Where Bartenders Go To Drink--Steener's Pub

7:23

Another delightful morning, 57º, partly cloudy, and it's starting to get warmer during the day, the high today around 80º.  I was up just before 7:00 and Evie soon followed.  I am listening to a podcast called  Pop Culture Happy Hour since there's little worth listening to on NPR at this hour.  I just finished a show which talked about music in movies, movie albums that were best sellers (My Bodyguard was the all time best seller).  Now I am listening to their take on the Netflix series Wet Hot American Summer.  We watched the first episode and thought it was terrible.  It will be interesting to see if they liked it.  We may have to give it another chance if they do. And they do. One caveat...don't binge watch or it will tire.

Yesterday was another stellar day at the lake, sunny, some breeze, though there was a haze most of the day, which added a filter to the sun, giving the day an overcast feel.  For some reason we did not kayak.  Instead, I wanted to drive to Sugar Grove, about 15 miles away in Pennsylvania, and get some Pot Of Gold milk.  They just announced their root beer flavored milk was ready.  And gas is cheaper in Sugar Grove, PA,  and my car was low on gas, and I wanted to buy two five gallon cans for my boat.  So I rationalized the cost of gas it would take to drive there by saving enough at the pump.  Wrong...they were only five cents cheaper than here at Hogan's.  And the store was out of half gallons of root beer flavored milk but I was able to buy two 16 oz. Pot Bellies.  And, of course, a half gallon of whole milk, for my coffee (just like cream).  I also picked up some ground chuck because they have a great butcher shop, lots of freshly cut meats.

From Sugar Grove, I drove to Busti, then picked up Southwestern Drive and took it down to Wegman's.  We were thinking of making a moussaka in the next day or two, so I picked up some eggplant, of course, as well as other goodies, like Wegman's French Vanilla ice cream, the best. When I got home, I had one more chore, a trip to the Transfer Station, an easy task when there's only two of us.

Smoke and Fire From Bemus

When I got home, Evie was out on the dock, taking pictures of dark smoke rising over towards Bemus; we finally figured out a boat was on fire. We don't think anyone was hurt, but it sure was scary to see the smoke.  I was thinking I would have a turkey sandwich for lunch, but the friend's we made the past couple of days from next door, dropped off some freshly caught perch.  So Evie fried it up and I made a couple of fish tacos.  They were great, the perch sweet and tender.

Boat On Fire

We then relaxed the rest of the afternoon, hoping to go for a long boat ride, up towards Lakewood where they were having a sailboat regatta but the lake, the sky, were never inviting enough to get us up out of our dock chairs and into the boat.  Perhaps today. Mid afternoon, the Shutts,  came over to our dock to talk about real estate here at the lake.  They love it here and were wondering about the house up on Woodlawn's hill.  Their three kids dribbled over, and we ended up talking to them for a half hour.  There one son looked and talked like our grandson, Nick Davis, so it was fun.

After they left, we went in and got ready to go out for dinner.  We were not sure where, what might be too crowded like Bemus, so we decided on our new go to place, Steener's Pub in Greenhurst, a good choice as it ended up.  We walked in and it was practically empty, two guys sitting around the bar and one family in the restaurant, not what we wanted or expected.  It turned out, however to be great fun as we ended up talking to with the two guys at the bar, one, Walter, had just finished his shift as bartender at the Lenhart Hotel.  The other guy, Joe, most likely in his 80's, drives a few hundred yards in a scooter to Steener's each day and buys his dinner (chili fries this time).  He worked as an auto mechanic for 35 years in Ft, Lauderdale before moving back to this area.  His wife died three years ago so he lives alone.  Interestingly, he mentioned his son-in-law was a fishing guide and it turns out Evie knew him, had talked to him last week when he was fishing off our dock.  A small world.  Then, as we were eating our rack of applewood smoked ribs, with fries, and salad (we loved it), Matt walked in, whom we knew from working in the Seezurh House.  He taught sixth grade in Bemus for thirty five years and is now retired.  We really never had a chance to talk to him much, so it was fun to get to know him.  He grows a field of zinnias in his back yard, and its a pick your own basket, for six bucks.  He told us to come over anytime and please don't pay.  We also got to know Jeremy, the bartender, who also worked at the Seezurh House (everyone seems to have worked there at one time or another).  He's a good guy, and we remember meeting him a couple of months ago and talking with him when he was not working but sitting at the bar like us.  We also met and talked to the owner, Julie Steener, who was working because her go to waitress was now going to law school and she was breaking in new waitresses.

Evie And the Guys: Jeremy, Matt, Nate

Steeners has a new outdoor patio which they are proud of so we went outside to see it, got a picture of Evie with Matt, Jeremy, and the chef, Nate, who used to be the chef at Guppy's. He makes Steener's into a really great place to eat.  We left about 8:00, happy with our choice for dinner, wondering if we have become bar foodies.  We always seem to make new friends and have a great time when we sit at a bar.

We watched a new episode of a great series called Rectify before going to bed, at the end of what turned out to be a great night out.  It's now 9:00, time to go kayaking.  It's too beautiful out on the lake to stay in the house.