NYC Pipe Club & Foggy Mountain

[ssjones]

I'm working in NJ today/tomorrow, so I rode into the city to take in the NYC Pipe club meeting.
Enroute, I stopped in Chelsea and met member "Foggy Mountain" at a local watering hole. We shared a few drinks and swapped some tobacco. What a nice gentleman, it was a real pleasure! A shapley young lass took our picture, which I will post later.
I will also post some pictures of the club meeting. The new location, Cafe Tabac, looks pretty inviting and I'm already enjoying some McBaren HH Vintage Syrian Foggy gifted me (very nice!

 

[captainprophesy]

sounds awesome! looking forward to the pic's

 

[mrgunnar177]

awesome!

 

[reichenbach]

I love hearing about connections being made. Glad you had a good time, Al.

 

[fitzy]

Sounds Awesome. I was hoping to make my first meeting tonight but I'm stuck at work on a Windows 7 migration.
I'm hoping to be free for January's meeting.
Looking forward to the pictures.

 

[gnatjulio]

I gotta try to make one of those meetings one day.

 

[ssjones]

It was a real pleasure to meet Foggy Mountain and enjoy a few beverages together. He gifted me a tin of McBaren Dark Syrian that I enjoyed throughout the evening, what nice English blend. I gave him a Boswell Northwoods sample and was able to see his new Dunhill windcap. Here is a shot of the two of us at the Peter McManus bar in Chelsea.

The NYC Pipe Club is now meeting at Cafe Tabac in SOHO (think was SOHO!..) What a nice place, good food and drink. There were about 15 members in attendance and I saw some wonderful pipes as well. Hank Saichi was there with a box of big-dollar wonders (S Bang, Chonowitsch, Charatan high grades, etc. I don't get to see pipes like that in Western Maryland! It was pretty dark for photos, but I snapped these.

I enjoyed a New Orleans drink specialty, a Sazarack cocktail.(a bit sweet)

Snapped this coming out of the subway, just a glimpse of the new "Freedom Towers".

 

[jpberg]

Very cool! I always appreciate your travelouges Al, keep them coming!

 

[gnatjulio]

Looks like an awesome time Al.

 

[allan]

Last night I went to my first meeting of the NYC pipe club which met at Cafe Tabac, a small pub that allows smoking. Amazing.
Met wonderful people and got to try samples of different English, Balkan etc. What a treat to meet great people with a similar interests.
Hope to go to the next meeting that may be at De La Concha. President Lou Carbone said he would let the group know by email or on the site's web page.
Allan

 

[numbersix]

I totally missed this thread. Great post and pics Al. Thanks for sharing. ::

 

[cajundad]

Fabulous , thanks for sharing Al !

 

[ssjones]

Allan: I met no less than three "Allan's" at the meeting last night but believe you would be the gentleman formerly from San Francisco? If so, it was a pleasure to chat and smoke with you.
This trip was a bit of an adventure and I'm always a nervous NYC traveler. (the tallest building in my town is the 3 story Nursing home....) Making the meeting last night was happenstance and a last minute decision. Previously, I've ridden the Amtrak into the city ($10 ticket, $25 parking) and then grabbed the subway to Soho. I was staying again in NJ, and the NJ Transit bus picks up right in front of my hotel. So, for $5 each way, I gave that a shot which worked great getting into the city. Coming back at 10 PM, I had to find my bus from the Port Authority, which makes navigating around my airport, Baltimore-Washington International, a walk in the park. When I finally found the level to catch my bus, I hadn't purchased a ticket, which is required leaving the city (paid the drive on the way in). I wait for another bus and we were in NJ in 10 minutes. I watched the driver zip past my pick-up spot and my hotel faded from sight. I asked the girl behind me if the drive would circle back across the divided highway to my drop-off spot. Nope, you have to signal for him to stop, so she did a good four blocks thru an industrial area. He drops me off at dark intersection and I literally sprint those four blocks with my Smokin Holsters bag filled with pipes (and a new Comoys!) clutched tightly. Half a block from the hotel, I encounter two hooded gentleman walking my way. Thankfully, neither looks up at me, but my heart is in my throat (East Rutherford, NJ, not exactly Kansas....) So, that was bit scary. Worth the effort? You bet! What a fine group of folks, thanks again for the hospitality NYC Pipe Club!

 

[numbersix]

Al - that's pretty funny. I've found myself in sketchy areas in NJ myself. Years ago I was lost in Newark trying to locate a customer. I had to find a pay phone and called the customer.
When he heard where I was, he actually got panicky. He quickly gave me directions and told me to get the hell out there! lol!