Hooverville – Seattle, Washington, USA

SODO presumably stands for SOuth of DOwntown, and is a Seattle neighbourhood located south of Qwest/Safeco fields, where 19th century brick gives way to early 20th-century warehouses, late 20th century railyards and heavy machinery, plus the occasional live-music venue and BBQ house. I tried out the one bar that was open in the afternoon. Hooverville has a great name and new-old décor (old but obviously transplanted banquettes and table lamps, new wood bar, floors and walls). Unfortunatey, they don’t do happy hour, as the slightly unfriendly bartender informed me. Might as well put on a Ted Lewis shantytown song and sing my troubles away.

Visited: June 14, 2011

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SODO? Really? This current trendy neighbourhood naming convention – obviously a team effort by the Chamber of Commerce and Real Estate Board – is deadly dull and completely inorganic. At least Hooverville is showing it’s historic understanding of it’s locale, naming the bar after the shantytown that used to stand in its place in the early ’30′s.

The Ship Inn, Polperro, Cornwall, England

Fabulous pub in a fabulous village. Authentic half-timber buildings perched on hillsides above a small cove, friendly bar staff and access to the coastal trail which circumnavigates Cornwall. We visited on a sunny warm December afternoon, but the size of the parking lot at the top of the town indicates heavy tourist trade in the summer.

The Ship was large and empty the day we were there, but the fire, the service and the brandy were warm. Our barmaid had a Canadian connection. She had worked outside Toronto one summer, so we consoled her as we quaffed. This is the PERFECT bar to listen to Mr. Scruff’s Shanty Town. “Thars a whale, thar’s a whale, thar’s a whalefish he cried…”

Visited: Dec 2008

The Jolly Sailor – Looe, Cornwall, England

Arriving for my 40th birthday pub-exploring odyssey in the seaside Cornwall town of Looe (pronounced like the water closet), we were deposited in West Looe Square (aka Princes Square) and greeted by not only a charming cottage (ours for 2 weeks), but The Jolly Sailor, which we quickly dubbed the Dirty Pirate. Reeking authenticity, and offering an informal sea shanty session weekly, this is a pub. A real pub. In a real, working seaside town. It could be overrun by tourists in the summer, but we were lucky enough to be the only strangers in town that December, and quickly became known around town as the freakishly tall Canadians. Even though it was only for a fortnight, the Jolly Sailor fulfilled its duties as our local with scurvy charm. The only regret was not having the courage to perform Barrett’s Privateers at the shanty sing-a-long, even though we practiced and everything.

Extra Bonus: The view of our cottage front door from the ladies loo(e) upstairs.

Visited: December 2008