(mikes bar)

about Mikes bar was an old mans bar on Roosevelt avenue right before the West Carteret bridge. I t was the quintessential filthy bar with a Jukebox, pool table and black and white Tv up on a shelf. It’s not there anymore. It was refurbished with shiny new bar with mirrors and played disco music in the 80’s but now even that is gone. I’m not even sure whats there now.

This was my mother and fathers “hang out”. Especially my fathers as it was on the way home for him from Westfield. Most times he would just go in and get some “packaged goods” as they were called back then. A six pack to go. There was a neon light in the window even announcing: “Packaged Goods” and it would blink on and off ad nausueum.

As a seven or eight year old boy I would sometimes go in there with him. I remember going into a bar for the first time more than I remember riding a bike for the first time. It seemed the same song was playing on the jukebox all the time. It sounded like the saddest song in the world of a love lost. The background singers sounded like angels in heaven. Many years later I heard this song cracking on the AM radio and I memorized the name as “Rambling Rose” by Nat King Cole. Overtime, whenever I heard that song I thought my father.

I wasn’t allowed to sit at the bar so I was placed on a table behind the bar and underneath the TV.

I've created a Time Machine APP on my 'very smart now' phone."

I've created a Time Machine APP on my 'very smart now' phone."


There I was given a Coca-Cola and a box of pretzels holding hands. (The pretzels were connected when they were baked)There I was buried in Jukebox music and tremendous clouds of second hand smoke. My dad, always in his business suit, up at the bar having a cold one and laughing with the regulars. Perhaps arguing why the price of gas is approaching .50 cents a gallon because of the Vietnam war.

My father came and got me to introduce me to a pile of people in the corner of the bar by the front window. These people were always there. The same ones. Always. I was introduces as "George Junior" which I hated and wished I could just be called Butch for the rest of my life. Fifty years later I actually remember one of their names; Teddy. A strange looking old man with a fedora and a hungry nicotine appetite.

Teddy came close enough to my face where I could smell the stale cigarettes and fresh Schaffer beer and I notices he had no eye brows. "Go ahead, Teddy tell the boy why you have no hair." some old hag with long gray hair said. Teddy took off his crumpled hat and sure enough no hair there either.

Teddy then proceed to tell the story of how when he was a kid he went to the movies to see Frankenstein with his friends. The movie scared him so much that he had to be helped home and was shaking uncontrollably in the kitchen. His mother tried to tell him it was only a movie and put him to bed. When he awoke the next morning all the hair on his body had fallen out. And it never grew back again.

I quess the vision of that for me at the time was waking up in your bed with hair all over the sheets. Now that's a horror story. I suppose growing up the rest of your adult life with no body hair gives you permission to sit in the same seat at Mikes Bar in West Carteret for thirty years and slowly drown yourself in ice cold Schaffers and Lucky Strike cigarettes.

A screenshot from the movie: Pro tip: When putting a camera right up to your face, try to follow some easy rules of personal hygiene.

A screenshot from the movie: Pro tip: When putting a camera right up to your face, try to follow some easy rules of personal hygiene.


When my father took me home he told my mother about my first visit to Mikes Bar. So how did you like it Butchie?"
First I thought of how the bars lights are always dimmed. The loud echoing music. The muffled laughter and serious talk. An adult world. Deep dark and mysterious filled with story book characters. The romantic neon glow on everyone's face. I always got a nice "buzz" from the Coca Cola.
"I really liked the atmosphere." I said
And with that the laughter that followed lasted several days. Where a 3rd grader comes up with such a word, "atmosphere" is beyond me and I'm sure I heard it in a movie or cartoon somewhere but I honestly don't know how I came up with that.
This story became an ongoing thing for about a year. My mother would call me in the kitchen when she had guests, proceed to tell the story about me and Mikes bar and then I would get the Que from her:
"I liked the atmosphere." I said as I rolled my eyes and they laughed and laughed as I went back to my army men.

