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Sundry Drinking Items: Alpena, Michigan; Bar Fees; Can Shortage; Orange Wine

Random drinking items for your weekend recreational consumption

Eric Scheske
3 min readJul 15, 2022
Photo by Nikola Jovanovic on Unsplash

My family cottage sits on Lake Huron, near Alpena, Michigan, where I make an annual pilgrimage to the Episcopalian Church that Albert Jay Nock attended while growing up in this northern outpost. It’s not a hard pilgrimage. It sits about 200 yards from my brother-in-law’s house, across the street from my favorite Alpena pub, where the proprietor does everything — from greetings to decorations — to make you feel like you’re in Britain, but not in a fake, gimmicky way .

I wonder how they’re dealing with the runaway inflation. I hope they’re more honest about it than other restaurants, who are apparently hiding their increasing costs by adding various fees. “Kitchen appreciation,” “noncash adjustment,” “fuel discharge,” “wellness.” I don’t object to profitability, but just hit me. Don’t hide it. I’m like that J.D. Salinger character from Nine Stories:

“I see you are looking at my feet,” he said to her when car was in motion.
“I beg your pardon?” said the woman.
“I said I see you’re looking at my feet”.
“I beg your pardon. I happened to be looking at the floor,” said the woman, and faced the doors of the car.
“If you want to look at my feet, say so,” said the young…

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Eric Scheske
Eric Scheske

Written by Eric Scheske

Former editor of Gilbert Mag and columnist for NC Register and Busted Halo. Freelance for many print pubs. Publishes here every Monday+. Paid Medium Member.

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