St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl and a Story About my Dad

Saturday, March 14 was the annual St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl in Baltimore hosted by my daughter Eileen, her husband Andrew Swanekamp, and their friends Ryan and Eric Pfoutz.

Our route map (doesn't help)

We start the festivities with an Irish breakfast at the Swanekamps. Our group this year numbered 15. After a hearty breakfast and a toast to the patron saint of Ireland, our first stop was the same as last year—Cardinal Tavern, whose owner Larry always welcomes us with open arms (and why not?).

As always, Eileen makes up detailed maps of our route for the day. Unfortunately, despite very clear directions, many of us are not capable of using the map to inform our walking. Most assuredly not after the intake of adult beverages. Still, we arrived at our destinations without losing anyone.

Erin, Kate, Donna, Jack

Cardinal makes a wonderful bloody Mary, the glass rimmed with salt and Old Bay, the tomato juice, worcestershire and Tabasco enriched by a generous pour of vodka, and garnished with those giant bar olives and lime slices. Pretty soon the juke box was wailing Britney Spears and Taylor Swift, and the dancing was vigorous.

After a couple rounds we bid adieu and headed for O’Donnell’s Pub, where the staples were traditional Guinness, Jameson’s and car bombs. They have Anchor Steam on draft, which gave me fortification.

Donna, Mike, Tom, Kathleen

From O’Donnell’s we traipsed to the Pig & Rooster Smokehouse. Formerly Hummer’s, a regular stop on our crawls. Hummer’s unfortunately closed last year, but the new owners, who also own Chasseur’s, have done a great job of keeping Hummer’s comfortable, laid-back vibe while upgrading the kitchen to offer good barbecue and other bar food.

While our tour guide had specified a fourth stop, we voted to return to the Swanekamp’s apartment on Brewer’s Hill. Kate provided a feast of delicious alcohol-absorbing food.

A brilliant decision by Eileen: She started a game of Kings, a drinking card game, but encouraged people to use water instead of beer. Socially engineered hydration after a day of embibing.

More pictures are on my Facebook page.

A neat story: The Swanekamps live in the old Gunther’s Brewery, which was renovated into apartments just a few years ago. My dad, while attending George Washington University on the G.I. Bill after serving in the Navy, drove a beer truck to supplement my mom’s salary while she worked, I believe, at the electric company.

Years ago my dad gave me a pen knife he had. It was one of those promotional giveaways from his days driving the beer truck. The company he worked for: Gunther’s Brewery, Baltimore, Maryland. I gave the knife to Andrew.