These boots were made for walking, past the main downtown party area, or especially as well for hoofing and negotiating late-night rehab work on the evening before, as is fitting, Labor Day weekend. (This is one of give or take a dozen stores that have changed hands in the last year in the immediate area, as a new tenant is giving it a go and trying to rehab the building with a fresh start, but more on that later). I first saw this kinda Midnight Rider of mop washing front windows, on my way over to Dick’s, before leaving on a vacation in the true spirit of (Anti?) Labor Day? He was then to be well seen, with future store lights fully blazing unlike those low range LEDs Hudson has installed to serve “street light people” badly. And away he went, scrubbing up the back area by a doorway on my way back from Walnut Street, as I am reporting now after being on holiday in the Bahamas, yeah believe that one? Maybe the mopper, in the true spirit of Mott the Hoople, is one of those musicians who is having trouble getting gigs these days … so whistle while you work? Unless that attracts groupies, because we’re told we’re not supposed to have such groupings these days, especially since a three-day-time-off has now proven via the virus to be the newest culprit To End Our Search For A New Summer Of Love. Or is it in the air, that the summer is out of reach? Empty beach? Empty Street?
And then there was later in the week, when the upside down, plastic party table with legs propped straight up like a hunted deer, had actually been put in place for use after being hauled onto the driveway, from its resting spot on the edge of the lawn, or would that be sand from their recent project?
(That beach is not, though, out of reach for Captain Crunch even come fall snacking now that football has resurrects, and I know this ‘cuz it says it on the box, and you know all advertising is the truth?!? Word has it that he is holed up now, upon retirement, with Jimmy Buffett and showing him even more munchies. But HudsonWiNightlife will give you even cheaper and more nutritious advice sooon in yet another such round-up, so stay tuned).
But also a member of The Labor Party, on a different front, but still such handiwork to be seen, is the extensive sidewalk reconditioning (euphanism) being done in front of the little pink houses largely, as opposed to the big business buildings, on the west side of Second Street. To start, there is the five-foot-long small sand and not sidewalk demarcation in the form of sawhorses front and back, on the far north end of the work zone, that were actually setting partway in the midst where concrete should be. At two places further down, there was an actual pit the size of a trio of motorcycles where the sawhorses were in a level place but not fully to the curb, connected by police line tape, BUT NOTHING THAT COULD PREPARE YOU WELL FOR A FIRM DROP, such as drop-C guitar. To be fair there has been some piling of sand in them by workers since then. But maybe this is a hope for hoidy toidy Hudson, the two unabated parking spaces in front of Nor-Lake has signage that read only 15 minute parking, at least at some peak times. OK, that won’t be time enough for last call on the recent three-day weekend …
But to the south, at Art Doyle’s Spokes and Pedals, there was hope for the people who don’t make enough money to drive BMWs, they would be closed all through the three days, with a kudo for Saturdays off with pay for their workers. But that doesn’t help the whole newly burgeoning and moving in bicycle crowd they could be serving, but not until Tuesday. In another form of transportation that could be viewed as emergency, and at least for some in the crowd that laments the lack of public transportation in Hudson, as I guess we don’t have enough college students living and working here and attending at UW-RF, there were more astute climes in St. Paul. I saw them (over by Alary’s?) where their were pay-per-ride scooters, much taller than wide, but some of these were toppled over onto the sidewalk beneath. Is there a point to be made that maybe their sidewalk needs concrete attention? Or maybe as visual as musical, that you’ve had too many and are in need of focus, that could be offered by a performance by Concrete Blond. That’s Old School for all those New School trekkers between RF and Hudson.
But being Labor Day, back to the bastion of ways that it was thought your business might be non-essential, so defined back in March in a quick fell swoop, then later adjusted:
<<So taking it to the Capitol if not the streets>>
And what, in what now seems long ago, regarding those stores that were left in limbo by the reversal of the governor’s decree to cease and desist most possibly dangerous commerce, if not essential? It was soon redacted and not a death threat to these adapting businesses:
— What about places like the YMCA in Hudson, which did not say they were forced to cease operations, but were for the most part voluntarily electing to devote their resources to more pressing concerns than bench pressing. That was early on, around the time the complete stay at home edict was announced. But is a fitness club that, importantly, rides largely on religious and spiritual themes, truly an essential service, as there initially was allowance for such rejuvenation? The signs on the door announced this temporary new direction, but day care and preschool continued to be a go. There was in front of the front door, two long tables with care bags ready to be taken. Each consisted of about five staple food items that were by no means brand names, but hey, these days food is food.
— On the other hand, RJ’s Meats is always a veritable bounty of awards, but that does not stop the virus with messing with larger places not too unlike it in Minnesota. Food processing plants there had at one point become havens for the virus as it moved out-state. Not to suggest in any way that the Hudson shop has any lapse in its obviously outstanding food quality, bolstered by frequency of newer items way beyond venison such as swiss and mushroom brat, but there can be a question posed: When does a butcher shop, for purposes of what businesses were being very carefully weighed for essential services or not, become large enough with their success and thus volume whereby they can be likened to a small processing plant? And in fairness to RJ’s, are grocery stores that serve a vast variety of foods that included a meat shop and deli, (with seating?), be viewed as different from a shop like RJ’s that also has basic groceries in a small scale, but sells much more their staple quality meats? And how do convenience stores, even smaller in scope in all such ways, fit into the picture? With some in the public being very fickle about their food, RJ’s may have an answer, as shown on its big sign, that being a buildup of all sorts of their meats that may not be easy to come by. (And of course being a stanch Catholic at the local church, RJ’s is not open on Sundays, again as their sign makes known). On such a note, as I discussed way back at the start of virus closings, with a Wal-Mart manager as a comparison drawn with Target, when does a “grocery store” become simply a store that “sells groceries?”
— And when it comes to back rooms, some of the initially ordered-to-close “hookah shops,” as not an essential service, might have had an ace in the hole because the order was about sales of legal products to be consumed off-site. A place I know, as being a longtime store in western Wisconsin, was able to have lights on that first night for an hour or two, but said they soon made it sure that the few seats they had at the back of their one large room was not open for any lingering. That was perhaps bucking what could be a trend, of Minnesota businesses knuckling under, but Wisconsin stores looking for loopholes.
— Academies optimistically stated they are celebrating their young athletes promise and pluck by taking it to the virtual realm, continuing to forge forward to teach them using a very active form of online dancing. So they love teaching and supporting their dancers, as for now, home-grown via the magic of a computer. To wit: “Proud to be dancing at home together.” And as a sign seen around and about supports, anyone over age three is welcome at one academy or another …
— Lastly, in another hard to understand initial prohibition, disc golf was a no-no. I doubt that it sat well with a local couple who have won international tournaments on that subject, back in the days they were “playing.” Maybe have to have only wide open par fives? And in a similar up-in-the-air-higher-than-a-golf-ball initial bias as far as stay at home, were noses thumbed at traditional golf courses and as mentioned earlier that you could “nanny” and do day care, but not be an average ank-and-file babysitter. So saved is Mrs. Doubtfire. Campgrounds and fishing and hunting were treated better, in place for their main seasons. And as far as high school sports that force you to be more than six feet away, what about sprinting vs. distance running if someone can break away from the pack, and singles vs. doubles in tennis?

