Mick et al-

While you're in downtown NYC you might stop off at McSorley's Old Ale House, a block away east on 7th St. from Cooper's Union, and 3rd Ave.

My brother and I found our way back there this afternoon after far too many years. You know the place really hasn't changed that much. The potbelly stove is still there in the front half of the room, providing much needed heat from its coals. There was an old fat orange tigercat curled up on a chair behind the stove. There was fresh sawdust on the floor. And all sorts of interesting stuff on the shelves behind the bar covered with layers of dust. There were great pictures and posters on the wall, and a book of poetry, which I bought, which explained them all. We ordered a round of dark ale, a hamburg for Bob and a bowl of chili for me, and a plate of raw onions, crackers and sharp cheese. Bob's hamburger looked rather well done to me, as if it had been broiled up weeks ago and than zapped in the microwave but he seemed to enjoy it. The chili was fine. The men's toilet was the same gigantic urinals which make you feel like a six-year-old, with a swinging door that gave everyone a view of what is going on inside. There is supposed to be a facility for ladies too but I couldn't detect it. You probably need to know which panel to press.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, still re-exploring old NYC