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.