<<There are many kinds of labor. Of these, on Saturday, there will be a car show for charity at The Village Inn lot in North Hudson, their first excursion into this kind of  event, which has occurred at long length in the grassy area directly across the street. Coincidentally, at the historic Octagon House a mere two miles to the south, there is running concurrently a vintage style yard sale. Are they, in this day of conserving money and raising money at all costs, even though this is a fashionable cause for donations, taking the route of a high-end pawn shop? Anyway, both events wrap up at 4 p.m., so it’s unlikely you could do the Halloween costume thing of going place to place in a way that’s staggered by the times of judging contests. Unless you’re willing to hit the road running and try to beat the masses, with high speed needed. And a far as Halloween and my upcoming coverage, you haven’t seen anything yet, as in comparison to past years of haunt.>>

(Sorry if the leprechaun got into my line spacing tool, as he is such a tool and just will not quit messing with me and my computer, although in fairness, I mess with him as well — but the Irish League To Establish No More Reason To Diss Us is on his small back).

As I’ve written, there comes a day when its halfway back to when St. Patrick’s Day occurred and halfway forward to when it comes around again. This continuation of a celebration dubbed the Half-St. Patrick’s Day has been recognized each year at
Paddy Ryan’s Irish Pub until this March when the virus marched in, sending forth a range of actions that resulted in the holiday not being given its usual name six-months in, but the same great by all accounts food and drink can still be obtained as
such if you, again, can keep your Irish down enough to wait until Monday. No such restriction at Dick’s Bar and Grill, which historically has offered a monthly special on certain Irish drinks on the Seventeenth, and hey the Irish have waited so long, just
like certain recent Notre Dame sports teams, so what is a day or two beyond the three-day-weekend they have concocted with their ire since … March and they still have had long to wait, until now. While the prices on the Dick’s special, which always
seemed to fall on a Tuesday, are not specifically seen this year, the chance to savor those drinks still is, meaning there just might be leprechauns on both ends of town, and I swear I saw a real one ambling up Locust Street, and defined by his bright
green attire and stature. And there were some boots to bantie about with going the other direction, their darker shade making for the look of a banshee, and big-extended toe shoes for those with a bit of a fetish. Add to it cleavage and leggy maximizers,
since skin now has been in during this shortened season, as well as the cool thingees (is that an Irish word?) that is stuffed into their possibly colored and curled hair, and topped off by the pixie-like rubber band some used to straighten locks on either
side of the upper head.
Which maybe why we, on the north end, still have an Irish greeting sign of a string of three shamrocks, (most have a full four pedals, not three, in what has been an aberation worth noting while guzzling a Guinness). And further north at the new Kwik
Trip, there were not only sprinkles and spurts of tiny foil that could serve as part of a St. Patrick’s Day present, but those beastie-fueled-jokes that continued well into summer were about the legendary little men and what could be thought of as a green
mafia.Why did I always forget my rewards card? Well my, it was that hostile leprechaun who pried it out of my hands while at the pump, trickling in earth friendly gasoline. But there was hope, I said to a burst of laugher, as the Leprechaun Oversight
Committee on Monetary Affairs put the little man on extended probation. But on appeal, he blamed it on other little green men and was left go, meaning he’d continue to peal away the edges of my card until it looked like that two-pound sauerkraut
special at County Market and could pass it off as such to make that purchase. And licensure? He found that anything over $3.99 and/or 32 ounce size would require notarization from the man at the end of the Pot Of Gold, ‘cuz how do you think he
accumulated all that, and thusly had just enough moxie to be a grand marshal of sorts at an area parade. Oh, I met him across the bar at the Shamrock Club in New Richmond on the night right before the Day the parades were struck down like a
subpeona for a president, and even their equivalent in England. What is and what should never be, the man was optomistic but guarded, even with stories of yore, saying to check with the morning bartender. That ended up being too late.

<<The parade cancelizations, blow by blow>>

Come the Friday before the Irish At All Costs Day, I was still in contact with the publisher at the Irish Gazette out of the Twin Cities, as axing parades was at hand, possibly. Western Wisconsin club owners were taking their lead from the places WAY
across the river, but then that ax fell and it was not pretty. On the morning of the parade demise, quite early, the hammer dropped. Right before that, I was talking to another applicable bar owner/manager/pourer while of all things waiting for my wife to
be treated at Regions at the ER for the Anti-Irish-Observance Illness — OK that’s not why she was in — and the guy was grumpy and a bit frazzled, and said to call him back in 20 minutes, as he wanted the phone open for possible bad news. Meanwhile,
Nurse Ratched was in toe all the while, saying to take that and any other calls that day in the lobby. Of course I was obstructed in my walk to get there by some other nurses of the same cloth, so I ended up in the smallest waiting room I had ever seen
several doors away from my wife, waiting for the clock to tick tock to that position, and actually saying to the one woman who managed to squeeze in late in that wait, good luck with your emergency, Irish related or not. Needed to walk a bit here and
frow, but then the call went through for the second time. Within the half-hour, parades that were scheduled in New Richmond and River Falls were scuttled, and once the noon hour passed, with it went the last gasp for a last parade in our extension of
The Cities, the man in Roberts said while trying to make a last call, to consult with others in what forms a triangle in St. Croix County. Maybe it was said, the bagpipe players and their ilk would still be roaming the sidewalks in New Richmond, but it was
unclear if it fell through too. There was the Irish band at the Shamrock club that was stifled after a few flurries of notes, and would have been the last music act to go forward that day. The only trace was in ads, shown conspicuously in green, where
everything from soda (Sprite and Dew), home and lawn improvement (damn good grass everywhere for early season), and every imagineable way to insert (lame?) lime colors in the background, even if limes were the special being hawked. And among
the obligatory posting of cloverleafs, there were even farm implements such as — you guessed it — John Deere being discounted at a jolly good price. One more thing that made it into publication, as the schedule for the printing industry cannot be
betwixted for more than a bite of corned beef cabbage, were some ads in the local shopper, think a quarter page, advertising the parades that never were as if they were still going on. .
And the costumed singing witch/leprachaun named Conant — not the first time such accused — did indeed make her way into the free clinic in River Falls despite virus blackouts, and was allowed to perform a one-and-out with no encore of her Irish
ditties — despite that for virtually everyone else there was a lockdown and lockout. But oh, I dallied, as there was one more couple inside that got a front row seat by default, as unfortunately they were (both?) in the process of seeing a doctor for
alleged symptoms or likely would not have been let in.

