McAwesome's Old Ale House

Last weekend in NYC was the American Sociological Association Annual Conference. While I did not have anything to present - or was even registered - I thought it would be fun to cruise up to the city and check it out...but it was mainly an excuse to take a trip to NYC. It was a pretty great time.

One funny story before other details about the trip. When I was in Denver a few weeks ago I lost my debit card - for like the 5th or 6th time - and thus had to order a new one. Well it hasn't come in yet. No worries, I thought, I'll just go to the bank before it closes and get cash for the trip. Well, being kind of a slacker, I didn't make it to the bank Saturday before it closed. No worries, I thought, I'll just take my credit card and it will be all good. I didn't make it on the road until Sunday morning. Somewhere in Eastern PA I realized - OH SHIT! I forgot my credit card! So here I was, $35 in my pocket, no debit or credit card, traveling to possibly the most expensive place on the planet. Well, Jack was able to save the day and loan me cash while I was there, so that crisis was averted. I'm not sure you can have much fun in NYC on $35, especially when they charge you $6 just to cross the George Washington Bridge.

After that minor crisis the rest of the trip was really fun. I spent a little time at the conference, and most of the time at various bars drinking heavily (What a surprise!). By far, the best bar we visited on the trip was McSorely's Old Ale House, the longest continuously running bar in NYC and possibly the country (it didn't shut down during prohibition). And it is probably the coolest and funnest bar I have ever been to.
At McSorely's you have 2 drink choices - McSorely's Light Ale or McSorely's Dark Ale - and you always order in combination. For example, my good friend Andrew - the infamous 'Lindno guy' - and I (who were there for about an hour before the rest of crew arrived) ordered 3 & 3 for most of the night. As pictured above, it was pretty awesome every time the new order came - and orders were coming in all night at McSorely's.


Once our full crew arrived the night basically turned to nonsense. The guy standing was our waiter, and seated is myself, Jason, Jo and a couple of her friends. All told, our table ordered 46 beers, but because McSorely's is totally awesome the tab barely broke $100. With the additional 8 that Andrew and I ordered before we got a table, that puts the grand total at 54 beers. Now it should be noted that I would guess that 2 McSorely's are probably the equivalent of a little more than a pint. Had we been somewhere else the damage would have been much worse. Between all of the old historical crap on the walls - most of which has probably never been cleaned - and the sawdust on the floor McSorely's is a great bar and my new favorite part of NYC. Plus it was a great atmosphere, and I almost forgot I was in entrenched in the city with the most assholes per square mile in the world. Everyone there just waned to drink and have a great time. And the great crew we had that night made it even better!

After McSorely's and a piece of - at the particular time - the greatest piece of pizza ever, I was hoping for an easy subway ride back up to Washington Heights. Unfortunately, the A train apparently stops at 168th when it gets late, so I was forced to walk the last 20+ blocks back to Jack's. The next morning I awoke sore, hungover, and basically feeling like there had been small men kicking my body while I slept (perhaps the Underpants Nomes, but I still had my underpants so I'm not sure). I knew it was time to go home.

You won this round NYC, but I'll be back!