that i have a big following of readers!

For those of you who don't know, Matt, Rae, and I go out just about every week to an Irish pub...not hard to do when there are 30 billion of them in the Twin Cities. Well, last night Matt chose not to join us and did he ever miss out! Rachel suggested a bar that she heard about from a friend. It was called the Half Time Rec Bar...not exactly an Irish name, but we were guarenteed that it was Irish.

Well we knew it would be great as we pulled up to it. It was in a very residential area and looked like a Winona townie bar...similar to the Cozy Corner (Jean knows what i mean). The still had signs up from St. Patrick's Day. Across the street there was a sign that said DEAF CHILD AREA, but it was hanging upside down. And on the bar's sign, it said "Live Irish Music" but the H in Irish wasn't on the same line as the rest of the word...and the was a $ instead of an S. I knew I was going to love it there. Rachel and I both commented on how we wished Jean had been with us...she would have loved it.

When we got inside, there was a little old man on a bar stool sitting next to the door. We think he was their version of a bouncer. He greeted us with a tip of his hat and a "Good evening ladies". Later we found out his name was Bud...of course it was. The inside decor matched the outside appearance very well. A long wooden bar with polaroids of customers under the plexi-glass, a plethora of over-weight men and women, all sorts of people in irish hats and sweaters...actually speaking with Irish accents! There was even aman drunkenly dancing with a pool cue. We had found a true Irish pub indeed! As Rachel and I sat there drinking our Strongbow (which is actually a British cider...) we were trying totalk over the extremely loud Irish trio that was playing an odd mix of music. The announced that they had CDs for sale. Sadly, Rae and I forgot to pick one up. They also had T-Shirts for sale in case you were wondering.

After finishing our drinks we decided it was time to head out...we had enjoyed out time at the Rec (which apparently has bocce ball games in the basement), but we didn't want to over stay our welcome on our first trip. So we left, but not before Bud said, "Good night ladies, drive home safe." Thanks Bud, we will, and we'll see you again soon.