Great American Saloons
Shiftlett, Dave
"Great American Saloons" SERIES By Dave Shiflett Guzzling With the Ghosts Pull up to the ranch house and you step out upon the covered sandstone entry patio laid by President Reagan. Open the...
...Perhaps they've beentalking to Stonewall all these years...
...MORNING RIDES Early mornings at the ranch, President Reagan devoted to what he called his "Washington homework" Then, about 9 o'clock, he rang the bell out-side the tack barn to summon the first lady for their daily ride...
...This custom all-terrain adaptation of the squat, wide-tread military vehicle held several more Secret Service agents, their weapons, medical emergency equipment, telephones and the "football"—the case containing the nation's nuclear-missile launch codes...
...With TJ, one would hope for perhaps an even higher level of conversation: What indeed are the rights of man...
...The Secret Service's John Barletta would ride abreast of the president...
...The Union onslaught forced the Rebs to abandon Richmond, torching a sizable portion of the city in their wake to ensure a proper welcome for Abe Lincoln...
...Like many Fan bars, the Chop House is narrow and long and is a good place for solitary afternoon sipping...
...At its western end, the Goddess of Beer dispenses grog that can stagger a rhino...
...Yet we are not amateurs, and I looked forward to picking the Chaplain's brain on a wide variety of topics: the likelihood of Visigoths in Purgatory, the proper way to execute youth-buggering priests and perhaps a return to the dog-soul question...
...Benedict Arnold skirmished with American forces in the Fan, and less than a century later Stonewall Jackson trained troops here, though to no avail...
...If you're out with a drinking partner, after all, you are likely to try and keep pace, which can take on a dangerously competitive air...
...Under this spell, the Chaplain and I might well have gotten to the dog-soul question early on...
...Ceiling fans Dave Shiflett is a writer in Midlothian, Virginia...
...Further in the distance (and not seen in the many photos taken by the White House photographers of them on their rides) was a Hummer...
...This large sandstone block, at the intersection of two trails, carried the initials "RR + NR" within a heart—carved by Ronald Reagan himself in August 1977...
...Martin Anderson, a senior aide, recalls Reagan telling him that in earlier days he would sometimes ride out on the back trails with a .38-caliber pistol armed with shot shell, bullets which carried the same small shot as used in shotgun shells...
...The good times provided by Johnny and his band, featuring singer Sarah Arthur, would probably put a smile even on Stonewall's grim mug...
...The partner might also, in a moment of exaltation, announce his intention to spring for a cab, all but guaranteeing cataclysmic overindulgence...
...Legends also makes terrific beers, especially the porter and brown ale, whose 6-percent alcohol content makes them worthy of respect and adoration ($3.75 a pint...
...instead, he was cremated and his ashes sunk into the Ganges River while his women fought over his money...
...Should one's funds run dry the partner is likely to ante up—something I a bartender will seldom do...
...Barbara, a radiant blonde, might easily direct us toward the Brooklyner brewery's mighty Salvator, then several other grogs with alcohol ratings of around 10 percent...
...You are struck by the warm informality of the place...
...Indeed, soon I found myself considering the large number of prominent ghosts one might encounter in this old neighborhood, which was established in the 18th century...
...Then again, these being base times he might instead have been asked for the inside story on the alleged liaison with Sally Hemmings...
...This was no minor assignment...
...back soon...
...Heart Rock was another trail ride land-mark...
...Beneath the twirling fans one wonders what these worthies would think about recent developments, such as zero tolerance laws, the major influence wielded by actors, actresses, and other entertainers and the recent declaration by the mayor of New York that smoking should be banned from taverns, restaurants, city parks and basically any place where two or more gather...
...The Fan is perfectly flat, very walkable and teeming with attractive females...
...THE GREAT AMERICAN SALOON SERIES By Dave Shiflett Guzzling With the Ghosts Pull up to the ranch house and you step out upon the covered sandstone entry patio laid by President Reagan...
...I'd use it to shoot rattlesnakes from the saddle," he told Anderson...
...he plan was simple...
...Here we also find Barbara Stells, known to some (ahem) as Richmond's Goddess of Beer...
...It is as if there had been a note on the front door: "We've gone for a ride...
...Rancho del Cielo was purchased in April 1998 by YoungAmerica's Foundation of Herndon, Virginia and Santa Barbara California, which is preserving the ranch as an historical landmark and educational center...
...But the true Ground Zero of Fan drinking is several blocks further west, at the intersection of Main and Robinson streets...
...The 85-block Victorian residential area hosts around 50 bar/restaurants...
...I would haul Tom a few blocks down north on Robinson to the Commercial Taphouse and Grill...
...Unfortunately, just before departure the Chaplain took a tumble down a stairwell (circumstances undisclosed) and was forced to seek medical attention...
