McCallisters and the Gumdrop!

In the small town of Narge, somewhere in the USA, lived two small venues. One was upscale while the other one was no scale at all. Both served food and booze and had loyal followers. McCallisters offered a clean environment in which to eat with clean air to breath as you did so. Families frequented the establishment and most said they were content with the experience. The other facility lurked quietly on the same road, although it did not share in the same type of sparkle that it might have. You see the Gumdrop had grown a tad seedy over the years and decades. Entering the place, one had a sense of wandering onto the set of the Twilight Zone. That is if you could see very clearly through the wafting clouds of cancerous smog the constantly pervaded the air and which caressed every surface. Ah yes, two venues that could not be further apart and in the end only one survived!

Time for a change of air!

For many years I frequented a couple of bars that satisfied a couple of my needs; 1) they were close by and 2) they served beer! Now, even though I grumbled from time to time about the prices, I still enjoyed the social interaction that only a bar can offer to an old bachelor...

Sadly, that long time habit was going to have to change a bit. You see one of the bars is a smoking allowed establishment, while the other is not. One bar has lots of clean air swirling all around, while the other one is so polluted that I have to strip my clothes off after even a short visit. That bar was going to be 86'ed by me in favor of the cleaner one. Breathing clean air has become something I more and more strive for, especially in light of the findings from organizations like the CDC, The American Cancer Society and the AHA.

An aside: I have many good friends that smoke - heck, I used to go through 3 packs a day myself.  I just want a few of them, who might read this post, to understand the risks from here onward. I quit smoking many years ago and can attest to just how addictive the habit is....

Well, they have a deck anyway!

Rockaway Beach MO - After hearing a rumor that some sort of bar was going to open out behind the Taneycomo Market off Hwy 176 in Rockaway Beach, I drove down there to sneak a peek.

When I arrived there was all sort of lumber strew about the front of the establishment, but no one I could see was actually working. I came to find out the the carpenter that had been recently hired had also been fired! And, while there was a nice expansive deck situated behind the market, I could see little if anything else. No chairs, no tables... really, no nothing.

I inquired as to this state of affairs with one of the locals and was informed that things were pretty much at a standstill. Even the interior of the market itself looked partially gutted. I was told that there were problems with licenses and other paperwork (neither was substantiated) and that the owners were looking for a new carpenter.

Here's hoping to an eventual grand opening and I personally hope they have an open air bar and eatery as those types of establishments are pretty much non existent in my neck of the woods. And, while I may not know very much, I do know that this deck needs to be stained and treated pretty darn soon! Otherwise it might be a bit warped...

June 1, 2016 Update

I drove by this now closed gas station only to learn that they plan to reopen soon as a bar! Other rumors were that another gas station located just to the north in  Merriam Woods was also shuttered.Also, I have no information on when this new drinking emporium will open or even what it will be called, as the owners who have my email have failed to contact me....

The Frosted Mug revisited!

An aging, though venerable, watering hole! AKA, the Frote Mu!

It was a Late September day, overcast with a cool tinge to the air, a possible sign of colder fall weather to come. I had decided to stop at a bar known as the Frosted Mug, located on Hwy 160 in Forsyth Mo. A bar and restaurant that had been around since the time of Moses. There were nine patrons sitting at the bar when I came in, all of whom were drinking, with the sole exception of a gal to my left who was busy eating a large bowl of mashed potatoes with sausage gravy slathered on top. She eye me suspiciously as I sat a few chairs over and unlimbered my Kindle Fire. She was watching NASCAR on some kind of tablet and it wasn't very long before she began to accuse my tablet of interfering with her tablet. Such was life in a very strange century. When I glanced over at her, some gravy was dripping from her lower lip... I quickly looked away and studied the rest of my surroundings. 

 

The Frosted Mug, structurally, is a squarish looking building that has a full bar that holds about 24 seated patrons (more if you crowd them together). There is also a small stage for performers, a dance floor and a pool room with two tables that are generally in use. The rest of the open space off to one side of the bar area contains about 10- 15 tables that could hold sixty or more eaters. Something that rarely happens as the establishment is almost never crowded.

While most of the service personnel are OK at what they do, Tuesday's now sees the return of a popular bartender that worked there almost a decade ago by the name of Judy. She is very efficient and rarely leaves one waiting for a fresh libation. In the evening hours, after 5PM, a younger set of bartender staff take over to handle the generally younger crowd that stops there after getting off of work. Sunday's in the early fall feature no less that five large screen TV's that display both racing and football. Howrah!

Over the years, I've had occasion to eat at the Mug both sit down and take home. Of the many and varied menu items offered there, I'm told it is the beer batter perch offered on Friday and cheeseburgers during the rest of the week that are the most popular. The pricing at this venue is competitive with the other five or so sit down eateries, while only the Mug and a nearby place called Charlie's offer full service bars.Be a little wary of who is cooking, however, some cooks working there are much better than others.