The Salty Dog - Ithaca, NY (1970s)

This Summer marks the 40th anniversary of the opening of The Salty Dog.  This is the bar that started it all at 413 Taughannock Blvd in Ithaca.  This is the location of my bar, Castaways.  The bar has been through many, many makeovers over the years.  Between The Salty Dog and Castaways, the bar has been Captain Joe's Reef, Captain Joe's, Max's, Key West, and there were even rumors that it was once called Rumors at one point back in the 80's.  Word on the streets is that there was a dress code and the place didn't last very long.

 

Today, the bar is covered in really ugly stucco.  I find it somewhat hysterical that the bar used to be covered in ugly fake stone facade.  Some things don't change I guess.

I have always loved vintage pictures.  A moment frozen in time.  The best part of The Salty Dog is that the old owner and many of the regulars still frequent Castaways.  They are a bastion of memories.  I'm sure they have been embellished over the years, but I still love to hear them.  Nothing wrong with a little artistic license anyway if it makes for a good story. 

It is amazing to me how much the bar has changed.

Even way back then, the bar was know for being a spot for live music.  The day we bought the bar was the day I had to start hearing stories about how how Orleans used to play the bar.  At first, I just smiled and nodded.   I had no clue who the hell Orleans was.  However, I stumbled upon Orleans on a "Gayest Album Covers of All Time List".  There is going to be a giant reunion for The Salty Dog this summer and I knew I HAD to have the #1 Gayest Album Cover of All Time signed, so I bought a copy on EBay for $10.  Turns out I do know an Orleans song.  It is called "Still The One".  It was pretty popular back in the day.  I definitely have heard it on the radio a bunch of times.  Here is the album cover.

Definitely, really gay.

It seems the bar is laid out pretty much the same as it was.  The bathrooms have moved around a bit.  There has been a facelift or two.  Somewhere along the lines, someone made a pretty heavy investment in sound production equipment. 

Here are a couple more pictures looking back at The Salty Dog....

 

I think we even have one of these t-shirts hanging on the wall of the bar today.  I'm sure it was a LOT more fun owning a bar back then.

Bartending Rules

Not gonna lie.  A good bartender is 1/2 your best friend and 1/2 total asshole.  A bartender needs to regulate.  There is no question about it.  They need to make a living, they need to protect the bar, and they need to keep everybody happy.  It isn't the easiest job in the world.  The best part about a good bar is that the customer is NOT always right.  Not even close.  I stumbled across these rules for bar customers.  They are pretty much right on the money.   I have never run into a good bartender that doesn't appreciate this list.

BARTENDER RULES FOR BAR CUSTOMERS:



1.) Our names are NOT "Hey" , "Yo", "chief", "big guy", "dude", "brotha", or "buddy", nor do we respond to whistles!

2.) Mouths closed, money out! Just because we look at you, doesn't mean we're ready for you! 

3.) If we are making drinks, do NOT say, "When you get a chance..." 'Cause when we get a chance, we'll ask you what you need! 

4.) NEVER,EVER,EVER touch the bartender!!!

5.) When we ask you if that's it, we mean it! We DON'T want to hear, "I forgot...one more..." five times! 

6.) DON'T try to tell us that you bartend too! We know who does, and who does not by how you conduct yourself! 

7.) Do NOT order 'cranberry and vodka'!!! It's 'vodka and cranberry'!!! I know it sounds insignificant, but it screws us up! It's what separates the amateur drinkers from the pros! 

8.) There is NO SUCH DRINK called 'Ketel One and Vodka'!!! 

8b.) If you order a "Diet Rum and Coke" instead of "rum and Diet Coke", I'm going to laugh at you like the drunk asshole idiot that you are! 

9.) Do NOT start the order off with, "GIVE ME A STRONG DRINK!" You are guaranteed to have the WEAKEST DRINK EVER!! 

10.) Don't say, "I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU" if you don't know what that means! $1.00 tip is NOT taking care of us! 

11.) We don't care who you are or who you know- the guy before you hit on us too and the guy before him and the guy before him... We're bartenders, we want your money--WE'RE NOT GOING HOME WITH YOU. 

12.) Waving you money at us just annoys us - We know you're there and we'll get to you when we get to you!!! 

13.) NO TIPPIE, NO DRINKIE! 

