What a New Year’s surprise! Just goes to show you never know who’s gonna drop by Goodboys Nation weblog for a visit. Last summer, after returning to AZ following the annual Goodboys Invitational golf extravaganza, I wrote this post, mentioning an afternoon I spent walking around Boston’s historic North End and Freedom Trail. One stop in particular caught my fancy:

The day before, I had the coldest, freshest Sam Adams Boston Lager at Boston’s historic Green Dragon Tavern, courtesy of “Lugs” the bartender. I asked Lugs if that was his real name. “Nope”, he said, “it’s Ryan. Lugs is my nickname”. “Mine’s The Great White Shank, says I. “Great nickname!”, says Lugs, “but I like mine better”. “Why do they call you Lugs?”, I ask. “You don’t wanna know”, he says. Turns out the Green Dragon has quite a history dating back to Revolutionary War times, when the Brits used a spy stationed there to uncover Samuel Adams’ and Paul Revere’s plans to ride to Lexington and Concord and warn the colonists to arm and prepare for the Brits. Fortunately, the spy never worked for the New York Times and was discovered by the good guys and locked up in the tavern so he couldn’t reveal their plans. The Green Dragon Tavern – a nice old dark bar in which to take refuge on a hot summer’s afternoon.

Imagine my surprise, then, while checking out the latest comments here at Goodboys Nation earlier today, I find a comment from – guess who – Lugs the bartender:

hey fella it’s me lugs the bartender wondering when u were heading back east to the bean for some more sam adams…anywho i’d thought i’d let you know that i went to to the driving range this past saturday because of the wonderful weather we’ve been having (global warming= beer tasting wonderful and more golf time on the east coast) and embarrased myself and generations of future kids i may have. i was delighted to see my name pop up when i googled my nickname…ok buddy keep in touch w/ yourself …the worst bartender/golfer in boston lugs

It’s kinda funny and pretty amazing, actually, how when some days you’re just not sure what you’re going to post on, the post practically writes itself. This is one such occasion, and definitely a cause for a cold Sammy from my refrigerator.

Folks, if you ever get a chance to stop by Boston’s Green Dragon Tavern, tell Lugs the bartender that The Great White Shank from Phoenix, AZ says hi. Oh, and don’t forget to tip him kindly – gold lessons can get pretty expensive, you know!