Bar Tuesdays: Season Two, Week Six

Season Two – Week Six: Nick-a-Nee’s

Oh, Nick-a-Nee’s. I have a long history with this bar, but I won’t get into all of that. I’ve only been a few times in the past, but I do love it. It’s the melting pot of America in there. Whenever I tell anyone about the place, I always include the fact that there is usually a dog wandering around in there. When I arrived the other night and went to the bar to get a drink, I was immediately met with a dog’s nose right up my ass. AWESOME. Then the dog wandered off into the KITCHEN before being led outside a few minutes later to hang on the deck area outside. Paul saw him out there on his way in, but sadly, he was gone before anyone else arrived and before I could get a picture. Damn.

I was also unable to get pictures of most of the bar because it was jamming in there. We’re not used to a full crowd when we go, so we ended up hanging in the “VIP” banquette table for the night and weren’t able to explore the bar as much as we’re used to. But hey, we were rolling in the crushed velvet & held-together-by-duct-tape VIP booth, baby:

Unfortunately for us, the bar now features live music some nights, so we weren’t able to take advantage of their jukebox as the band was setting up when we got there. They set up in front of the jukebox, so I couldn’t even get a picture of it, but it is really my favorite part of the bar, because it is actually two CD jukeboxes hooked together with this big, long bench in front so you can peruse all of the selections. I love that jukebox bench! From what I can remember, the selection is very eclectic, tending more towards folk, classic rock and indie stuff. The last time I was there a few years ago I played some songs off of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. So no jukebox for us, but we did have live music in the form of a pretty awesome 3 piece band:

First of all, one of the guys was named Clem, which is just fantastic all by itself. Plus, look at that giant upright bass!!! Who plays that in a dive bar? (Clem, that’s who. Actually, I don’t really know which one was Clem.) But see that guy on the saxophone there? He didn’t stop there – he also played the clarinet for some tunes, and then topped it all off by whipping out an accordion later and jamming away.

PAM: Hey, we’ve got our first Bar Tuesday accordion appearance!

FRITO: And hopefully our last.

But seriously, the band was actually really good. A lot of the people in the crowd seemed to be there for them, or else it was just a really rowdy crowd because a lot of the fisherman-looking men were just randomly whooping in the middle of songs. Oh, did I not mention the large amount of homeless looking people and guys who looked like fishermen there? Oh yes, and we loved it. I felt like I really needed some facial hair to fit in properly. At one point, Paul and I went outside for a few minutes and several men came outside to spit. Just spit, no tobacco or anything – just letting loose some standard loogies. It was bizarre, yet completely awesome at the same time. Inside, one guy got Frito all excited because he started laughing, and when he opened his mouth, he only had two teeth, and they were placed exactly like those of the Hungry Hungry Hippos. Hungry Hungry Hippo in the house! In addition to the homeless and fishermen, there were also young hipsters mixed in, including one who looked exactly like Jack Osbourne, as well as middle-aged business types – like I said, the melting pot of America!

Since we were pretty much stuck in our little corner of the bar because of the crowd and the band, we had to find other ways to amuse ourselves. The giant shots helped Josh get into the spirit:

Those still don’t explain this random picture of our feet, though:

As you know, I’m a big Bar Tuesday snacker – I usually buy chips, but this time I decided to bring my own along since I have discovered a wondrous thing (and since they were serving pickled eggs behind the bar – holla, Moe’s Tavern!). And what is that wondrous thing? Burger King Ketchup & Fries Chips:

Holy crap, y’all. Have you had these? I saw them in the vending machine at work one day and was a bit frightened by them, but I had to buy them because I am a Burger King Whore. I would eat there every day if I had my way. Anyway, so I was very scared to try the chips because I am not big on the strange-flavored chips, but you guys? These taste just like ketchup and fries, which in some cases may not be good, but in this one is awesome. They are seriously so, so good. Michael was very apprehensive about trying them:

…and still remains the one person I’ve met who didn’t like them. The rest of us? Devoured them. That bag just kept getting passed around the table until it was empty and Paul was left pouring the crumbs into his mouth.

Josh’s orgasmic reaction.

Pure satisfaction.

The rest of the night was just spent with the eight of us throwing some back and laughing our heads off, which is what Bar Tuesdays is all about anyway.

(Michael, much happier that the chips nightmare is over.)

Bathroom Report: The ladies room was fine, but Josh took the liberty of leaving me a note in my Official Bar Tuesdays notepad with this report on the men’s room:

”Men’s bathroom: toilet ‘stranded’ without walls amongst two urinals. Nice paint job (orange w/auburn accents), but a woman’s touch is required.”

If I had known about that before I left the bar, I would have made him take my camera in for a picture of the stranded toilet. That is awesome.

Game Report: Playmaker, Pirates of the Caribbean pinball machine, and my favorite, one of those cloth checkerboard tablecloths with the giant checkers on a table in the corner. Sadly, people were sitting there so we couldn’t play or get a picture.