<<The three wordwise ditties that were supposed to go in the Irish Gazette, but the virus pre-empted them with Stop The Presses>>

The whole New Richmond population explosion, making it one of the fastest growing places in the country because of the new Stillwater bridge, has put on the stamp the expansion of St. Patrick’s Day options here, cancellations from virus rather than
no virus. Now, in addition to what has been one of the biggest noonish holiday parades of this type in Wisconsin, and indeed is billed as among biggest and best anywhere and that befits the Irish and others who can be a bit over the top when their
enthusiasm is engaged, there is a backup and newer bridge-driven lead role via the much bigger than before party at the Wild Badger Bar, with multiple choices that include bands all weekend, (more on that entertainment option elsewhere on these
pages). Also on that Main Street parade route, there are new nightclubs that have opened up, not to mention the existing Irish pubs that have long been the driving force for the St. Patrick’s Day party done in many forms. No Big Box stores have arrived
here though, yet, so to get their mega-cut specials on things like corned beef you’ll have to wait until next year or possibly a bit later, as the arrival of the virus has slowed things that even include such development whether big or small.
HudsonWiNightlife has developed too, as you can surely see, so be jolly (wrong holiday?) and do an Irish jig because you can get the scoop on where to find all these type of food options and exactly what they are and the cheap prices that you can
find right now without having to wait at all, as this is one of those times HudsonWiNightlife is virtually in real time so since this is not typical of our magazine-type format and its necessity to find that killer second day angle so savor like you would that
mostly once-a-year shepherds pie, (note that for once I did not invoke CBC), whether eating in or out, also on these pages so be the consumate and clever consumer in what you consume and check out my community calendar before you shop or dine,
and elsewhere on its many holiday posts find more such sometimes seemingly endless strings of “clever,” as I just used that word, capitalization-or-no/alliteration comedy .
In River Falls, which also has what’s typically huge parade and myriad other St. Patrick’s Day options such as the partially comedic bed races down the main drag, rushing away from the virus and back to the hospital where donated beds are from, as
the holiday is even bigger there than the others that have festivals all during the year, which are numerous locally and like this one not only during the summer, and in what is becoming trend the River Falls Area Chamber of Commerce has pulled out its
longtime sponsorship and substantial funding. It cited the fact that for multiple straight years it has occurred toward the middle of the week over any of its three middle days and the need especially these days to maximize economic benefit to all
businesses, not just bars and restaurants, as people flood in from the Twin Cities, so with this and so many other party-ish festivals you don’t have to (typo before proof-reading as I meant too) be clever like the typo gag to know tourism has become a
lucrative big business in RF even though to many it is as big a best-kept secret as just where that medallion is. This leaves it to just to just those bars, which responded by adding a pub crawl, led by a new sponsor, Shooter’s Bar, a block off the main
drag where the Irish floats go. Right on Main Street is Johnnie’s Bar, which again brings in a Saturday night country band and also adding actual Irish music in a type of act you don’t always see booked elsewhere, although billing itself as the only true
Irish tavern in the area (Paddy Ryan’s is a bit less than a half-hour to the north, just east of Hudson, and are just the right distance away that they might differ). But back to Shooters, the owner by that name is a wee bit gruff in a charming way, and
would make a good Irishman. As pointed out quickly by a bartender at Broz on the other end of the downtown, things really get going earlier, with some Sunday parties that are smaller in scale than things such as the parade, two days before St. Patrick’s
Day.
In Hammond a wee bit down the way in St. Croix County, Schuggy”s, which has two bands every weekend trek in from the Twin Cities, (as even they note is the best kept secret here in this berg with only four bars and this is Wisconsin, mind you), has
by far the biggest live music attendance in western Wisconsin, even though they are a very small town, (they love to point it out that fan base in their photos). They’re at it again in this way in mid-March, but with nothing on St. Patrick’s Day itself
except in-house poker. Not that unusual, but to do it up big on Saturday and Sunday nights with partiers on all sides of the large circular bar rail, far from the stage, and not at all Tuesday, is noteworthy. (I guess the good Irish, typically, can’t wait). The
band is a two-fer, making for two long trips in two days for them but they think it’s worth the now-low gas cost, as longtime local favorite rockers FogPilot takes the stage both nights, as they are there often and are virtually the house band for the bar. It
should be noted that the owner, Trent Schug, who opened up this club a couple of years ago in addition to his nearby and also spacious bar and grill, The Barnboard — good name for a Wisconsin-style, small-town pub — but really closer in to The
Cities as opposed to Hammond, and with his name and its Northern Irish connections, although also of significant historic German significance, he’s close to being all-out-Erin-ethnicity.