About George C. Hartman

Redesiging design, coloring outside the lines, rolling down hills, figuring out strange people, dreaming in black and white, photographing in black and white, juggling, body surfing, fantasy football, painting, design, digital art and photo manipulation, green oceans, blue oceans, museums, discovering small towns, biking, beach, relationships that tear my heart out, bad poetry, movie making and BLOGGING
This entry was posted in Tall Tales, the beginning and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

1,958 Responses to (mikes bar)

  1. Antoine says:

    How much is a First Class stamp? does shatavari cause weight gain According to Reuters calculations, the theoretical gains onthe day for Odey AM’s short position was around 11 million euros($14.9 million), and overall, around 41.3 million euros for allthe short positions.

  2. Edmund says:

    The line’s engaged amantadine 100 mg capsule for dogs The leftist Mujica, who will hand over the presidency onMarch 1 as one of Latin America’s most popular leaders, spoke assenators began debating a draft communications law that criticssay is ambiguous and hands the government too much regulatoryoversight.

  3. Reuben says:

    Could I ask who’s calling? revatio malaysia In May, Galvin’s office announced a settlement with fiveindependent broker-dealers who agreed to pay at least $9.6million in fines and restitution to settle what regulatorscalled their improper sales of non-traded REITs.

  4. Miquel says:

    Languages zoloft sales
    For this reason, any measure related to consumers’ access to or use of services and applications liable to restrict those fundamental rights or freedoms could only be imposed by a Member State if appropriate, proportionate and necessary within a democratic society.

  5. Dwight says:

    Excellent work, Nice Design tushy portable bidet instructions A letter circulating at Def Con and signed by some of themost prominent academics in computer security said the law waschilling research in the public interest by allowing prosecutorsand victim companies to argue that violations of electronic”terms of service” constitute unauthorized intrusions.

  6. Mariah says:

    I’d like to take the job depo medrol 40 mg dosage “We have just been told we cannot be facilitating bulk SMSs during the elections, roughly for the next two or so weeks,” the source said. “Our understanding is that they will take our network down or cancel our license if there is any violation.”

  7. Carmen says:

    Jonny was here voltaren dosage In a letter to Mr Putin they state the “excessive charges,” which come with a possible 15-year prison sentence, should be “dropped and that any charges brought are consistent with international and Russian law”.

  8. Rickey says:

    I want to make a withdrawal cheap prescription zoloft While the bipartisan agreement heads off a controversial maneuver by Reid to change Senate filibuster rules to lower the maximum threshold required to approve executive nominees from 60 to 51 votes, Reid stopped short of calling it a victory.The agreement applies only to the seven pending nominations, and Democrats warned that the debate could re-emerge in this Congress. “We got a ‘yes.’ And I think I should take the ‘yes,'” Reid said, when asked what Democrats achieved in this fight.

  9. Kenneth says:

    I’d like to send this letter by fucidin ma bez recepty But all indications are that the White House talks will be less than a total meeting of the minds. Friday’s phone call between Obama and Rouhani is sure to increase Israeli wariness over the prospects of U.S.-Iranian detente, even though the White House gave Israeli officials the courtesy of letting them know in advance.

  10. Markus says:

    Stolen credit card paracetamol dosage hindi The Internet and social media in Kenya, which played a central role in this year’s elections by allowing Kenyans to question candidates, took on a new function Tuesday—spreading messages of peace to avert new bloodshed.

  11. Rogelio says:

    I’d like to send this to can clotrimazole and betamethasone dipropionate be used for poison ivy A black bear grazes on grasses in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, June 18, 2013. Yellowstone National Park is the world’s first national park founded in 1872 and sits atop the largest super volcano in North America, the Yellowstone Caldera.

  12. Seymour says:

    I’m happy very good site sildenafil patient assistance program Back in 2010, Brenda Parke, a 60-year-old retiree, was scammed out of 60,000 after joining an online dating site and befriending a man purporting to be a successful Dutch businessman called Bradford Cole.

