You Don't Know What You Got ...

In other non-Santacon-related-Yakima-bar-news … most of you know I moved to Los Angeles this past August, and while I love living in the City of Angels, I am terribly homesick for Yakima.

When you spend six years in a place, you get used to things. You appreciate, and even more so take for granted, what it means to be a “regular.” (And since I’m going to grad school here in LA, I’ve seriously had to curb my bar fly ways to make time for more studious endeavors.)

But I’ll be visiting Yakima soon, and that got me thinking about all the little things I miss about my old haunts there:

• Kid. Robbie. Brenda. Lindsey. Lou. Saul. Jeff. Mary. Red. Bales. Johnson. Tony. Chris. Erin …

• Lonesome nights with the girls at The Ranch.

• Jukebox sing-a-longs with the girls (and anyone else who wanted to join in) at The Ranch.

• The pork chops at the Sports Center.

• Bloody Mary mornings at McGuire’s.

• Too many gin and tonics at Gasperetti’s.

• Knowing what Second Street Grill used to look like.

• $5 blood orange and tequila martinis at Tony’s.

• What happens after-hours.

• No valet parking. Ever. Anywhere.