Had a few fun days in Philly and wound up pretty drunk one nite, I thought I'd pass along a few details... Was there with a coworker who had never been, and is a pretty big drinker, doesn't do anything else. He's really huge on food and drink and excellent at finding all the local "to do's" when he travels. Myself, I love a good beer but rarely ever drink liquor and I'm not generally fond of getting drunk, but... We started sometime early afternoon by visiting the oldest continuously operating tavern in Philly... http://www.mcgillins.com/ It was early in the day so started with the mild stuff... had a stout Sly Fox and a Yards Philly Pale Ale. To save words I'll say I had nothing but great beer this entire time. Dinner was to be had at Eulogy, a belgian place. The belgians love their beer and this place claims to have 300 of them. Mussels are a belgian staple, a few pots of them were ordered along with several "real" beers, the buzz started building so by this time I can't recall what was drank except for one that was recommended but I've had several times, Three Philosophers, a good, dark, 10% belgian kriek. My travel mate being the researcher came across an old traditional drink called root liquor and wanted to try it. http://www.artintheage.com/spirits/root-now-in-stores/ It dates back to the 1700's and during prohibition a pharmacist in Philly took the alcohol out and thats why we have root beer now. It's about 40% and smells exactly like strong root beer. This was the beginning of becoming quite inebriated. After mussels, belgian fries, 3 or 4 strong beers and root liquor, we headed out around the block to The Kyber Pass, another well known pub, and with a unique history. It was owned by the mother of this guy involved in the mumbai terrorist attacks, who lived above the place for awhile and briefly owned it. It's this weird thing that the people that work there try to blow off if you ask. The dudes life reads like a movie script. DEA informant and drug smuggler, connections with pakistani intelligence, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Headley A few more beers and a shot of a liquor related to root, ginger liquor. This was much nicer than the root liquor, smooth, great finish rather than the burning jet fuel aftertaste of the root. By this time it's quite apparent to anyone that I'm well under the influence but, having a great time, within walking (staggering) distance of our room, and it's too early to quit. We wander next door to a more sedate but very neighborhood irish bar to continue. The barkeep is more than happy to separate these two tourists from their money in exchange for drinks and stories. He gives us their version of a ginger liquor along with (i think) 2 more beers. This place was the text book example of a friendly irish bar, minus the rowdiness of a weekend drinking crowd. However it became apparent around midnight that continuing in this manner could only lead to bad consequences so we began the stagger home. It speaks well of the city that although I was blitzed, my buddy lightly so, none of the BS that can go down, did. People on the street left a little room and laughed or passed comments like "cheers" and, "must be having a good time". Passed a cop who just advised, "be safe". It all came off as how a night of civilized public drinking oughta be. Good spirits, cool people, stories and anecdotes and a fine time had by all.
that root liquor sounded pretty good until you mentioned the jet fuel after taste. glad that you could enjoy a night of drinking without the drama that oh-so-often comes along with it.