They might not be rock ‘n’ rollers, but they were the rock solid type of people who served as The Rock for their families and all those who loved them. Those people always came first over themselves for a pair of northeners, as in long-time stalwarts in North Hudson, who typically put aside their own needs to the point of running ragged with tiredness while selflessly being of service — on the job or in all other facets of their lives.
The Kozy Korner big sign said it best, or maybe worst, about these people who were larger than live for those who depended on them: JoEllen Rest in Peace. “Rest” is not a way you would look at those two dynamic duos, even as especially in one case, they kept pushing themselves into their bigtime numbers of upper years. And then aside from Kozy, which closed for a day for one of the first times you will see because of a passing, there was that sign on Agave Kitchen’s marquee — Never Forget. Such sentiments are not just for the military and those THEY serve.
Without further ado, we are talking about JoEllen Steele, who remained in the work force until I saw her at KwikTrip, doing her thing, just a couple of days before her recent death, and Dorothy Cardarelli, who made it to 88 and still was more concerned about my wellbeing, and making sure I had an overflow amount to eat, than her own.
And not long before I sat down to finish this writing, there was a third obviously loved soul with those binding, (in a good way), North Hudson ties, who passed on, named Mike Smith. I can’t say I knew him, but I’m sure I would recognize his face.
But the two women in that trio I knew well, in maybe a more intimate friendship way then most others. I met JoEllen when she was in her several-year stint with Mudd’s and Sudd’s as the (only) day bartender, and yes for that very workhorse of a server it was almost every day. We both had our life-defining stories and shared with each other freely, as I had been dismissed from a job I for the most part loved, and the people too despite it being the local and now failing Right Wing Republican Rag, let’s call it was it is, as 16 years of busting my ass at all odd hours was rewarded with an (absolutely no fanfare even though that was typical and somewhat variable depending on your politics) dismissal by downsizing with about ten others when their ilk killed the national economy. Every free moment felt unusual, as I strived to rebuild my business that included regular publication with the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram and Milwaukee Journal and then its after-merger follower in the land of mega-corps like Forum Publications out of the Dakotas (don’t matter South versus North, same shit) as it then became the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. So no fire in the morning hours somewhere around town, I had again spare time as I forged my post Forum emergency work plan — pre-virus day version — and JoEllen was a mainstay who kept me on the straight and narrow with that. I’d appear at some point in the afternoon if the powers that be were too busy golfing to get back to me until the next day, and we’d share how both of our day’s were going, as it would be 5 p.m. somewhere, but it really didn’t matter as editors weren’t quite yet putting in those insane work hours that would be the case soon — as in arrive late and leave early — but that’s not in the Newspaper Grunt Worker mode. So for now, the NoDoz Infused Days were just not there, but JoEllen and her attentiveness were along with some great movies on TV of sentimental value, for a good 45 minutes or more, and before Call Waiting rose matters to the top …
So is this sour grapes? Maybe, but the truth reins true. And that is the point here. JoEllen’s death is underscored as a tremendous loss by words such as these, that do not do it justice, but showed her compassion and siding for sentiment, if not a lack of tolerence for all the usual BS — unless it came from a joke by me that would make us both laugh. And she would listen and listen. Her responses were short and might not even involve her own need of that particular day. Then there is Joe, who has a gift or it could be called otherwise, and has been, of running off at the mouth.
But then other Jo, that being JoEllen, would have her lowkey way of dealing with trials, of which she had plenty, and it hardly was long enough for even a J School lead to one of the many stories I would tell. I will thus describe her quips as this: Sly, wry and dry. But the main manner for JoEllen’s notoriety — everyone in the village quickly knew of her demise — was a caregiving spirit for her family and especially her children and grandchildren, without ever caring that it be returned in kind. Yes, she might have taken it, but what drove her is that everyone got what they needed, and a bit extra. As through what was seen at her newer job at Kwik Trip, in a couple of instances even wearing a chicken hat that covered most of her features while hawking legs and wings as the pandemic made sales a suddenly far more vital thing, as viewed by management and JoEllen dutifully stepped up to the plate, although maybe somewhat embarrassed but never to the point of being squeamish. And she probably would in short form worthy of one of my copy editors take me to task about what I said about the occasionally quasi-dirtbag management at the Star-Observer. Not that it was not true or not prudent, but maybe a tad bit unkind. That was not JoEllen, as she and her charitable efforts even benefitting her family and as simple as a ride to a school activity, were driven by her faith in God and how it was practiced as a Catholic parishioner, whenever there was a need for her to have strength. And for full disclosure, although well past a time when most would have retired, JoEllen was known for keeping a great figure, although pointing out she was still beautiful did make her embarrassed.
That strength drawn from God goes double for Dorothy, who I first met in an effort to do a massive cleanup of a fall, leafful series of acres at her resort that she still was managing at Trego. Dorothy again, didn’t really like the idea that she could no longer do the full task herself, but had the business sense to accept help, paid for by the fact there was a cool summer night stay involved at the perfectly spaced cabins and the great grub kept flowing to myself and a handful of others. And on this and a few other occasions, we all made our way to the local Catholic church a few blocks south of the Namekagen River resort when possible shortly before heading back to Hudson, where Dorothy continued to live. The cleanup was written up in the Catholic Herald and I also published quite widely a story about how myself and a Catholic youngster had our canoe dumped even before the first set of rapids after Dorothy carted us a few miles further into Wisconsin, on what wasn’t exactly a death trip, but had a degree of peril. Message: Respect how God shows himself in a desert if not wilderness experience and give homage to his Word and creation by our own example, in a way that is proclaimed in a 13-minute-plus song by my favorite metal group Iron Maiden in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I myself have chosen to provide this example by ripping through the song in a band I sing with, and although this is not Dorothy’s inherent Italian and polka cup of tea, she would listen to comparisons I would make and find subtle smile value in them. Same for JoEllen.
On the other end of things, Dorothy would typically trek to St. Patrick’s in Hudson for a weekly produce distribution, then take it upon herself to leave a couple of bags that same Tuesday morning with each house around the old neighborhood. Ever-cheerful, she seemed to thrive on the bits of conversation at each place. But at least for me, that is not where it ended. Even when Dorothy started having to live in an apartment for elderly residents, she alway was someone I could count on to borrow a few bucks from if I needed to travel to, say, the other end of the county and cover a big story, and didn’t quite have the gas funds. And I’d throw her way some dessert when I had it; her favorite was bagels of virtually any type, although she kind of drew the line, meekly, if they were too onion covered. She knew she would get it back, with a couple of extra bucks for her trouble, but that did not concern her, and if even a five-spot, she would surrend it without too much thought of what her own need might be just then. The song and dance that typically evolved was along the lines of gee, are you sure you can spare that, and here friend, just take it. I was a Packer fan, and she a Viking, but that didn’t matter as much as even the passing comment that qualified as humor and made her laugh for just a moment, again just like JoEllen, but the latter made sure she would groan a bit, too, while smiling. These were All The Small Things that I hoped, as did others, that could replace to some degree Dorothy’s loss of her husband Vincent, literally decades ago, but no one could replace her one true love.
And then the last time I tried to see Dorothy and did not succeed, was the day a big part of the planet might as well have died. Called a couple of times to the nursing home, and upon answering Dorothy said that something had come up, basically along the lines of watching a movie in the gathering area with a few others, and she would not be able to meet with me at all, much less come to the front door. I did come there with bagels in hand and a bit of fear in my heart. Dorothy had for the first time been seen, by me, as somewhat depressed earlier in the week, due I presumed because she was not living on her own or with family that always was front and center, her gorgeous grandchildren and gorgeous pet animals. Few more calls, Dorothy not picking up. You know the rest of the story. The virus had changed the rules of interaction and NO ONE could step foot inside the facility that had for a bit been her home. And Dorothy knew too, but couldn’t bring herself to tell me that last might-as-well be fatal time.
Dorothy died and I never was able to say goodbye.

