It was New Year's Eve 2004 when we decided to make a resolution to end all resolutions: to never make one again. How easy is that?
Then, in the Fall of 2009, Barks picked up a coffee table book, "The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York". Being a history buff and all, this was a perfect book for this Rebel-turned-New-Yorker. The book gives a thorough history of 30 bars in New York City -- all are completely different, yet have a story to tell. Since Ali is also a fan of history (cough, cough -- flashback to 11th Grade Global Studies when she wrote an essay about Martin Luther King instead of Martin Luther), she was equally excited about the book.
On December 31, 2009, after five years of successfully sticking to our 'final resolution', we broke our own rules! The book had been on the coffee table and we both glanced down at the same time -- let's visit all 30 bars featured in the book!
Can we do this in one year? Surely it doesn't seem too hard. However, these aren't your every-day pubs. These bars are New York institutions: George Washingon was a patron at one, there's a rumor that Abe Lincoln visited another, and one was even a 'flower shoppe' during Prohobition, while serving cocktails in the back room. History happened here, y'all!
Join us on our journey! We'll be documenting our visits with a blog post and pictures from each establishment.
First stop...Parkside Lounge in the Lower East Side
