Maurice's

When you step into Maurice's, don't be shocked that you're the only person there--when I went, there were only six other people in the bar, and four of them were with me--the fact that it's quiet and uncrowded is its chief asset. The bar itself is an old A-frame building, and the decor is what I would call Haunted Ski Lodge. There is an enormous Patrick Nagle print on the wall, and the jukebox is one of those old, flip-page ones, with CDs, the most recent album being Sting's "Brand New Day", which came out in 1999. The bartender is an tough old bird who will harass you to order a drink, which will be overpriced. I paid seven dollars for an inch of well bourbon and a splash of grocery store soda, an insult that leads me to believe that I will not be darkening this establishment's doors again anytime soon. But if I were a bottom feeding drunk with money to burn (one day please, O Lord, grant me this wish), I'm sure I'd find myself more days than most sallying up to the bar and doing my utmost to wash myself into oblivion while Steely Dan's "Babylon Sisters" leaks out of the speakers like slow death.