My greatest disappointment as I pulled into the Buxy’s parking lot and saw the sign advertising All You Can Eat Tacos on Tuesdays was that I just had eaten. I hadn’t been to Buxy’s before this year and, stopping in to take some photos on Halloween, I saw it was my kind of place. It was dark and quiet, but not too much of either. You get a sense of bars when you care about such things, and this seemed like the kind of place I’d hit for Happy Hour when I wasn’t on duty.
I checked in with the bartender and the manager, John Bradford and Michael Goodbroad, respectively, and they were cool with me hanging around, so that’s exactly what I did.
Regulars galore at Buxy’s Happy Hour
The most exciting part of starting this Happy Hour Adventures endeavor in the winter is that I get to see the off-season regulars. You can get a good sense of a place by talking to the people who come when it isn’t insanely busy. These are people who want to be at a place, rather than people who chose the place closest to wherever they happened to be.
Bill and Sheri Cook where two such people. I had such a nice time speaking with them that I actually did an entire “Ocean City Stories” post on them here. For our purposes, though, the critical part of their attendance was to say their winter goodbyes. By the Monday after Thanksgiving, most of the people who live here for the fun part of the year will depart for warmer everyday climes, leaving the year-round people to batten down for the winter. For my part, I’m looking forward to that, even if I don’t know a ton about hockey.
It’s the Pens
Chrisy Rothfuss was organizing the marquee letters off in a corner. She had been an employee at Buxy’s for several hours, having just been hired. Many of the year-round wait staff “winter” at the in-town bars and summer at the bigger restaurants. Chrisy worked for a large, seasonal restaurant and was happy to be pulling shifts at Buxy’s. I asked her what she was preparing to put on the marquee and she said, “It’s the Pens tonight.”
Buxy’s is a Pittsburgh bar. I’d forgotten. We’ll not really “forgotten” so much as under-appreciated. I mean, there was plenty of Pittsburgh evidence in the decor, and having worked in the area for so long I knew that there were different “team” bars for football, but it never was clear that Buxy’s was at least as much about Pittsburgh fans as it was about Pittsburgh football.
Chrisy wore a Buxy’s shirt that represented both the Ravens and the Steelers and read, “Respect the Rivalry.” It was clearly there to remind patrons that we’re sports fans because we have a connection to the conflict, but not a commitment to it, at least when it comes to Football. Still I have to admit I wouldn’t mind popping by on a Sunday to see what it’s like there even though I don’t really like football; I’m a Jets fan.
Dinner is served
Patrick Hartman and Christie McCann were waiting on their tacos when we started chatting. They didn’t even know it was Taco Tuesday before they’d left their Williards home to make their way to the Vape Dojo and saw the sign. It wasn’t a difficult decision for them to make. Talking to strangers comes easily at Buxy’s because the atmosphere encourages you to be a little more open.
The couple recently had returned to the area from western Maryland and were happy to be back at the beach, or near enough to the beach, anyway. Buxy’s had been a favorite of Christie’s so she was looking forward to getting back in, the tacos just made it an easier decision for her. Choosing tacos? That’s a tough decision all the time. Luckily you can have more than one.
