I've Been In Your Mother's Bloomers... and memories of other great Valley bars

This caption would be funnier if anybody knew what bloomers were, but you can google the term if you're interested. I'm actually referring to the name of my favorite bar in Bethlehem... long gone and joins a long list of Lehigh Valley watering holes that are now just a memory. Bloomers was located on the south side just off the Lehigh U. campus, and I was there practically every Friday and Saturday night in the mid to late '80's. During the summer, I'd be there pretty much every night, as I wouldn't have to fight Lehigh students for my favorite stool. Bloomers had everything you can ask for: Friendly bartenders, food, pool tables and video games downstairs, and live music in a tiny corner of the joint. I spent many a night with Phil Stahl at his open mic night, and grooved often with Me and My Uncle, my favorite band to see there. Once Bloomers closed, we followed the regulars and one of the bartenders over to Cannon's in Allentown, now also gone. The last cook they had is now over at the Liberty Street Tavern, a bar I recently discovered, and the food is excellent!

As far as live music goes, nothing could beat Second Avenue and Mickey Kelly's. The stage at Second Avenue was so small, that usually one member of the band had stand on the dance floor in front of the stage! (and it wasn't much of a dance floor!) I used to go see the Vultures there all the time... what a great band. Mickey Kelly's would get bigger name bands there- I once saw Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers rock the place out. The Green Pine Inn in Allentown was another good place to see live acts- I used to go see Steve Brosky there (actually, we used to go see Steve everywhere he played... I guess we where his fan club). One night at the GPI my friend Andy in a drunken stupor yelled out "Steve Brosky is GOD!" I wonder if he remembers that.. I'll have to ask him next time I see him. Not TOO many people could have yelled that out at his performances. I'm glad he's still around... he sounds GREAT playing with Jimmy Meyer... you should check him out. A few of my favorite bands I used to go see were Daddy Licks, Flamin' Harry, Gandalf, and I'm sure others that I just can't recall. The Airport Music Hall was a great venue to see national acts... I finally got to sees the Ramones there after driving all the way out to some bar in central Jersey a few years earlier with my friend Sue only to be turned away when she didn't have an ID (Oh, I don't need one, I'll get in she promised me...) The Catty Shack was a good bar to see punk bands in... I saw Black Flag play there... luckily they agreed to play a 2nd show after so many showed up to see them.

If you grew up in the Lehigh Valley in the 70's or 80's, there were certain bars that you could get served at if you were under age. Bloomers was one of them. Occasionally we'd be carded and told "sorry guys, the LCB is watching us" and had to go elsewhere. I sat in the bar one night as the LCB raided the place, sitting at my usual spot with glee since I was over 21. "Good thing that never happened when we were underage" I stated, as several Lehigh students were escorted out. Getting beer when I was in High School was never a problem for me, as my friend was the center on the Freedom Basketball team and was so tall, I guess they figured "he MUST be 21!" Our favorite stop was Tom's Den for quarts of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Our alternate spots where the Open Gate Hotel and the place on 512 that used to be behind Ackerman's Diner.. it's an Italian restaraunt now, and I can't remember what was called back then.

And then there was Jersey. My older brother told me his tales of border crossings to Philllipsburg to hit the bars there so when I got to High School I knew exactly where to go. Bar's Place was probably the most popular, but our favorite P-Burg haunt was the Net, or the Coronet as it was once known. A real local pub, it shared the same feel as Bloomers did.... a real neighborhood bar with good music, cheap drinks, and I usually knew someone in there. The Net also had another unique characteristic to it: the "Bill Drink." The old geezer bartender Bill used to make the STRONGEST drinks that we named them after him. Whenever I hear "Aimee" on the radio, I think of the Net because it stayed on the jukebox all the years I hung out there and my friend George would ALWAYS play it when we were there. Now that I think of it, I never remember a fight in either Bloomers or the Net. They were both pretty laid back places... the kind of bars that are becoming extinct around here.

Your options expand when you turned 21 and we ventured out to some other great places in the Valley. I already mentioned Cannon's which had the same vibe and many of the clientele that Bloomers did and close by was another favorite: Wentz's Beers From Around the World. I cracked my friends up the first time in there when I ordered a Schmidts! Well, it was what I was drinking at the time, but became more adventurous with each visit. There's no bar in the Valley that offers that kind of selection anymore. For a while Hary's in the Hotel Traylor was a cool place with a good vibe, but when a younger crowd starting hanging out there I moved on. Sadly, that too is closed after years of nothing but problems inside and outside the place.

Most of the bars I've mentioned are no longer in existence while some continue to operate under another name. The last bar I ever called home was DiGiacomo's in Allentown. My late Uncle Joe owned it for years, and it's the last place I consistently went. It's now called Greg's West End Saloon and kudos to Greg for keeping a picture of my uncle on the wall near the front door. For several years I'd stop by for 1 or 2 beers at the most... it didn't have a juke box and I was a single guy and there were never any single women in there and they would have the tv on with reruns of some lame show and I'd get depressed. I bugged my uncle to put one in and he told me "my patrons don't want music in the bar" and I'd respond with "Well, I DO!" He finally put one in and I'd stick around for more than 1 after that. The bartender Danny would crank my favorite songs up until my uncle would call to check on things. Funny thing is, he was never in there... I'd bump into him at OTHER bars in town... I guess he was always "checking out the competition."

Rest in Peace Uncle Joe, and thanks for finally putting the juke box in.

These are MY memories of past haunts, at least the ones I remember hanging out at; feel free to share your own memories. As long as Stahley's and the Beef Baron are around, I'll still have somewhere to go for a beer, at least when my wife allows me to. Actually, with a 3 1/2 year old at home, I never have time to go anywhere for a cold one. That's why my current favorite place for a cold beer is my back porch... I know the bartender and I don't have to put any money in the juke box.