Mohawks and Golf at the Tap

On Friday, Geoff was all set at camp in Newburyport and I didn't need to have Jess come meet us after work in Newburyport, so we could go elsewhere. 

We headed over to The Tap/Haverhill Brewery in downtown Haverhill.

We've been here a number of times, including our first day of shenanigans back in February. 

Jon, the bartender, has gotten to know us pretty well over time. He is generous with the samples, especially of the new ones on tap. Pictured to the left here is my Whittier White with orange and lemon, a perfectly wonderful light summer brew, and Dave's Schwartzbier, out of the cask, made with Czech Saaz. Dave and Jon go at it a little bit over the concept of the "Black and Tan." The beers at the Tap don't have the same properties as Bass and Guinness, so they don't make the magic non-mixture that is a half and half. Dave insists that Jon can do it if he pours slower and uses the spoon. Jon has tried. He said that it HAS worked in the past, with certain beers that they don't currently have on tap. But that right now it just isn't working that way.

Doesn't stop Dave from getting him to try, so we end up with somewhat of a weird mix of beer that doesn't exactly suck, but isn't exactly worth the mix either.

Dave was psyched because Jon was sporting a mohawk. He has always wanted one, and wants me to take him to go get one.

"Your wife will KILL me!" He claims she will not. I doubt that.

Jon and Dave talked about playing Rugby, which always gets Dave psyched because he played Rugby in college. A shaved head or a mohawk are preferred hairstyles for the Rugby pitch, because it leaves nothing for an opponent to grab hold of. Dave has shaved his head with the 2 razor before, but now what he really wants is the mohawk. 

Maybe next week... those will be some REAL shenanigans!

We watched a lot of golf because that's what was on the TV. We had a great time making fun of clothing. Dave was particularly annoyed about one guy's Polo shirt, because the logo was as big as the guy's HEAD. "Isn't the logo supposed to be small and classy looking? I have Polo shirts where the logo is even the same color as the shirt. It is small and classy... What the heck is up with that giant thing! It can be seen from outer space!" There were a few other supremely ugly get ups (one of the Japanese guys was wearing this purple nightmare), and there was a lot to laugh at.

There also was some to cheer about ... a hole in one (by the guy in the pink Polo shirt that made Dave angry) and some amazing escapes out of the sand traps. We thought the stairs going down into the holes were nice... make it nice and easy for the old fat ones to get in and out and keep up with the young bucks. 

The TV sound is never turned on at The Tap because there is an internet jukebox and Jon has a killer iPod full of great tunes. Yesterday he was all about Quentin Tarrantino soundtracks, which was a lot of fun. Dave hit the jukebox a few times, and we talked a lot about music and the fact that I, for one, hate Aerosmith. He grew up outside of Boston, so he kind of was raised specifically on them. I just have never liked them and resent Steven Tyler for even being alive after all the stuff he's done to himself. 

Dave put on some Aerosmith "ON PURPOSE!" to annoy me. 

The guy at the bar to my left leaned over and said "Oh! I love this song!" 

I informed Dave that he was making at least ONE patron at the bar happy, and the guy next to me asked me why I didn't like Aerosmith, and what DID I like. 

So we had this whole long conversation, I told him I prefer Springsteen, which he also said he liked. 

"Good music is just good music!" He had a beautiful Caribbean accent, and told me his name was Gabriel. Gabriel was at the bar with two women, Debbie and Lannie. Lannie was up visiting with Debbie and was from Arkansas. They asked me to take their picture with their smart phones, and I asked if I could take their picture with my phone. 

Gabriel shared with me pictures that he had taken around town. He had a cute little pouch on his belt, and a cute little point and shoot camera.

We played tons of songs on the jukebox. I cranked out some Refreshments with "Mekong" and "Sin Nombre," we got some Guster up into the mix, Dave hit on some REM, Tom Petty and Dire Straits.

Before we knew it, it got to be about 4:30, time to go get Geoff at camp. We were having too much fun but I had to bring the shenanigans to a halt and throw Dave in the car. Oh well.