RIP, Longshot Saloon

It was the beginning the of the Summer of '82. The long hot days turned to dusk about 10:00.

Summer jobs, fishing, weight lifting and running in preparation for a freshman year of playing college football all seemed to end with me and a friend sitting on a bench across the street from the Longshot talking about going inside and ordering a beer at the bar. Not just any beer, but something on tap. Something a man orders at the end of a long hard day. Something refreshing.

We were giants with a thirst.

It just took us over half an hour to work up the nerve to walk in, hoping that they wouldn't card us. The drinking age was 21 and we were 18. Loki and his mischief was somewhere else, or was he at our backs? We entered with a nod from the bouncer and ordered beers. Somedays I think that was the best beer I've ever tasted, sitting there in the Longshot with my oldest friend. A guy who'd jump on a grenade for me and who knows I'd jump on one for him.

By the time the summer was over, we'd have worked up the nerve to walk in, pretending we belonged there.

Later we learned that the bar was owned by the city manager, the sherrif, and our town's first self made millionare. Drugs, prostitutes, and guns were run throught it. Neighbors would complain about the guns being tested in the alley behind the bar, but the sherrif always buried it.

Yea, I thought drinking the beer was cool, but I could have bought anything, anything at all in there.

It was still the best beer I've ever drank.

APPENDIX A

There is a Longshot Saloon here in Anchorage. The siren song of that name calls to me. Fond memories beckon. I salivate at the thought of a beer that the nectar of the gods envy. I'll preserve the memories and not go in. It'll be sure to disapoint.

If I ever to lure [Friend] up here with my fishing stories, I'm sure we'll have to go in and who knows, there might be prostitutes in the back, hot guns being appraised, dealers looking for a buyer, all of which we're naively unaware of and the best beer ever on tap.