...Open the front door and you are in the L-shaped living room/dining room...
...After a few $1.75 longneck Budweisers, he might also entertain the interesting irony that band leader Jerry Garcia never himself became a skeleton...
...He writes "The Virginian" column for The American Prowler...
...There are 10 bars within a three-minute walk...
...Edgar Allen Poe, a slight fellow with an enormous cork problem, was also a local resident...
...Yet solitude was my sole companion, so I headed for the Border Chop House, at 1501 Main...
...If we happened to be out on a Sunday evening, we'd head straight up Main Street to Southern Culture, where Johnny Hot and the Piedmont Soup-rise, the best band in town (if you like jazz classics and great chick singers) plays 7-10 p.m., for free...
...On my own, I opted to visit a handful of favorite haunts...
...First stop: Legend Brewery, which is not in the Fan but just across the James and a perfect staging area...
...SC has a first-rate jambalaya for around $15, and plenty of dancing once the band cuts loose...
...Just down the street stands a warehouse where, according to words painted on its side, Jefferson unveiled his Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom...
...Its staff tends to be female and very attractive, and there is no canned music on the deck, though on Sunday evenings acoustic acts play (6-10 p.m...
...Stonewall and Benedict, meanwhile, would be sent half a block north to the Avalon, a sometime haunt for some of the Fan's more interesting characters, few if any of whom might meet their approval...
...Reagan and another agent rode right behind them...
...One assumes all would be appalled, even Arnold, and would join me for the remainder of the romp...
...These wonderful beers can loosen the tongue, of course, and were the Chaplain around we could discuss the glories of the Fan District as we took the short hop to the easternmost border...
...Come in and make yourself comfortable—the Reagans...
...What does he now think about the French Revolution...
...Well done, lads...
...There is much danger in between...
...A dozen or so yards further is the Bambo, and for dinner they might glide back down Main to Helen's, across from the Starlite...
...Riding was more casual in pre-presidential days...
...Legends, as it is known, has a spectacular deck that over-looks Richmond's humble skyline, most notable for the Federal Reserve Bank, a miniature of a World Trade Center tower (same architect, local stories told us after the strike...
...At its east-ern border are dangerous sinkholes where one might meet the devil himself...
...What were his favorite pieces for the violin...
...Indeed, a good case can be made that solitary drinking is the safest kind, despite warnings that one should never drink alone...
...That's not all bad...
...Edgar could no doubt make a great tale from that...
...It seems reasonable to assume that Tom, lost in the Salvator and Barbara's eyes, would respond: "Sally who...
...Better yet, diners on its slightly elevated deck can watch residents of the group home across the street perform their various rituals, which some-times include conversing with people the rest of us can't see...
...There's a hammerhead shark on the wall near the door, reminding us of nature's ever-present threat, and deeper in are large paintings of a man with a rooster on his shoulder and a girl riding a pig, both of which are open to various interpretations, none especially ennobling...
...no reservations needed...
...It's a first-rate restaurant, and 2525, which is next door, isn't bad either: It offers an excellent salmon in pistachio flour for $16...
...It is dark inside, with light acoustic music, a picture of Sinatra above the bar, and 10 or so brewing triumphs on tap...
...The Chaplain and I would undertake an extended pub crawl through Richmond's Fan District...
...Every sixth week or so I play there as well, so if I didn't mention Legends I might lose my gig (the owner appears to be a Spectator reader...
...Together, we might have criss-crossed the area, stopping in at the Straw-berry Street Cafe, then trotting a few blocks over to Joe's Inn on Shields Street and from there to Bogart's on Lombardy, where you can listen to jazz in the back room...
...I was left to my own devices...
...The presidential rides would often take them to a favored high point where, as Reagan once put it, "You can watch boats cruising across the Santa Barbara Channel, then turn your head and see the Santa Ynez Valley unfold like a huge wilderness amphitheater before your eyes...
...It's also true that there are sever-al establishments within a block or two's stagger, including Easy Street, White Dog, Sidewalk Cafe, Sticky Rice, Main and Davis...
...uSARKES TARZIAN INC Sarkes Tarzian Television Sarkes Tarzian Radio Broadcasters Making a Difference SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2002 • THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR 75...
...Our staging ground would be the light blue Starlite Inn, which has a nice street side patio from which to observe humanity, suffering and otherwise...
...One can only conclude that the caution against solitary drinking is the work of the alcohol industry...
...If Thomas Jefferson gave up a ghost, which would surprise the hell out of him, it might be seen strolling about...
...74 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2002 twirled above in a counterclockwise direction, I suggesting a reversal of time...
...Poe might especially like the CaryStreet Cafe, a block straight south, which is a Grateful Dead bar, with the requisite skulls and a skeleton or two...
...For further information, visit www.reaganranch.org...
Vol. 35 • September 2002 • No. 5
