PBP

This past Sunday (yesterday), we hadn't found a charity run going on in the near vicinity, so we came up with a fantastic "Plan B". We were going to check out the Pot Belly Pub, in Millville, MA. The rally point was changed to my house for this one, and the invites were extended. Matt was lighting up the phone and text lines, trying to get as many folks involved as possible. For you see; Matt had scoped the route out on Saturday, he'd made friends with our soon-to-be benefactor (more on him, later), and had assured said benefactor that there would be a ton of us showing up on Sunday. Poor Matt. He should have known better, for we Riders are a fickle bunch.

So there we were; 10am (the designated rally time) and it's just Matt and I, sitting in my driveway and waiting for the throngs of bikes to begin showing up. But the only things that began arriving were cancellation texts and phone calls. Ahhh yes, this is more like what we've come to expect. At 10 after 10, we cracked our first beer and settled in for the wait. Danno was due at some point in time, and said he may even have other riders with him. Ok then; we wait. Besides, not all was lost; we had our other friend to keep us company. Our other friend; Bud Light. And fortunately for us, he'd brought 29 of his brothers and sisters with him. So I guess you could say we had quite a crowd going, after all.

By the time Danno (and friends) arrived, Matt and I had managed to put quite a dent in Bud Light's family tree. Danno and company, having apparently already been introduced to Bud Light previously that morning, had no trouble making the transition to our gathering, and more blue-tinted cans were left in our wake.

The day's heat was beating down and we realized that we should really hit the road if we were to make any progress on the day at all. So with that, the bikes were fired, the kickstands were raised, and off we went.

A nice smooth ride, a fair amount of sweeping turns, a too-short tease of helmet-free Rhode Island, and we were pulling into the parking lot of what is now my favorite bar around. I present to you, the Pot Belly Pub!
Here, bikes are lined up and we're getting ready to rock and roll..

And now for some background info. The guy running this shindig is called The Mayor, and is one hell of a great guy. He normally doesn't start cooking until 1pm, but he'd shown up early for us, expecting an early arrival on our part. Despite him having showed up (for nothing) two hours earlier than our actual arrival time, he was in great spirits, was genuinely happy to make our acquaintance, and set about to getting the food ready for us. Oh yeah; did I mention that he gives the food away? Burgers, dogs, pasta salad, potato salad, chips, cheese, dip, etc. All free! He does it because he loves the biker lifestyle, and loves giving bikers a fun and biker-friendly envronment where bikers can come and relax. Frikkin' sweet!

Here, Danno and The Mayor exchange stories.
Here, the Mayor and our new friend Mark hang out and share laughs (all while the evidence piles up around us...)

As mentioned previously, the day's heat was blasting down on us pretty hard, so we decided to go inside and get some shade. Well the Mayor came through for us again; "I've got a pool table downstairs" he says. Turns out it's more than just a pool table, it's a function room. He only charges people $50 to use it for any kind of function they want. Where the hell can you get a function room that has a fully-loaded bar, a pool table, juke box, etc...all for only $50?? I tell ya, this place keeps gettin better and better. But back to our day; he says we can go hang out there and play pool if we want. Hell yeah! So off we went.

.

On the way down to the room, I see this sign posted above the stairs and just had to snap a pic. In case you can't make out the words, it says;

.

THIS IS A FUND RAISER

"I'm only staying for a few minutes"......."Sorry; $10"

"I'm not eating."........................................."Sorry; $10"

"I forgot my ticket."..................................."Sorry; $10"

"I just have to talk to someone.".............."Sorry; $10"

"I donated food."........................................"Sorry; $10"

"I just want to use your phone.".............."Sorry; $10"

"I'm just running in for a quick drink."..."Sorry; $10"

"I know the owner."..................................."Sorry; $10"

"I'm Billy's friend."....................................."Real Sorry: $100"

"If I forgot anything."................................"Sorry; $10"

Here's the bar area - nice, huh? I wonder if it's too late to change my basement around...

The pool table...

Looking up, we found that not only was it tolerated for folks to graffiti the ceiling with pool chalk, but that it seemed encouraged.

Not to be outdone, I left my mark as well (what you can't make out is that I wrote this right above a ceiling fan. With the fan turned on, my note made sense.

Another thing the locals seeme to enjoy doing was using the palm chalk to whiten their hands and then slap them against the beams. Of course, I had to add mine to the many others that were there.

As I was wrapping up this, my latest round of mishief, I returned to the table to find another round waiting. Another new friend of ours (Slacker) had found time to bring this round down to us.

When asked why she was called Slacker, she said it's because she does so much around the place. At first we thought she was being serious, and that folks had tagged her with an appropriate name, but as the day wore on and we saw everything she did, we realized the nickname was facetious in nature.

.

But this brings me to something else very cool about this place; how many bars do you know of that will let you walk away with capped beers? Sure, back in the day it was common practice, but now, with all the various alcohol rulings on the books, most bars have to uncap the beers before you step away from the bar. Anyway; this place lets you not only leave the caps on, but order as many as you can carry. God I loved this place!

.

Here, Danno lines up a shot. At his feet were the makings of a large canopy, complete with support poles and everything. This must be how the bar tests your state of inebriation; if you can make a shot without stepping on these poles (and wiping out on your ass), then you're ok to have another beer. (Danno almost failed this test immediately following the snapping of this pic...)
Here's a shot from the parking lot, looking through the gauntlet that leads to the dungeon...er...function room.

We were having much too much fun for a Sunday afternoon and soon realized that we should probably head a bit closer to home before we continued our revelry. And what better place to head to, than the Sharon Legion! (Some of the group peeled off towards their respective homesteads, but a few of us die-hards kept the day's theme moving forward.)

We settled in and picked up where we'd left off at the last place. During conversation, I remembered that Danno was quitting smoking today! In fact, he had with him the very last cigarette he'd be smoking. He lit it up proceeded to enjoy it...wait...what the hell?? Oh well, I guess smoking them this way will help reduce your odds of lung cancer.

At one point, we found ourselves with an extra, unclaimed soldier once again. And once again; it was Matt to the rescue...

In summation; we had a fantastic day. And I think it's safe to say that we will be making quite a few repeat appearances at the Pot Belly Pub. Thanks Mayor!!

.

Oh yeah; as a parting bit of advice, don't leave your camera on the bar when you go outside to make phone calls to New York to see how your buddy is doing. Thanks Danno! LOL
Ride Hard, Take Chances