Golf Influencer Claire Hogle Surfaces In The DR, Michigan Spying Memes & Is TPC Sawgrass Worth The $900 Greens Fees
The best bars must have...
I asked and some of you delivered on this question I've been pondering since I was up north in Michigan a couple of weeks ago and having drinks in a Blanchard, MI bar where the owner came up with a bit where people throw dollar bills into the ceiling using tacks. The customer writes a message on the dollar and then launches it into the ceiling.
It's a novelty. Personally, I believe all great bars should have some sort of memorable moment whether it's the dollars or some sort of pickled beets eating competition. Just have something.
I've written about the dive bar in Omaha where dogs sit in barstools and customers watch Jeopardy religiously on weeknights. You could hear a pin drop in there as Alex Trebek went to work.
Give me something memorable about the bar and I'll be back.
• Troy J. writes:
For the most part, beer and liquor are the same anywhere. A truly great bar needs to have a spectacular view, a dog or two and fantastic food. The Tiki Hut at the glass window bridge in North Eleuthera, The Bahamas checks all the boxes (the fried whole spiny lobster is incredible). If the shutters are up, it’s open!
• Paul T. writes:
Good morning Joe, can t wait to read replies on this subject (and many others). What makes a good bar to me is the bartenders, the ones that really know their craft, the ones where someone may come in and not have a clue what they want and even less clue what the bar has and how the bartenders help them with suggestions or even a sample. They are obviously in the service industry but I see of bartenders get annoyed with customers.
I prefer dive bars mostly with lots of wood especially the bar and surrounding bar area.
I’m too old to close down bars but I can open them up with the best of them. I have a friend who runs a bar on 6th St in Austin (dirty 6th…where you see the fights online all the time). My wife I and get down there on Sundays most of the time. Bar opens at 11:30am and sometimes we get there about 10 or so and it’s nice to be locked inside a bar!
Do feel kind of funny when they open up and people start arriving and you're on your 3rd or 4th round…lighting is very nice touch…if it’s daytime I like natural light…with of course some advertising neon…a good juke box and bar food are pluses…if you are ever down this way Joe you got some cocktails and hospitality waiting for you!…take care and keep up the good work!
• Cyhawk writes:
NO F--KING TOP 40 /POP GARBAGE MUSIC BLARING
This shit has been going on for far far too long - I've lost track of how many bars will have some shit teeny bopper music blaring over a game in a SPORTS BAR - I leave as soon as possible, this applies to all bars though.
If a game is on you get the game audio
If no game you get classic rock/country - basically the Red, White and Booze channel on Sirius - that's a good enough mix.
• Dan J. says:
In college in Omaha Nebraska there was a Fox and Hound English pub-style bar, and while it was not a showstopper or a can't miss my roomates and I were there every Tuesday night from 8 till 2 AM. They had six really nice regulation tables and even two nine-foot pool tables and almost 40 drafts and on Tuesdays, the pool was free after 8 and beers were $2 a beer.
We would also order a bottomless chips and salsa for $5 and play pool and drink beer and walk out with a $15 tab with tip.
It was magical in that we got to know the other regulars, the manager of the bar and most of the servers. A special time in the early 2000s for about 2 years of Tuesday night attendance, and so that is my nomination for best bars, and in trying to find a picture it seems it went out of business in 2018 over leasing disagreements.
• Tom in Houston knows the bar business:
Full disclosure - my wife has been in the bar business for more years than I can tell you about, and currently is an HR / Operations manager for a small chain of Houston sports bars. This means I've learned more about the bar biz than I ever wanted to, but I'm still Jon Snow - I know nothing.
There are a lot of things a good bar should have - good TVs, Sunday Ticket, good jukebox, live music, good staff, hot staff (not always the same), good food, etc. All those things are nice, but the thing that makes a bar great is the people. Owners can open up whatever type of place they think they want, but it's the people who walk in the door who determine what the place is going to be. Smart owners do the homework and open up a place that the community wants, and if it isn't working, they change to suit the clientele. If you try to open a karaoke bar, but everybody who comes in wants to watch soccer, you better pivot to soccer if you want to make money and stay in business.
Back to the people - the best times I've ever had a bar wasn't due to the venue, it was due to the friends I was with, or the ones I made while I was there.
I might have walked in for the big screens, ball games, food options, or just because I lived close, but the thing that keeps me coming back is the people. People with some stories to tell, but who will also listen to yours, and accept a certain level of your bullshit because you accept theirs.
People who play good music, remind you of songs you've forgotten, and introduce you to songs you're glad to know. People who are good sports fans, regardless of their team, and know when to draw the line between having a good time supporting their team and being an asshole. People who tell good jokes, or just get you to smile at life in general. People you want to have a drink with. People who mow on Thursday and do hard things.
And it really only takes one or two people to mess up a good bar. There's only so much the staff can do, and it usually happens after the person has already done something that ruined a couple people's night. So if you find a good bar, enjoy it while you can. They are more fragile than you think.
Anyway, that's what I think. If you're ever in the Houston area, I know a couple places you can have a good drink, and meet a couple good people.
