Your Guinan's Story...

Often I get emails from someone telling me their "Guinan's Story." People have come to visit from Arkansas, Washington state, Ohio, Oklahoma and all around the country.

Rather than have those tales gather virtual dust in my email in-box, I'll share them here.

Here are excerpts from Robert Carow of Brooklyn, N.Y. (printed with permission).

"...I took the 10:51 Saturday morning out of Grand Central to Garrison. After a wonderful trip up the river I disembarked at Garrison and THERE IT WAS!

I had a couple of Sam Adams while perched on a bar stool by the window and heard some terrific stories from John. I could see his dad back in his kitchen drying a dish.

Later I purchased a ham and cheese sandwich and sat out front of Guinan's to enjoy the view. Lou Lou sidled up to me, put [her] chin on my knee and agreed to sharae my sandwich which he ate with great enjoyment.

I caught the 2:03 and was back in home sweet Brooklyn by 4 -- with your book in hand ...

Thank you for pointing me to Garrison and Guinan's. It is all that you said ... and more ...

Very Best Wishes,

Bob Carow

Readers, what's your Guinan's story?

Comments

Anonymous said…
woods-hick AKA lee said...

guinan's was one of my only 'homes'. as I said to margaret and june: "I am the flavor of the summer that did not leave". that was a summer when I needed money and jim hired me as his 'MRE' (marine refueling engineer) when we lost one of the 'lost boys' (cliff) and my mother (92) moved to my home, I never returned. so to jim and everyone else: "may the wind be always at your back. I will never say good-bye but always fare thee well"---lee.

the following is an excerpt from a post that I wrote on a forum. it needs no further comment other than please pass it on.........

the' hudson valley leprechaun'
by WOODS-HICK - 7/18/06 11:28 AM
In reply to: Never had Murphys from the Tap... by grimgraphix

one of my mentors, seamus, james to strangers, but a real irish immigrant, brought his family of five to our shores in 1955. started a small deli/pub and lived upstairs which is common in ireland I believe. he would call it going 'overseas' when we crossed the river to the west point football games. he and few of us local lads were known as the 'lost boys'. which meant they knew where to find us.

the irish are well known for their gift of having a chat. we would tease him that the irish would rather fight than (use appropriate 4 letter word here). somethings that he defended without retreat. irish mist for irish coffee. jameson for regular events. tullamore dew for the finest sipping whiskey. taking it in one shot was a reason for excommunication.

harp was his regular beer. guinness you would drink or eat depending on the time of day. on tap was mandatory, and pour over the thumb for the perfect head. his black & tan (harp/guinness) was a picture perfect irish parfait.

he is 80 now and this 'energizer bunny' has slowed a wee bit. his rendition of 'danny boy' still brings a salty drop to your cheek. he taught me the true meaning of family and that life should be lived more with laughter than tears.

''-Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character.''- emerson
February 6, 2008 at 9:47 AM
Anonymous said…
As I write this in Wisconsin, the snow is deep and the wind is howling, but my wife Pat and I have warm memories of our introduction to Garrison and Guinans. It was the Spring of 2004, and we were about nearing 75% of our "Great Loop" trip, which is a circumnavigation of the Eastern U.S. by waterway. In our Grand Banks trawler "At Ease", we started and ended in the Great Lakes, but our voyage led us to the Gulf of Mexico, across Florida and up the east coast. We had spent a few days in NYC and headed up the Hudson, intending to stop at West Point's marina for a tour (I'm retired Navy and my wife is retired Army). We were refused entry to West Point marina (homeland security and all that)and were directed to go across the river to Garrison. We'd never heard of Garrison, but the time was late and we had no other alternatives. As we pulled alongside the dock, several men appeared to help us with our dock lines. One of them turned out to be "Colonel Tom" Endres. He and his wife Sandy were extremely gracious hosts, including a VIP tour of the Academy and loaning us a car to visit some other local spots. By now it was mid-week, and I was anxious to be moving northward. "You really should stay for Irish Night" Tom and Sandy said. They explained what that was all about, and we quickly decided to stay. That was one of the best decisions we made on our entire 6000 mile voyage. The full moon over the river on a still night, with Irish songs sung by Jim and others - it was a magical experience never to be forgotten. We later bought Wendy's book and it rekindled wonderful memories. We are so grateful to Tom and Sandy for introducing us to Guinans and the deeply meaningful culture of the Little Chapel On The River.
February 10, 2008 at 2:36 PM
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