Hooley's is an Irish pub about two miles from here.
Before he moved to Nashville five years ago, my son Tyler was in a band that played a couple of New Year's Day gigs at Hooley's. Only it wasn't Jan. 1. It was Dec. 31.
And that's how the Irish New Year's tradition got started at Alta Mira. Friends would be invited and we would meet at Hooley's about 3 p.m. to drink and listen to Tyler's band while we awaited midnight in Dublin, which was 4 p.m. in San Diego. The big countdown would come, New Year's would arrive in Ireland, and at Hooley's everybody would yell "Happy New Year!" and go into a crazed state for several minutes.
About 4:15, we would depart the tumult and go back to Alta Mira for more toasting and to eat our black-eyed peas and roast pork. Then Tyler moved to Nashville. We went back to Hooley's for the next Irish New Year, even though Tyler was gone. The place was jammed as usual, which is more fun when you are 30 than it is when you reach 60. The following year, we had the bright idea to leave Hooley's to the younger howlers and keep our whole part of the party at Alta Mira. And so Wednesday, revelers will arrive at 3:30, we will drink and keep the watch for midnight to arrive in Ireland, we will yell like crazy when it does, then have a nice dinner starring black-eyed peas.
Guests generally leave around 7, and if they choose, they can find a place to stay up until midnight and yell in the San Diego New Year, or if they can't keep their eyes open until midnight, they can be in bed and asleep by 9 or 10, knowing they have already rung the New Year in. You feel a lot better on New Year's morning that way, and you get to eat black-eyes for luck twice.
Tyler, meanwhile, has a bigger gig than Hooley's this New Year's Eve. He will be playing bass and guitar for the Emmitt/Nershi Band, which is opening for The Del McCoury Band, headliners at the New Year's Eve performance of The Grand Ole Opry, on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. That, I would stay up for.
No comments:
Post a Comment