<<When given some kick, what else was kicked to the curb (and also shaved, perchance, at that row of actual tables with actual accompanying cloths outside Winzer Stube and across from the barber shop)? The beard of an athlete, and not Kirby Puckett. See in The Picks of the Week department>>

The cone-type structures placed on either end of a set of parking areas reserved for takeout, there usually are more than one or even two, especially in the downtown, seemed to loom larger at first, then back a bit off as bar and restaurant partial closures started taking effect, then take off again with a few spaces added. There exist several of these groupings through the four blocks of the main area that is Hudson old city. But most eateries were good about taking the placards and their Get Takeout mantra down when not open and the spaces were fair game for parking, but this was not everyone, most noteworthy being the ones then serving for limited hours anyway. And at least one potential patron noticed that one side of Second Street remained far more active for food and drink then the other, saved by having a lesser number of cones only by Dairy Queen, which on its sign attempted to say they would not close until ten, but due to a missing letter stated they were open until 0. Might not be any one in humanity left to eat those cones, but … on either end of Second Street the awful mid-intersection markers that warned to watch for pedestrians kept up their vigil 24/7. And Hudson, unlike other cities in the area, has parking you have to pay for, and revenue I’m sure went down for the city, but that was not nearly the case for consumers to factor in, as they tried to do what they once did.
And the next day after the Virtual Shutdown Of Most Previous Profit, otherwise known as Black Wednesday, was interesting going out of Hudson as commuter traffic was very light virtually everywhere, and Twin Cities radio found the usual bottlenecks very bearable. Downtown Hudson was a veritable ghost town, and any cars you would see were backed up in threes by a slow one to start. There was a definite slowdown where Hudson meets North Hudson, in what looked like a Hazmat scene with the odd extensions of a big truck sticking out, close to a dozen of them. Turns out that crews took advantage of the light load to do some construction. I still managed to use the possibility of newly pending doom as a reason for being late for a doctors appointment in Woodbury, where I found not a soul in the scene in most medical building parking lots.

This is not hard to compartmentalize, although since this is WisconsinWiNightlife, we’ll probably end of stretching it out. Almost all clubs in Hudson and by inference most of the surrounding area, are for the time closing at the very stroke of midnight — even if there are enough patrons about the bar rail to conceivably merit a encore to last call. The exception of greatest degree is Dick’s Bar and Grill, which after a brief foray into the darkness that is such an earlier closing for them also, are now abiding by the old cardinal rule of “to close or drop.” And down the road at Ziggy’s, the music on most nights takes over and its of note is not always done by the witching hour, one would think. Buffalo Wild Wings at one point had shuttered at an even earlier time, 10 p.m., but has now gotten more of its groove back (that means closer to midnight, although not always right up to the minute or quarter-hour). Green Mill across the street has followed much the same pattern, as happy hours have become fickle. But the Agave Kitchen continues to serve food until 1 a.m. Some nights spots don’t even make it until 10 p.m. with their service. And as far as those special hours for the elderly or disabled to shop, the biggies offering have kept it much the same, the first hour or two that they are open in the morning. And former around-the-clockers, places like County Market and WalMart, had been closing at 8:30 p.m., but now as well are pushing it off to 10 p.m. Kwik Trips remain open 24 hours for secondary comfort food. Other convenience stores not even close, even on weekends.

(Wish for added tidbits, repetitively yes under The Front Page, “open” is open, and how the degrees and numerology — OK that’s a stretch — are spelled out on the highways and byways and right of way places, see Picks of the Week. OK be careful what you wish for, as hopefully it will only keep on movin’ to get better and better, both the music that’s available on all nights except Monday in The Valley, and what we make of it. An example — yes you do finally get one — is the hump day offering at the Wild Badger in newly blossoming because of The Bridge city of New Richmond. This is a musical night that we assume is partially interactive called Invite Open Mic, and this is a different form of that phrase, each Wednesday starting just after most people have started indulged in their comfort food, as when it comes to tuneage Wild Badger has something of virtually similar interest virtually every evening of the seven days. Evening not night, as they get going early at this resurrecting downtown venue that’s part of a scattering of such places, big and small, north and south, so you can get that comfort food that makes you want to croon).

(For more of how “open” plays out — see the post right below as a partial view — and how music clubs are handling it, take this to heart, check out Ziggy’s in Hudson still tonight, where there is an act that has not been there before, as is the realm these days when you want to be heard as the best of music. And I’ll list how other such businesses are again, using their signage like never before to make their case, but that’s secondary to The Music. So I’ll caption what that yes, very arguably dynamic duo plays and DJs soon, but I just got back from checking out the three-evening-piano music that frequents the place early, as they are literally back to five nights of music a week. So what makes this duo special, that has a look to them much like that of the guys in you know, those four fab friends in Impractical Jokers, and you can likely expect some of this tonight, check back in a bit on this web site and I’ll clue you in, on this and more that will be there even later this weekend.

In addition to tonight, it is almost an automatic that it will be an Awesome August at Ziggy’s, A to Z, begin again, with My Favorite Friends on the upper level Friday, billed as the most awesome (again) audio and video rock ‘n’ roll show in the Midwest, as saying the Upper Midwest would exclude Iowa and Slipknot, (mask reference later). Then Sunday Funday, (in caps for this use), features Kris Vox of longtime-costumed-rock-spoofers Hairball in each of these seven days to come, starting at 5 p.m. as it is this time somewhere and sometime, including now Hudson. Some of this can be said otherwise, but he is the man with the Vox. Comfort/street food specials, some of each, if this has not been Wisconsin cheesy enough already, will also be reported soon for the Ziggy’s weekend and beyond as we continue to snub our nose at all things virus).