14.) When we say Last Call, we mean Last Call! No, you can't get a drink when the lightsare up, no matter how much money you have. MY JOB IS WORTH MORE.

15.) DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT PRICES!! You drink expensive shit, you pay for it, don't kill the messenger! And, contrary to popular belief, by no means do we make a commission off the prices of the drinks! If that were true, I would have retired years ago. 

16.) Yes, there IS alcohol in it! If you can't taste it, you've drank too much and I should cut you off! 

17.) NO SLEEPING ON THE BAR! 

18.) Just be nice to us! Things work out better that way...they work even better if you tip well... 

19.) Know how to order/pronouce your drinks. Do NOT say, "Can I get a Stoli's and Tonic?" It is ONE Stoli, TWO (plural) Stolis. The same goes for ordering "a Jameson's" Look at the bottle! It's: JA-ME-SON. No " 's " 

20.) I can't wait to throw your stupid drunk ass out, once you cross the overall rule-of-thumb: "DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE....." Don't be That Guy!

21.) You do not have to say gimmie a corona with LIME. We KNOW it gets a lime jackass. Gimmie a corona will do just fine.

21b.) And if u DON"T want a lime, do you really have to say scream lime? Cant u just take it out when we give it to you. 

22.) If you Do tip us well and we decide to buy you a drink DO NOT anounce that to the WHOLE bar that the Bartender "hooked you up" You will NEVER get a free drink again!

23.) If your total comes out to something .50 and you walk away leaving us the change... seriously don't even bother. Wait for your 50 cents and then go. And then make sure if your gonna come back that you go to a diff. bar tender because you will get a stare down and some kind of sarcastic smerk.

24.) If we say that we don't have something, that's exactly what it means... Do not proceed to ask for it 5 differant ways... WE STILL DON'T HAVE IT!!

25.) Know what your going to order before you walk up to the bar and get the bar tenders attention. Don't wail your arms and shout for us, then tell us to hold on when we finally walk over to you... We Will walk away and then make you wait.

26.) Don't ask us if we know how to make something, most likely we do! Just ask for it and if we don't know what the hell you just asked for probably because one of your friends made it up, we'll tell u.

Castaways - Pre IMG

When Kim, Debra, and I decided we would buy Castaways from Bill Garrard, we were faced with, in our eyes, a pretty rough place. The bar had a soul though and a solid reputation for music. It was also on the water. That was nice. People could tie right up to the huge deck right out back and come grab some beers. We saw a lot of potential in those days.

 

We thought in our heart of hearts that the place just needed a makeover.  A new face on an old place.  We were right.  We just didn't know everything else it needed at the time.  To be honest, we didn't know all too much about the bar.  It sat across the inlet from Bistro Q, a waterfront restaurant Kim and I had been bartending.      Kim had brought along the regulars from Micawbers to the waterfront.  My employ at Bistro Q was like a last piece of a puzzle.   We always had a lot of fun working together.  The old family was back together. However great Bistro Q was, Bistro Q was closing and Kim and I wanted to extend our 7+ year bartending relationship.  We had to make the play for Castaways.  After all, we were friends with the owners girlfriend, Nancy.  She had been a huge part of the Micawbers family before she went on to bigger better things.  What could go wrong?

1997

When it all began. This was the summer I decided to stay in Ithaca after the academic year...and I needed a job. There was a little bar down on the commons that I frequented with my buddies that seemed a likely fit. It was called Micawbers; named for some character in a Dickens novel I would come to find out. With no immediate aspirations of tending bar, I just wanted to sit at the door and check IDs. At this point, I really knew nothing about bars. I had been in them. I had given them a bunch of money. I had even been kicked out of them.

The One of my housemates, Damon, already worked there. I was a regular there. The staff knew me. My foot was in the door. And luckily with students leaving for the summer, they needed help. The cards were stacked in my favor and Eric, the manager, hired me.

Already, in my 21 years, I had held several jobs. I had been a newpaper delivery boy, a buss-boy at an Italian restaurant, a donut jockey at Dunkin' Donuts, a floor clerk at the local hardware store, worked the snack bar at a nearby country club, and was a baker on campus. A summer job may seem like a small blip on the radar of life, but this particular bar would prove to be one of the most significant stops along my life. At Micawbers, I met my business partner, my wife, and worked with 3 men who stood in my wedding as groomsmen. Was there something special about Micawbers? Maybe...maybe not. However, I would come to learn one can find this camaraderie in lots of bars in almost every town.