  13. Jose says:

    Have you seen any good films recently? carvedilol coupons It was December 2006, and Cameron had chosen to address an organisation called Green Alliance on the eve of the first anniversary of his election as Tory leader. Citing his party’s then-fashionable mantra (“Vote blue, go green”), he spoke that evening of his ambitious plans to run the most eco-friendly government in history.

  14. Royce says:

    I came here to work how many mg of benadryl should i take to get high “He’s a young kid that desperately wants to play. From a coach’s standpoint, that’s great,” Woodson said. “But he’s poised. He’s not a panicky type kid. He’s been able to make shots. I think once he learns all the other parts of playing the two-three and just having the basketball, that’s something he didn’t do a whole lot at Michigan.

  15. Andre says:

    US dollars vega meble ksiyno biaystok
    “This procedure could be helpful to cancer survivors … [and] middle-aged woman with infrequent menses,” said lead study author Dr. Aaron Hsueh, who is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford University.

  16. Jamaal says:

    We’d like to offer you the job avocadu login The army itself was able to produce this historical narrative, in part by blocking independent historians’ access to records. State-run media played its role, by showing glorified images of the army, paired with patriotic songs and programming about military feats.  

  17. Walker says:

    What university do you go to? taking tylenol and ibuprofen Eric Schneiderman, who took over the case when he becameattorney general, contends that Greenberg and Smith bearresponsibility for the transaction with General ReinsuranceCorp. in 2000 and 2001 that inflated AIG’s loss reserves by$500 million.

  18. Earle says:

    I work for myself abilify cost medicare With about 1 million residents, Homs lies along a main artery linking the capital, Damascus, with regime strongholds on the Mediterranean coast to the west. Homs has played a key role in the country’s civil war, now in its third year, and the struggle for control of the city also has underscored the conflict’s increasingly sectarian undertones.

  19. Virgil says:

    It’s a bad line generic zyban smking cessatin At least eight people — four of them critically — were injured after several large propane tanks exploded late Monday night at a gas plant in Tavares, Fla., sending “humongous” flames and smoke into the sky, according to officials.

  20. Charley says:

    Who would I report to? where to buy tylenol pain relieving cream Henry Claypool, executive vice president of the American Association of People With Disabilities, said it will address an “institutional bias,” and enable home workers to reach wage parity with those performing the same tasks in medical centers and other facilities.

  21. Angelina says:

    Sorry, I ran out of credit formulation and evaluation of ciprofloxacin tablets Last week, though, its legal campaign appeared to receive aboost when Halliburton, which was involved in preparingthe doomed Macondo well for production, abandoned one of itsarguments that tried to paint the British oil company asunconcerned about well safety.

  22. Emmitt says:

    this is be cool 8) avodart lowest price The Obama administration made improving its network of barriers a primary focus of an updated blueprint for keeping bighead and silver carp from reaching the five inland seas, even as they continue infesting the Mississippi River and many of its tributaries. The Associated Press obtained an outline of the government’s $50 million plan ahead of its official release later Wednesday.

  23. Hassan says:

    This site is crazy 🙂 how old do you have to be to buy imodium As the attacks have grown sharper, political donations fromnational lobbying groups have followed. McAuliffe has been thebiggest beneficiary: Some 74 percent of the $17.4 million initemized donations above $100 – the threshold the VirginiaPublic Access Project uses to track donations – came fromoutside Virginia.

  24. Marcelino says:

    We need someone with experience preis rosuvastatin 10 mg Britain’s most celebrated sailor since Lord Nelson can wake up knowing that he played a key role in one of the most remarkable sporting comebacks, helping to turn what had been, for the most part, an ill-fated 34th America’s Cup into pure sporting gold.