The lumber influencer market is heating up & I'm crediting Screencaps
• Jon H. from the exotic wood business featured in Monday Screencaps writes:
I want to thank you for giving M2 Lumber some exposure in yesterday's Screencaps. I never thought you'd actually publish my email ... I was just hoping to get something from the M2 Lumber Instagram included in the "Stuff You Guys Sent In & Stuff I Like" section. You made my day!
• John L. writes:
Joe, please let Jon H. in Laurens, SC know that I have already been in touch with his boss Matt Morgan! I want them to duplicate a table of mine that I bought long ago. We are now exchanging photos.
The funny coincidence is that I plan to be driving right past Laurens on the way to Asheville, NC come this February 22nd. It was clearly meant to be.
Screencaps Nation rules!
Kinsey:
THIS is why I keep pleading with readers to SEND ME EMAILS about what is going on in your lives. It's moments like this that make me smile. Jon H. writes in about the business he works for where Millennial Matt Morgan is busting his ass and now we have John L. bringing in business just like that.
I don't personally know Jon H., Millennial Matt Morgan or any of these people, but I know busting one's ass to be a productive citizen when I see it.
I'll say it AGAIN: See something, say something. Tell your fellow readers about this moment in history and what's going on around you.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
It's time to shine for Instagram models
• Franco sent in this reminder:
All the Instagram models will be dressing up in their sexy Halloween costumes and taking pics. Keep the Outkick interns working relentlessly to find this content for the SC community. Thanks.
Kinsey:
I expect big things out of SeanJo this Sunday after the IGs dump out all their Saturday night content. Stay tuned.
Favorite meal to make when your wife is away and it's you and the kids?
• Millennial Jeff in Anoka, MN writes (BTW, it's good to have Jeff back.):
Screencaps community:
What is your favorite meal to make when you are bacheloring it up with the kids? (Or bachelorette-ing it up)
Mine is Mac and cheese and Kielbasa! Pics attached. My Dad always made it for my sister's and I when my Mom taught night class and the tradition continues. Easy, fast, tasty, and filling. Normally I pan fry the kielbasa, or ring balogna, but I grilled it tonight. I also made chocolate milk for all three boys.
Thought that this might be a fun topic to discuss.
Bars, leaves, and a proud football dad
• Jeff M. writes:
Joe, my random thoughts after reading screencaps today. First, the one thing all bars have to have is a great welcoming vibe. I guarantee none of those bars on the CNBC list really has that. Second, they need to be in the US or at least in North America. Who cares about bars in Hong Kong or Barcelona? Most of us will never get to set foot into those. USA! USA!
On the subject of leaves, unless you have an absurd amount of them, if you are not mulching them up and leaving them on the yard you are missing a great source of national fertilizer. Mulching the leaves is always the last mow of the year for me. It beats the heck out of the blades, but truthfully by this time they are pretty much used up and ready for a good sharpening anyway!
Finally, in honor of National Tight Ends Day, here's my boy Zack from Saturday, springing RB for a long run (got pushed out at the 2). #89 6'3" 240 lbs. He's getting some good reps at D2 Tusculum University in NE TN. Doing the hard things!
Sunsets for #ScreencapsTeamSunsets
• Anonymous in Augusta writes:
I've attached a few sunsets for you, all taken with a cell phone, they might not be the quality you need, but they are relaxing in my opinion.
• Bryan H. writes:
I'm partial to sunsets. Took these recently at an RV park in Sevierville, TN along the French Broad River.
#ScreencapsTeamMoonRise
• Chris B. in Houston, who just had to watch his Astros lose Game 7 to the hated Texas Rangers, writes:
I enjoy sunrises & sunsets, but I think my fave is the moon over the water. Here is a moon rise a few weeks ago over Corpus Christi bay.
Daylight savings time: Love it, hate it, doesn't affect me?
• Gary E. in Hempfield Township, PA
Joe. Long time first time.
Hey, I was wondering how everyone feels about dst. I hate it, pick one and go with it, stop this twice-a-year changing.
Thanks Joe and keep up the great work!
Kinsey:
I had to do a Google search on Hempfield Township, PA. Think Greensburg, PA area to the east of Pittsburgh and to the south where I-76 cuts across the state.
Personally, I don't think much about daylight savings time because I work from home and if I want a shot of Vitamin D in the winter, I take the dog out front to throw a tennis ball or take 20 minutes and go for a walk around the neighborhood.
Now, when Mrs. Screencaps went into an office, she hated it because she was going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. She was buried in an office building and not seeing daylight very often.
And you'll never catch me complaining about falling back an hour in November, especially on a Sunday, the only day of the week I can sleep in. I'll take that extra hour.
Now that's a big edition of Screencaps for a random Tuesday in October.
The sun is out. It could hit 80 here today. The doors and windows are about to be opened. The dog will get to chase her tennis ball. All is right in the Screenaps world today. Screencaps Jr. even found out this morning that he was pulled off the waiting list and will now get to play rec basketball all winter.
It's going to be a good day.
Take care.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com