Sunday, May 22, 2011

  A beautiful  Sunday in the Bozeangeles area, After  a morning walk with wife and kid and the second lawn mowing of the year I escaped downtown  for an exploration of  life on main street. It was quiet, the college kids have fled after exams and the locals are up in the mountains, on the river or in church . A couple years ago the downtown was rocked by a gas main explosion that flattened a block and killed one young lady.
  The  downtown economy was all ready  suffering from the economic down turn and this explosion shuttered quite a few businesses. And its taken a while for any kind of recovery
  However I was pleased to see the block is being rebuilt  and tenants are already shaping it in their image
The Rocking R is returning to its old site and a couple of restaurants are moving in  Of course  most new business popping up downtown are bars or restaurants . In my short walk I saw a new Wine Bar, A Thai restaurant  and a pita palace . There are still  quite a few Mom and pop places hanging on, toy stores, some used  bookstores and a record store that sells  real vinyl as well as Cd's.
  Main street is a great place to find a   burger ,  a steak or a cold beer. I  decided to  help the downtown economy and have a cold draft. Despite the lack  of go-cups, ( that great New  Orleans tradition of open containers on the street ) off season in Bozeangeles is a great time to have a nice cold draft in a quiet corner.
  In my bar of choice there was a quite vocal group discussing the hunt for post ski season and off season jobs. I know how hard it is to find retail work in this town but it was interesting to hear the Anthony Bourdain crowd talk about the job hunt .
   the upshot of the story was, what places to stay the heck away from and who was checking into rehab so their old employer might be looking for a new  bartender or line cook. There are a lot of stories in the city. Some of the real ones are crazier than the imagined ones.

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