Big business, and bigger banners for beer, burgers and brats — and maybe even brandy — beckon on the beat. And that beat, as per the previous headline, is one I had as an editor on duty at the good ol’ Hudson Star-Observer; the mistake was caught and fixed after a laugh, but what is happening to businesses trying to find ways to stay “open” these days is no laughing matter. And while businesses in Minnesota tended to run for cover, their counterparts in Wisconsin were far more creative in refusing to knuckle under and keeping the lights on. Here is a snapshot of their stories, and how they’ve been promoting themselves with the signs you’ve seen before even considering an entry, (with much more to come on this topic on this web site, as it continues to unfold):
When the virus was first at bat, there were a virtual gaggle of ways to get the message out that things would not be the same for a while for conducting commerce. And even now, the Agave Kitchen and Bullpen Cantina chipped in with more than cow chips for fodder, having their bull’s head propped up at the top of orange cones that were front and center at either end of their dedicated parking area on Second Street, and then bent around the corner for greater ease of takeout. Then the veritable heads of the bull on top of the cone, filling the hole on top, were Taken Down For A Time, possibly at the bequest of the Zoning Police, only to be Back Up In Black come August. Some of them right away — not just on the wall or on the curb, but even in the highway right-of-way — were signs saying “open” and were in big letters, capital letters, colored letters and even multicolored letters, and a range of sizes, shapes and wired-down paper versus cardboard, plastic placards with a pair of sides, or Light Up Everybody neon, to boot. Some off the wall said temporarily closed, some indefinitely and everywhere between. One village bar took the time to make a massive cleaning and another smack-dab downtown took it to another step of complete remodeling, a process lasting many days before there was any consideration of takeout or delivery. Indeed some places had a menu that did not match well with bringing it to you, and if there was little space near the front doors, because of a concrete partition or handicapped-only spaces, things got even dicier than pepper pieces on a pizza. The champ of such creative vagueness was a place that hawked their own brewed beer “on tap,” brought to you in anything than a frosty mug.
Soon there were as many as three parking spaces in a line that were closed for anything but takeout, and places found ways to keep up the taking of orders without coaxing people too far into their joint. Others posted small signs that asked people to wait to be seated — when only two or three steps inside the vestibule, but still being spacious enough to let them sit at a table there. And if people at that venue, Key’s Cafe, felt more comfortable with the meal being brought out and even carside, they would comply in much like the old A&W. (Again, no firm word on whether frosty mugs are a part of that picture).

So, what’s the lay of the land with reverting to the Hudson-area bar scene’s music making, back to somewhat normal, as much as that gets these days and that may soon again be redacted, after the virus hits close to the half-year mark of wreaking as much havoc in the area as Slave Raider was once known for?
The effect can be seen in a triangle of local music venues in the closest-by downtown, adapting and making due, even as the taverns have been cited in Minnesota as a key problem with social distancing and thus spread of the virus. Sounds like a metal concept album, or at least a zombie-zonked sci-fi flick. Suddenly the cheeky classic recording of Wisconsin Death Trip isn’t funny anymore.
— Jennifer, a friend of HudsonWiNightlife even in pre-virus days, had late on-line school and an early morning and had to bow out of seeing an essentially unscheduled part-of-duo performance by Garret, he of gargantuan gig girth, lingering long on the local landscape, but even though that means being on the show prowl for several years with his unique style of careening mostly just under control, apparently its not quite enough to get the number of shows he’d like. As being introduced from the stage, “hey Garret, you been playin’ much these days? …” The jist of the look on the face of the slam-acoustic-guitarist-vocalist who has ranged around the region, and the pause by the man who asked, seemed to underscore the sad truth if you’re many a musician — not enough shows to make most weekends busy, as you would need to not only quit your day job, but not even cut back to par-time. But Garret is not alone in that regular worry for such players; at least his gigs if not in Hudson generally take him south, where there is generally more bounty.
— One block up, to the north, at the Smilin’ Moose venue where a server had said in early July that the shows were starting up again, the marquee belied the point to a degree, as there was nary a mention of the big Friday night extravaganzas that were put on hold many months ago, and when combined with the way the seasons fall, have as a staple the time frame that matches a three-season porch . (It did mention that on Saturday and Sunday there were now the smaller patio shows, typical of summer, but the names of players were not listed). Some venues have said they may not know until simply hours beforehand just who will be on the stage — for certain. That status may be more typical of full bands, rather than soloists and duos). And even those top acts from the region that the Moose gets, usually are listed on the marquee, but not updated right away when the month turns.
— Across the street, its a much different take on things. At Urban Olive and Vine, where the main publicity is on their placard put up on the street on applicable days and into a bit of the evening, and on their own social media, but hardly anywhere else — in what’s not been that usual — including this site as an actual ad, the three-foot sign lists a whole host of different performers of the Smilin’ style. For the next several weeks, they unknown to the venue in most cases, and even largely to the immediate area, are strutting their stuff in a corner section carved out in front of the left side of the front window, and reserved for players.
And that triangle of venues listed may be the bulk of what’s available for service partway into the decade — thusly Back To The Future? — because of the Minneapolis mayor’s edict that bar ordering no longer be given at the counter, which means I’m not immediately sure just what you can or can’t do. But Wisconsin goes again in a savior role, at least through the weekend when the new closure arrived. But now, as the Badger State did its norm and its love for providing beer to all comers and saving Minneapolis, as it followed the Gopher State as far as what will play out. Masks soon were required to be onboard everywhere, first in one state then the other.
So in a few days, when the music is more fully grounded and things continue to unfold and options open up, I will be the music man at your service to be a primer for the best of the bands

(And you believed boundless Big League contract buyouts were … boastfully big? What about this “merger” I just batted out for bartering of two of the village’s best bars; actually the owners of Kozy Korner buying Guv’s Place? And moreso then just the aforementioned-and-following baseball series buildup, is the match with the mega-Major League movie monstrosity and its moguls, if such can be used for Milwaukee-ans. So go, just five fawning paragraphs down, and check out the new-look-then-old-look Indians meet the new version).

By gosh, baseball is finally back, and the pros can be seen battling it out during a broadcasted brew-haha at the new and improved Guv’s Place on Friday night. There will also be, available, outdoor seating and all the hot dogs and brats for sale that would befit such a spectacle involving the Brewers. And with that said, all the competition, fourfold, that will be On Their Living Color TV Screen(s) are familiar, as are the food and drink are long fan favorites.
But to further the point, this is a new sheriff in town, and could be known not as Marshal Dillon but Kozy-Guv’s. Yes I said Kozy, as the Korner people a block down the way have a couple of weeks ago purchased Guv’s, they say hey, and you can write the next story in what will be an ongoing Kozy Korner sequel with them starting tonight. It says so on the Kozy sign, in parts of the village of North Hudson more southern, but walk just the lengths of two infields and make it a doubleheader?
And the obvious next question about the new sheriff in town is this, which place will prove to be the sheriff and which the deputy? You can come on down and buy a beer and thus start to cast your vote at the 7:10 p.m. starting game time for both the Twins (home) and the Brewers (away), but you can view both! They are being aired here in a simultaneous way of sorts but not of course on an actual split screen, as that technology may have to come later once the dust is settled around both home plates and the new Guv designs to be beheld.
And when was the last time a truly start anew opener-of-sorts of this magnitude was seen, in the Midwest broadly speaking? It’s ’80s baby, and it actually extends all the way to Hollywood. More on that parallel in just a bit, (and you might even see a scene on the wall!)

