Going home

Ah, Nanticoke.

The PA one that is.

Maybe the only place where the denizens love their kielbasa and dill pickles as much as I do!

And the only town in the US where over half of its citizens claim Polish ancestry.

Where at the former Lazarus department store you could stand in awe of the precursor to the internet--running over a network of pulleys and wires--sending cash and receipts from the register to the office and back.

And at Carrols probably the last place you could fork over a buck and get a hamburger, fries, a soda, and some change back.

Ah, Nanticoke: The city of my birth and home to Madison's Vodka Bar and Steakhouse on 396 E. Washington Street.

Last night the ever-intrepid S and I met up with J, H, and D to enjoy and partake in some holiday revelry and I'm here to tell you we had a blast reminiscing about bike racing and all things with two wheels, simple systems that could be retrofitted to our cars to create and burn hydrogen (stand clear, please), the Federal Reserve, and the Rothschild family.

You know: Just the usual save the world BS.

Oh, and J and H introduced me to the exotic Absinthe which sounds just ritualistic, and intriguing-of-taste enough for me to want to try. Soon.

The details in this establishment make it a standout: The decorative coving around the bar and dining rooms' high ceilings that draw the eye up to what looks to be original tin ceiling tiles; the expansive (read wide) bar top giving ample room to eat and drink (with two hands and elbows) and supported by a bar base with vertical planks spaced so as to give ample shadow lines which are echoed in the dining room; a simple thin vertical bar rail--still, graced by a routed edge of a unique sort I've not seen used in other bar rails.

Over the back bar is a contemporary bookcase-style shelving system holding what looks to be an extensive selection of cocktail liquors.

The wall over the back bar also sports six handles with the Breaker Brewing Company's handle towering above the rest.

Dude: We've gotta talk about the Breaker Brewing Company one of these days.

The Malty Maguire was great and seemed just about like when we had it over at Elmer Sudds when it debuted. There was another unidentified handle on the end, which no longer poured as the keg had kicked earlier in the day. The `keep said it was a stout: Olde King Cole Stout perhaps? I wish it had been on, but hey, now I've got a reason to go back!

S & yours truly went for the the white chowder to start--the clam bits were velvety soft and tender unlike many other examples. No steak tonight for us but the seafood platter special caught our eyes and was just right and consisted of clam, shrimp, orange roughy, scallop, and crab cake components. Did I mention that I like cole slaw? This was an interesting take on the side, with small minces and dices and that was creamy and a bit tangy.

As is wont to be on occasions such as these (or any occasion really when friends share in thought and opinion), the seafood platter stimulated a communal lamentation of the loss of VicMar's. Sigh.

Our party had a lot of fun as did everyone else there that night.

H: Did that Gibson taste good?