The MIlford Inn (near Cooperstown, NY)

While spending a night in Cooperstown, NY visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame, my friend Matt, his wife, and their father went to bed a little earlier than I am accustomed.  I am not the biggest of night owls myself, but they are teachers and pastry chefs.  They certainly fall into the "early to bed, early to rise" sect of society.  They had also driven over to Cooperstown from Boston that day as well (a 6hr jaunt) and were ready to peter-out around 10ish.   

We had already closed down the bars that resided right in Cooperstown, so my options were to go to bed early myself or go out hunting for a local dive bar.  Every town seems to have at least one so I knew it wouldn't be a wild goose chase.  Within minutes, I happened upon The Milford Inn.  Though I came to find out the place was an actual inn as well, I was purely interested in what the bar had to offer.  It looked PERFECT from the outside.

There wasn't much breadth to the supply behind the bar, but that isn't always a bad thing. A bar never loses points in my book if it neglect to include ANYTHING from the DeKuyper family and any other schnapps or liquers (not to be confused with liquor) like Razmatazz, Tequila Rose, or Buttershots.  They are all nasty and not included in any respectable drink anyway.

The place was pretty well lit.  Not my choice, but who cares really.  I wasn't here to stake my claim as a mainstay anyway.  It is their bar and everyone there seemed as if they came with the place.  They had a pool table and booze.  Those are pretty much the only standard requirements to a good bar.

The girl behind the bar was a good ol' girl. Big mouth, big ass, and could probably drink me under the table effectively winning any discourse I would ever choose to argue.  However, I kept quiet, enjoyed by drinks, watched a little tv, and was on my way.  I think I just stayed for 2 Miller Lights and a shot of Makers Mark.  I slept like a baby. 

Guinan's Pub - Garrison, NY

At our bar, we have a bit of a family dynamic.  I'm not sure who is the dad and who is the mom or anything along those lines, but we do have a camaraderie that extends beyond patron/customer/employee for sure.  It is more like we all want to work to have a house party and hang out, but don't want to go to anyone specifics house.  That is kind of the feel for all neighborhood bars I guess.  We all seem to have a sort of reverence for the "neighborhood bar" itself.  We often find ourselves trading stories of other neighborhood bars we have landed in during our various adventures and will even swap good books about bars.  One such "bar book" that we have been passing around is Little Chapel on the River by Gwendolyn Bounds.  It chronicles part of the life of a family bar known as Guinan's across the Hudson from Westpoint Military Academy. 

A beautiful story beginning to end, I knew I had to make a pilgrimage to this little bar at some point.  Unfortunately, by the time we got there, it was closed for good.  The book alluded to financial troubles and keeping the bar sustainable in this new economy.  You get that close to NYC, the real estate gets incredibly pricey and I can see how it would be impossibly difficult to keep such an institution alive without losing its soul.  Sometimes, the end just comes.  I dug around online for some pictures to help convey the love people had for this bar and did find a couple....and stole them.

I found this picture of the many tokens of remembrance left at the door to Jimmy Guinan's old pub.  Some places just leave a mark on people.  This bar was one of them.  I just wish I had a chance to stop by when it was open. 

Another picture I found, and pretty candid, seems to convey just enough at how much of a heart Guinan's had.  Looking at this picture was a bit like watching a movie after reading the book it was based on.  And it just made me regret not having stopped by before it closed.

Here is another picture that the author took of the bar at a rare moment of quietude.  I often feel that four stools would be plenty.  You can just feel the years of banter and laughs in this picture.  Work is they are tearing down the building.  I can imagine that will be a sad day for many, not just the Guinan family.  An old friend lost.

When we got to the bar, it was cold and Winter and the entire area felt a bit dead.   The train didn't even go by as we wandering the neighborhood.   I'm sure it would have been different if Guinan's was open.  The bar appeared to have a soul that warmed the whole neighborhood.

Jimmy, we never met.  I wish we did.  I'm sure I could have sat in your bar forever just to watch all the characters in the flesh.  What a great spot it used to be.