And we did go to the wall with this one. Ever wonder what the classic movie, if only thought of that way in Milwaukee and Cleveland, Major League, would be viewed as some decades later? Well that veritable news source considered one of the most reliable in the business, Parade magazine, you know the glossy but rag mag stuffed in your Sunday paper, that does entertainment almost as well as HudsonWiNightlife, ranked the flick as where in their top 10 of all-time baseball movies. What? Not even on the list? Guess you gotta be a Yankee, if only a Yankee doodle. So we of course at this rag will pick up the slack. The movie of course, found a reawakening of some old hand hacks and untested newcomers that moved the Cleveland Indians back to the top after years of being … the Cleveland Indians. (They are the opponent of the Minnesota Twins tonight). That being the reason I view tonight at the New Guv’s to be an opener of likewise and much like, epic proportions. For more similarities to the present day, tune in after the game tonight for a recap of sorts, which will likely take the form of yes, the form that the New Guv’s will take. But Major League will always have a major place in my heart, because when I was fairly new out of J School, I was working near the northwest Milwaukee suburbs in another rag to reference, a small daily where they worked your butt off almost around the clock — 50 hours a week was considered “overtime” but everyone wrote 49.5 hours on their time sheet every week, you get the picture — and how did I cope with being far from home and on my own and having an average of 3.2 minutes of spare time to myself every night? I went to the local theater, the only one in town, about twice a week and took in Major League. And each time around, I saw something new and erroneously not of Cleveland since the film was actually shot largely in Milwaukee. Like the Brewer scoreboard in back of a cameo by someone the likes of Pete Vuchovich doing his Gorman Thomas impersonation, both at the plate and in facial and nose hair — remember that “party favor” reference? But the reason I mention he of cut fastball and not well-cut locks, hey like me, is that since this is HudsonWiNightlife, there has to be a mention of a hottie, and definitely not Hot In Cleveland. The person to whom I refer is a lady I talked with at length after one of the showings — this always seemed to happen with a person or two when we all hung around and eyeballed the credits for other baseball references — who actually knew Vuchovich since she was from the big city and not Beaver Dam (oops, did I let my guard down down?) and pointed out a tidbit to me that only she would know and wasn’t portrayed in the film with the same accuracy as you have come to expect from HudsonWiNightlife! Yeah.

(So, before the series is completely up, go see a game at Guv’s and find your own stories to tell).

(And on Friday night, make it a tripleheader of sorts, via the Village Inn, as their Walleye, Walleye, Walleye is just right to open a new season).

The sign of the times for fighting for social distancing, and this should not need official review, is that you have to use your space even more wisely, and for sports bars packing tables like a rugby scrum and thus leaving space that hopefully offers as much room as a putting green, this is how the game will be won.
So says Minnesota’s Gov. Walz, who features a surname of hockey fame, which knows a thing or two above effective spacing. Grim, yes, maybe. So the following is where you can get your comfort bar food, before anything. And its sign in its colors and detail might rival that at Target Center, even though the Packers, and yes Vikings with an ouch, of late may not.
The Village Inn knows, as is even better then the series of political signs across the highway, at first down intervals, and not necessarily for Walz, but down in the ditch, that with the flood of similar-tone messages that have been put out as eatery ads — and we won’t even include the remnant of those other old once-a-block, small-cardboard scrims — that Their Village has been way ahead of the curve. They Hit The Street Running And Tried To Beat The Masses, like none other with getting people into their parking lot to sell their ares. And this is what they are putting on their “great big neon Broadway sign,” as thus referenced by Bon Jovi. Seeing it is halfway between looking at a magazine and a TV screen, as is unlike other marquees in the Hudson area because of its moving images such as a pizza chef at work (their favorite) and graphics, that often feature the whole plate of food you can buy, with up to four ingredients shown at a time. It even had done, earlier-than-any, the customer a service if a go-to special is for the time-being out, so they don’t have to come without reason and stretch the limits of social distancing; hey must taste fantastic to be that purchased, as it is said their chicken special has been — better to order for delivery later with one of their seven daily specials that many insist is to die for. This success has not been the case for so many other places, when taken stool by stool, table by table. But everyone has a new tale to tell on what they offer these days, why they are different from all the rest. I was schooled on this early in what-you-can-do-now-if-a-bar process, when you couldn’t be inside, by two guys from Minnesota out in the enhanced, still-give-them-what-they-need patio, and have been only the start of people who kept loving to come on over, even like those two for the first time, and partake in things like the especially well-visited both days and nights that would make KFC cry, via drive-though chicken special, (which is one of a kind as far as its prime positioning partway through the large parking lot and really accomplishing distancing), 25 for $25 wings in perfect synchronicity, open 15 hours that became 17 that became 19, walleye specials that newly corner in the market, as well as specials for taco, chicken, and sandwich and wrap (both on the screen at the same time). And the double cheeseburger special is big enough to fill the screen that makes up a sign.  The picture of the pork chop also, much like that ‘ol blues rat of the same name whose been a stage locally who hopefully soon will help us bring back the music.

