Sunday, September 10, 2017

The Night Rock Bottom Died

Friends come and go in life.

Anyone over the age of maybe 10 knows that.  It's not a fun thing- it's painful.  Sometimes a friends just disappear, like after graduating from school.  Sometimes, they drift away, like after transition.  And sometimes, they die.  I have had all of these happen. After a while, you kind of get used to it.  Sort of.

Sometimes the loss is unbearable.

However, times a place can be a friend as well.  There have been many places I have enjoyed going to over the many years that have felt like home to me, and I'm sad to say that most of those are bars- drinking establishments.

And being businesses, they sometimes close.  For example, Kildare's King of Prussia is where I wrote a good part of my book.  You know- the one hasn't been published yet and probably never will be.  In any case, I spent a lot of time on bar stools there: writing, eating hamburgers, and drinking beer.   Drinking a lot of beer.  Also after work, a bunch of us would just go there and hang out, eat wings, drink beer, and do shots. And it was fun.


Kildare's Wings

There's some places that will never close; for example Valley Forge Park.  I visit there when I can, especially on nice days.  However, today was a nice day and I spent 99% of it inside.  My back was killing me, so I called out of work and spend a good part of the day lying in bed while looking out the window at the sun doing its circuit through the sky.  I love VF.  Someday, I will die there.


Sometimes these places close and you have a chance to say goodbye.  Other times, you don't.  The Royal Scot was my favorite bar for many years.  In fact, I worked there for a while- it was my last bartending job.  Then I moved to Baltimore, and when I came back up to Pennsylvania I would visit as often as I could.  However, as time went on it became more popular, and it became harder and harder to actually get through the door as it was always so crowded.  The Scot was the first bar in Phoenixville to feature Celtic bands. (Now there are several places in town that do this.)  After a while, the owner of the bar, Doug, moved to Michigan to be with his fiance.  They would marry, but it was the end of the Royal Scot.  I learned of this coming back to Pennsylvania one weekend, and finding the door closed and locked.  I found out using the internet that it had indeed closed.  I was very disappointed that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to this place.  It has since reopened under two different names- the Moon Saloon, and currently Sips, and while it doesn't look much different, it is.  It's a whole different vibe there.

And so it was that September 9th, 2017 was the last day of the existence of Rock Bottom, King of Prussia Mall.  It was one of my hangouts for over a decade.  I knew most of the wait staff- first as my drab self, and then later, of course, as Sophie.  For a while, it was my drab hang out, as compared to McKenzie's which was my Sophie hang out. I kept them distinct.  It was at Rock Bottom that I told so many people about Truth.  It is where I told Dr. Dave, R, and so many others- always at Rock Bottom over a beer- usually over several- and shots.

When Linda moved into the area, I started taking her there as well.  Eventually, when I transitioned they got to know Sophie.  They were accepting.  And if they weren't, they kept it quiet, which I'll take as well.


Kimberly Huddle, Me, Linda.  Rock Bottom Oct 2014


Kimberly Huddle visited, and we met her there.  Dr. Dave and I used to go there all the time when he was living in the area doing his post doc work at Penn.  Once or twice a month, we went there, drank way too much, and I drove home. (I would be cured of that particular Habit in August 2012.)

I was told several weeks ago that they were closing.  It's a chain, and corporate decided that due to a drop in sales (several bars opened within the past month within a quarter mile) they decided just to close it.  At least they give the staff a chance to find new jobs, for the most part.

Linda and I found out that September 9th would be the last day, and we were told that the word was going out to almost every server whoever worked there to see if they could be there for that last night for the party.  There be a DJ and, of course, there would be a lot of regulars. I was determined that I would be there as well.  Linda came along in drab.


At RB, Sept 9, 2017

We arrived at around 8:30, and we were both surprised to find that we had to pay a $10 cover each just to walk into the bar.  I'd never paid a cover to walk in there before, and almost turned around to leave.  However, it was the last night, so Linda paid for us both, and in we went.  The place was mobbed!  We saw one of our favorite servers, and she said it was "like a frat party."  They weren't serving food. and as glassware they were using red Solo cups.  They were five bartenders- no table service.  They were busy constantly pouring beer.  Just like a fraternity party.

Linda and I each grabbed a beer.  (This was the first drink I've had in almost 3 months.)  We worked our way through the crowd until we got to the back of the bar, and, by some miracle, found an open table- a booth in actually.  It was a few booths away from where Kimberly Moore, Linda, and I drank one night a year ago.  And so many others through the years.


Kim posing for a selfie in Rock Bottom, June 2016

The beer didn't taste as good as usual- probably the bottom of the keg or whatever they used to hold it.  Linda and I drank and reflected upon the place.  We certainly had some good times there.  Many times we went there for lunch- just a nice quiet lunch- and talked.  In many ways it was where we went there to learn about each other.

People swirled around the room.  They were many beautiful women, of course, and there was a bunch of guys- many dudebros and hipsters (it was a brewpub after all!)  After we finished the beers, we determined "to heck with this- we're getting out of here!" and I went to the bar to pay my tab.

I decided to buy a shot for the bartender, because I she could drink on duty (what were they going to do? Fire her?) She graciously agreed to have a fireball shot.  I bought two more beers as well and slowly wormed through the crowd toward the front door, where Linda was waiting.  There, most of the staff was in the serving area- just standing there and drinking.  I located two of the staff who I particularly liked.  The one was the person who told us about the place closing.  The other a bartender who I thought was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever laid eyes on: tall, shapely, a beautiful voice and gorgeous hair.  She seemed just a little shy over the years to me.  Over the years, she started dating another one of the staff - a very strong a muscle-bound man. She bore him a child.

See, that's how it was.  I got to know them well.  I considered them friends.


The scene from the booth

I was fairly sure that I would never see either of these women again. I gave them each a beer, then Linda and I left.

I took a couple pictures outside, as did Linda, and then we went to a Mexican restaurant, where we had dinner, and I drank club soda before heading home.

And so it was that I lost a friend that night.  This was not a friend of flesh-and-blood, although there were Flesh and Blood friends in there.  This was a friend of brick and mortar; of wood and brass.  It's gone now.  The place will become something else.  I'm sure it will probably be another bar.  After all, it was a bar before it was Rock Bottom, though I don't remember the name of it.  Before that, it was Coco's Carousel- a place that I used to drink with my TGI Fridays coworkers some 27 years ago.

Rock Bottom was not the only place Linda and I went- far from it.  We have friends in many places.  In fact, it wasn't even the first place to welcome me as Sophie, but it was a place that welcomed me before and after transition, and, as such, has a special place in my heart.  The servers were almost always friendly (there was one guy with a massive under bite who was surly) and I began to think of them as friends. As I said, I don't think I'll ever see any of them again.

So how does one say goodbye to a friend that has no soul?  That has no spirit?  That's not right- places do have a spirit, just not human.  I guess to say goodbye to a place like that, we just remember it- and that's what I will do.

Fare Thee Well Rock Bottom.  It was a pleasure knowing you.




1 comment:

  1. I only knew Rock Bottom a few years, but it will be a place of memories for me as well. Good bye ole friend.

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