Westy’s & Storytelling - Part 2
Last week, we spent 10 days in Greece celebrating 30 years of marital bliss! We planned the trip with another couple over a year ago thinking Westy’s would be open in the spring of ’25, so there was no backing out. We visited Athens and six different islands, including Santorini, Mykonos, and Milos. Amazing! It was our first trip to Greece, so we checked it off our bucket list, but we decided we must go back!
Visiting ancient ruins like the Acropolis, the Temple of Zeus, and the ancient city of Ephesus were highlights of our vacation. We also got a little taste of the Greek social culture, including its bars and restaurants. The bars in Athens and across the islands had many similarities to what you would find in the United States. As we travel across the globe over the years, we realize all of our trips have one common denominator: we love bars!
We thought it would be fun to share this story: No one loves bars more than Holly’s mom, Pat Fishburne. Affectionately known by the grandkids as Pat Pat, she is the ring leader of the family when it comes to bars. She can barhop with the best of them! If you ever ask her what she loves, there is a 99% certainty she will say “I love bars!” Her love of bars rubbed off on her kids and her kid’s kids. In fact, whenever we travel with Pat Pat, we know that when happy hour rolls around there is a good chance we will be heading to a bar for a drink, regardless of where we are…and Pat Pat will order her Scotch and water.
One of our favorite “Pat Pat and Bars” stories happened a few years ago. The entire Fishburne family was home around Christmas break. We had gone out to a late dinner, and everyone had their full share of food and drink. As the family walked into the house, exhausted after a fun-filled holiday, we all plopped down on the couches, when we heard Pat Pat yell from the kitchen, “What is everyone doing? Let’s go to a bar.” We all looked at each other, started laughing, and said “Pat Pat loves bars!” One by one we got up, changed, and headed out the door for Southgate where we closed it down around 1:00 in the morning!
The beauty of bars is they all foster a fun time. They create a social atmosphere of fellowship and camaraderie. Whether it is a Martini Bar, a Wine Bar, a Whiskey Bar, a Cocktail Bar, or a Speakeasy, a Dive Bar, a Sports Bar, a Piano Bar, or a Taproom (and I could go on and on), bars have been and always will be a gathering place for those who want to share good times and tell their stories. Sure, you run into the occasional “asshole” at a bar, but those are few and far between. I will save that story for next week’s blog. Until then, keep visiting bars, enjoying good times, and sharing your stories. Come August, we hope you will choose Westy’s as one of the bars you love!
Mark and Holly West
Owners, Westy's