It may be the primary example of how bigger is better with the way social distancing is mastered. Like everyone, at The Village Inn, there is a bar rail seating area where things can be tricky, although people not in one group of three or four but singularly seem to be adhering much more than in most venues, but it in the back area the size of a full-court-style, full basketball court, you will see something unlike anywhere else in the area because of its sheer size, with tables backed up into the far area like so many other places, but despite being larger in number, still leave more room for just floor area than almost anywhere else in the region should people want to dance or just hang out and socialize. Even then, there are more tables for use then make up the usual seating formats of this type. (These push-back-of-table patterns generally take up about a quarter of such a main room). You will, for example, see such a strategy at Milwaukee Burger as far as percentage, but they have less than half that kind of size in their primary room, which is never use for dancing, meaning a bit less unoccupied or table room. A marriage of both can be seen, by the way, in the small town of Mora in upper Minnesota, where the bowling alley has more tables then almost anywhere, which are piled back against three walls, and a portion of a fourth because the gateway between that main room and the counter and circular bar area is so small, and then the vacated dance area is still of average size. But back in North Hudson, The Viillage still somehow has it better, with the main area being closer-by once you have your drink, and also has the huge big screen TVs better positioned when the dawn of football season is here (when it comes again),
The approach is different at spread-them-out Buffalo Wild Wings, where there is a little more than six feet between any given table, in totality, on any given Sunday. At Smilin’ Moose, its again a marriage of the two with a part of broad areas set aside, although one of them can be filled with dancers on most weekends, and in other cases there is a closer-knit feel in their four rooms that form a quadrant, though there is a space in the center of the upper outdoors patio, possibly suggesting that the breezes of summer might blow away any viral germs. At Dick’s Bar and Grill, the dance floor that fills all of a central room is left all for those strutting their stuff, as believe me they do, but during dining hours — most of the day — it has been tight. The banquet area at Big Big BBQ is perhaps bigger than any of these, and they have backed a bit away from bands, but there is no word how space is divvied up, although the area may offer an advanattage since it is totally square in shape.
But when there indeed is entertainment, the example might be at the smaller than those mentioned in this article the parking lot at Hop N Barrel, which put up its a few-times-a-year huge tents, three or four shade-bearers by my count — which didn’t have the sheer sprawl of a M.A.S.H. unit but close, when its hosted a gospel group over the weekend of The Fourth. It used the space as effectively as one could, with gaps around three sides of the lot that kept the canvas from from reining in, to let in some air for the patrons and out for the sound. Following suit, the Postmark Grill doubled up on its large such awnings by — depending where you were seated — its wide but otherwide short patio, making up the difference with a double tier of such and loping cloth extending from the main building, which used to be a Post Office and now has patrons of a different pedigree.

<<For liquor stores, if that’s their whole gist, its a much different game, and this string of holidays that starts with the realm of March Madness at its midst helped give various ways to fill a niche>>
-To be American is to Go Big and also have countdown, or ups. One, two, three, four, (holidays that is), Cellar’s as a liquor store has all the numbers and sheer size to be your sum-total of each and every holiday revelry. The local “Cellars” is interestingly named since it is “up “on The Hill instead of being “down” at at your friend’s basement man cave. And unlike that place and its few couches, Cellar’s has a showroom the size of full basketball courts, as shown by the sheer number of entries both at east and north, and not Down There at your guys limited bar. But we all have changed our habits because of virus impact, so all to be viewed at his home is King James of cages-ball footage from back in the day when he got started, and Cellar’s at that time was already open, then known as Hudson Liquor. But hey, we need more than dribbling, sorry about the pun, and this is when you go to Cellar’s and can get bottles of wine for as little as $3.99! So we draw from all of these spots, their celebrations and more, as virus considerations mean things like St. Patrick’s Day revelry are compromised and have to be regaged and rescheduled for later, even much later. Which of course — and yes I am finally getting around to a point — is where the selection and pricing at Cellar’s comes to the rescue as the summer holidays continue to unfold, had already been a prime seller at their store of all things that started Irish, think enough different whiskey brands from that isle to fill a space equal to that huge freezer in your buddy’s man cave, then also Easter. (And I’ve thus went to “edit” and added this part of the content on a holiday theme for Cinco, mom and pop day, multiple motorcycle rallies and July Fourth, and believe you me their faves are very different and cross a gender gap beyond which flavor of champagne they should sip as dad, sorry to say, slinks to the end of the counter and orders all those ingredients for a Bloody from a hottie). Then Cellar’s redacted these and other offerings to fit a patriotic festival from below the Rio Grande, led by well, Rio herself and Duran Duran? And hey, tit for tat, that will carry forward to later on the Independence Day of another sort, ours. But we are getting ahead of ourselves, possibly the first time since Washington’s presidency that HudsonWiNightlife has been not only on time but before it (on an earlier presidency reference, but passing by the edit) … To that end, you can get a bottle of wine for just $3.99, for that post-Easter toast, or later for a hot summer night on the river. And to be kosher in this huge facility, there is Mogan David to boot. The people at this store have teamed up with Hop and Barrel on a far-afield trek to taste their own special brews, and pick the ones out for sale especially at their places business. And they have had the drinks of Cinco de Mayo covered too with cupboards full of brews.
— The “Casanova” himself as part of the Hudson Historic Liquors name would love it — as being the first liquor store over the border that, how should we state it, caters to various ethnicies — and as such is so Irish as to be traditional, or even rare for St. Paddie’s, is redacted to make it American for the Fourth, as in American Irish? Shelves and shelves of many brands of Irish whiskey, some with often long names I can’t even pronounce — and adding choices well beyond the Jamison everybody knows about, although to be clear there are a few of these varieties that sport flavorings and subtle color tints — and fill shelves by the dozens in a dedicated area toward the back, and having been there for months, to extend the window for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations that were cut short, to the length of a meager potato growing season of yore, regardless of the weather. Irish whiskey is usually batched in a truly original way as far as number of steps, and the window to try them in the U.S. and all over predates the days of colonization, so when the time comes, use and indulge them with patriotism in mind (that’s convenient). And as far as things go, no immigration no Irish whiskey here, no matter what your politics about bringing in people and their preferences that can include that great Hispanic and Cinco fiesta tradition, Things to be grateful for. The recipes go back almost 700 years. So get you and your taste “buds” going, and beyond just Bud and Bud Light, even those are as American as The Fourth and beyond into the pastime of a fantastic summer …
— The Northern Liquors store along Crest View Drive has been doing great business — even beyond the fact that says something that that they stock as much Kinky brand liquor as anyone — and even though its not quite going viral per se, has a big beer and liquor vault to offer that in a rectangular sense rivals the size of the entire rest of their facility. One whole side of shelving going up front near the cash register is devoted to the dozens of very dynamic varieties of different tomato-juice infused ingredients, that are brewed, distilled and yes even grown and harvested, to welcome in a Cinco summer and meaningful Bloody Mary mantra and indeed keep it going through July Fourth and further, aided by little four-packs of themed drinks, some bottled and all quaint as can be, for far less then the fingers on your hand. Again, the bar-based numbers game, and if Johnnie is not careful with the fireworks and his fingers, as stem from the old 93-X promotion, then they’d be fewer and symbolize even more of a discount … OK we won’t go there. To aid his full recovery, in the best Hispanic tradition and it as Catholicism goes, and believe me the workers there will vouch for this — simply because as Jesus said, Give he is is suffering stout drink — and then remember that Remedy of the Black Crowes thereafter, go Northern as well as Southern young man