Rides On Monmouth - Some More

          As I wrote in the original piece about this show, the city of Newport has quite a colorful past. Growing up across the river gave me the opportunity to experience some of this "lush" nightlife on a couple of occasions. While it's important to understand that at the time I was in my late teens, many states had a law that allowed someone to drink 3.2 beer (now rebranded as "light" or Lite beer) but you had to be 21 to drink "real" beer or hard liquor. That didn't stop anyone from going to Newport. As long as you had the money and weren't obviously there with your babysitter, you could go in, enjoy a few drinks and even the company of a nice girl or two.

          One of the craziest times I ever had in Newport was the last part of my brother's bachelor party. It started at my friend Bryan's apartment where we consumed a concoction called "Green God Damn!" Legend has it the reason it got its name is that you would look at it, see that it was green, then take a drink and gasp, "God damn!" Suffice it to say the main ingredient was 180 proof pure grain alcohol. Preferably Everclear.
          After a few of those we headed across the river to Newport. I, wisely, wasn't driving. Unwisely I got in the car with someone who also had downed a couple of glasses of GGD. We literally parked on the sidewalk. Of course we didn't get a ticket because, hey, this was Newport and we were there to spend money.

          Through a haze I remember visiting a couple of strip clubs and my stack of one dollar bills, which was rather thick at the beginning of the evening, quickly dwindled. In fact I awoke the next afternoon with one crumpled GW in my pocket.
          I do remember waving a $20 over my brother's head to attract the attention of a certain young lady. I told her it was his bachelor party and she took him by the hand and led him off to another part of the club. When he returned 15 minutes later he had a very sheepish grin on his face. He never did tell me what happened for that $20.
          Obviously none of this has anything to do with classic and collectable cars. But like the beautiful works of art that are represented in these photos, memories such as this are part of my personal collection. Enjoy.