  25. Eduardo says:

    I study here comed exelon work environment The Cubs right-hander was scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday when he went to the wrong ballpark, then gave up eight runs when he finally found the right mound in Chicago’s 14-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

  26. Moses says:

    Can I call you back? amiodarone iv medscape Speaking ahead of the publication of the report today , John Dixon, head of tax for EY UK, said: “Public confidence in the UK tax system is at the heart of an effective tax regime, but it has been shaken by the recent furore over the taxation of multinational companies.

  27. Dewey says:

    I can’t get a dialling tone debut de grossesse et duphaston “Rather than just hear about megahertz and megabytes, customers can now learn and experience the things they can actually do with a computer, like make movies, burn custom music CDs, and publish their digital photos on a personal website.”

  28. Terrance says:

    Get a job fluconazole for nail fungus Separately, Christian Mardrus, alliance managing director for logistics, said the two companies expect to achieve joint savings of 3.5 billion euros ($4.6 billion) in 2015 as they pool more of their operations.

  29. Earnest says:

    Another service? is bactrim a sulfa based drug Nyad, who was patient and in good spirits while answering numerous detailed questions from colleagues and reporters, said that during “this record-breaking swim I never touched the boat, not even an inadvertent touch.”

  30. Rudolf says:

    I’d like to pay this cheque in, please havasu nutrition extra strength l arginine reviews
    The unnamed American is the first U.S. citizen to be detained in connection with the investigations, and the second foreign national, after a British risk consultant linked with GlaxoSmithKline was held last week.

  31. Louis says:

    I’d like to speak to someone about a mortgage buy minocycline 50 mg acne By the end of 2018, Health and Human Services SecretarySylvia Burwell told reporters that 50 percent of traditionalMedicare’s $362 billion in annual payments would go to doctors,hospitals and other providers that participate in alternativepayment models which emphasize cost containment and quality ofcare.

  32. Dalton says:

    A book of First Class stamps best vegan burger amsterdam Now, Penelope’s own daughter has a baby son and Penelope describes one of the complexities she and tens of thousands of other step grandparents can face around the world. “I can’t pretend it’s exactly the same. She’s my own daughter, after all, so it’s different.” Feeling slightly spread thin, Penelope is stepping back and letting her husband and his ex wife be the main grandparents to the twins while she focuses on helping her daughter.

  33. Jared says:

    We work together cialis to buy from europe For the 12 jurors and six alternates, the trial became all-consuming. Jurors lost weight, developed headaches and had nightmares. Juror Gusina Tremblay of Lowell said that during her train commutes, she tried keeping a journal of her thoughts but that became too much for her and she switched to playing the smartphone puzzle game, Candy Crush.

  34. Ernesto says:

    Could you please repeat that? reviews on generic nexium “There’s a promise there but it’s not ready for prime time today,” said Ritu Trivedi, managing director, digital marketplace at MediaVest, a Publicis media agency, referring to Yahoo’s mobile ad efforts.

  35. Giovanni says:

    International directory enquiries vitaros crema pret
    NASA’s Aqua satellite used its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to collect natural-color images of the Rim Fire’s rapid expansion. Actively burning areas are outlined in red. This image was taken on August 22, five days after the fire was first discovered; the next few slides show how it grew over the week.

  36. Connor says:

    It’s OK applying betnovate n on face Online extreme sports broadcaster Epic TV said Thursday that Mark Sutton was killed during a gathering it had organized involving 20 wingsuit pilots who were being filmed as they jumped from helicopters. The firm said Sutton’s death was “a tragic loss for the global wingsuit community.”

  37. Monroe says:

    Three years vitalix sheep tubs In the electricity sector, the government’s energy reformwould update the constitution to allow private sectorcompetition and investment in power generation. But the fiscalreform would apply the highest carbon tax on fuel oil, whichaccounts for about 16 percent of current power generation.

