A view of the bay at - where else? - the Bay View

Frank and Kathy Rutledge

Doc’s Report:

Is change good or bad? It’s a matter of perspective.

Last month’s post featured Ole Tyme Broadway, run by Junior and Mary Owczarzak, who met in high school. We’ve visited other bars run by husband and wife teams -- the Circle Bar, the Empire Room.

And this month’s visit to the Bay View Bar fell into that category. The proprietors, Frank and Kathy, met as students at Handy in the mid-1970s. Their son will take over next year.

I often fantasize in these settings, that the husband will take off his apron and sit down at the piano, while his wife curls up on it and belts out a song -- like Michelle Pfeiffer in “The Fabulous Baker Boys.”

The Bay View’s “Appetizers and Munchies” menu offers a breadth and value unmatched in my experience: fries, rings, salads, cheesy hash browns, tacos, burritos, nachos and a deep-fried

The daily food specials

pickle. The wings and the mozzarella-stuffed bread sticks come from the local Bosco Food Service.

Six wings and four Bud Light drafts came in at just under $10.

Frank says that with wings, it’s about the sauce and that at 60 cents a wing, “They’re flying out of here.”

Whether intended or not, his humorous metaphor inspired a cascade of wit that included the G-man’s observation, as Slug ran the pool table, that “The cheese is getting binding”; and Slug’s approval of the absence of a partition between the urinals in the men’s room: “I don’t like to brag.”

Dan Nowak, who co-founded this blog under the pseudonym Baldo, would have appreciated that wit. He would also have caught the irony of the view as you look out from the bar. You see Wenona Beach Estates, a mobile homes park, on the site of the former Wenona Beach amusement park, with its penny arcade and rickety wood roller coaster.

Some things change; some remain the same. Frank tells us he doesn’t get an order for manhattans or martinis any more; doesn’t even carry sweet vermouth. He does, however, offer

Door to the kitchen

Guinness Blonde, a lager launched last summer to cater to American tastes. Too much change for me.

Rudy claims to own a 20-year-old bottle of sweet vermouth, and that liquor doesn’t go bad with age. The G-Man observes that liquor never freezes. I’m attracted to the idea of never aging or freezing.

Even without the examples of my comrades, I recognize a metaphor when I see one.

One thing that doesn’t change is the bay. The view of sunrise as you look east is the best show in town, predictable as a Guinness Stout, and it costs less than any amusement in the penny arcade.

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See the hairy guy's report on the Bay View: The ice is just a short walk away but the menu is long and the hash browns are cheesy