One of the wonderful and maddening things about the internet is that we all make so many virtual acquaintances;  many who become good friends, and yet who we have met only through the ether of web pages and email.   It was, therefore, a real pleasure last Friday evening to sit down, in the flesh, and share a drink or two or – well perhaps, it is best not to specify the specific numbers of drinks – with a group of water bloggers from in and around New York.   In no particular order, there was Will van Dorp of the Tugster blog,  Christina 0f Bowsprite, Bonnie of Frogma with TQ,  John and Vicky of  Summit to Shore, Michael Alex of Peconic Puffin, and Adam of Messing Around in Boats,  as well as Carolina from Portside New York.  An illustrious and/or nefarious group, to be sure.   Peconic Puffin summed up the evening thusly, “The gathering of so many water bloggers in an ancient watering hole created a metafactual vortex that left me adrift in uncertainty and doubt.   But it was a  fun uncertainty and doubt!” I have no idea what that means exactly, but it works for me.

The assemblage was held at one of New York’s remaining classic waterfront “dive bars,”  the Ear Inn.  The owners claim that it is the “oldest working bar in New York City,” (a claim shared by other city watering holes.)  The structure is one of the few remaining  Federal houses left in the city.  It was built for James Brown, a black aide to General Washington, who after the war prospered as a tobacco trader.  In the intervening years, the house has been a boarding house, a  brothel, a speakeasy, a restaurant and a bar.   An upper floor is said to be haunted by a sailor named, Mickie, waiting for a clipper ship to arrive in the harbor.

A few photos – click the thumbnails for larger images:

Photos by Will Van Dorp and Carolina Salguero