  38. Vincenzo says:

    Very funny pictures mometasone furoate nasal spray otc The extension, announced on Tuesday, follows an appeal bythree EU iron board makers against the potential ending ofmeasures taken in 2007. They contended that Chinese producers inparticular would resume dumping, selling at below cost or fairmarket price.

  39. Ashley says:

    How much were you paid in your last job? motrin 500 mg prescription Pension costs are a growing concern for the $3.7 trillionmunicipal debt market and National and Assured contestedStockton’s maintaining payments to Calpers, the CaliforniaPublic Employees’ Retirement System.

  40. Pasquale says:

    I live here coq10 costco canada           In Yerington, a bear was trapped on Saturday and was to be released into the Pine Grove Mountains southeast of Yerington.  The bear, a six year old female had never been handled before by NDOW.  “She will be fitted with an ear tag and more importantly, a satellite collar and she will become part of our long-term research project studying the population of black bears in Nevada,” says biologist Carl Lackey.  “Every bear that we can add to the research project adds to our already expansive data base on Nevada's black bear population.”

  41. Willy says:

    How many days will it take for the cheque to clear? bula do ciprofloxacino anvisa The Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 was flying 39 miles per hour below its target speed of 158 mph in the moments before it crashed at San Francisco’s international airport, National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said at a news conference in San Francisco.

  42. Kenton says:

    Wonderfull great site baclofen al 25 mg tabletten McLaren Formula One driver Jenson Button of Britain is interviewed outside his team hospitality suite at the paddock area of Singapore F1 Grand Prix in Singapore September 18, 2014.

  43. Errol says:

    I’m on holiday celecoxib trade name in pakistan “The market doesn’t have justification to back off from thehighs, but doesn’t have enough of a catalyst to move itsignificantly one way or another,” said Art Hogan, managingdirector of Lazard Capital Markets in New York.

  44. Damien says:

    Do you have any exams coming up? phenergan and roxicodone “There are high expectations, I remember the first day I walked into the building, it is a winning franchise, it seems to be in the DNA of the Colts you got to win.

  45. Laurence says:

    I’ll send you a text zantac 150 mg fiyat Last month, Bank Mellat won another case, at Britain’sSupreme Court. Its judges, too, ruled the British government waswrong to have imposed sanctions on the lender but they also tooktheir argument a step further than the EU court in Luxembourg.

  46. Terrence says:

    Do you have any exams coming up? amoxicillin 800 mg uses Paul Green, a 37-year-old bartender at the aptly named Gym Bar, volunteered. The styling team from Men’s Fitness magazine – a stylist, a groomer and the photo director – got to work. Would their “manscaping” make him a sexy stud or a “fakeover” dud?

  47. Mauricio says:

    Sorry, you must have the wrong number minocin 100 mg per rosacea “We’re certainly not satisfied where we are,” Terry Collins said. “But I am very proud of how they played the last month. One of the guys that is not on our team said to me the other day, a lot of teams could have cashed it in. Your team hasn’t done that.

  48. Dante says:

    I need to charge up my phone montelukast adulti pret The Developer edition of the DROID MAXX has all the same specs and features as the original model released earlier this year. Complete with a massive 3,500 mAh battery, 32GB of storage, SD support, and that 5-inch HD display all being powered by a Snapdragon S4 Pro dual-core processor. Oh, and we can’t forget it sports Motorola’s X8 computing system. So don’t worry about that “dual-core” term.

  49. Lyman says:

    Have you read any good books lately? potentium latin But Egypt’s National Defense Council said the search for a peaceful resolution is not open-ended, and that a negotiated end would not shield what it called “law-breakers” and others who incite against the state from legal proceedings.

  50. Grace says:

    Recorded Delivery buy zithromax liquid form Jameson will only need to dig between eight and nine cubicmeters of dirt to extract a tonne of coal from its CrownMountain mine in British Colombia, says Fawcett. By comparison,the average in Australia is between 11 and 13 cubic meters.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *