Coffee by devin avery on Unsplash
The Slippery Noodle blues bar in Indianapolis was in the news the other day. Sadly the owner Hal Yeagy passed away. I remember a trip we took to the Noodle to see Pinetop Perkins many years ago.
Pinetop was in his 90s but still rocking the blues. He was 100% a gentleman, very dapper and dressed to the nines. At one point during the set, he left the stage without saying anything while the band played on. My friend who had a crush on Pinetop, followed after him asking if she could have a moment of his time. “No darling,” he said as he ducked into the gents, “I’m an old man and when you gotta go you gotta get.”
After the gig we were all too wound up to drive straight home, especially since home was an hour’s drive away. Since our designated driver Jim needed coffee and the rest of us were game for another drink, we stopped into the Chatterbox. It was after 1 AM but they put a pot of coffee for Jim and happily served us a round. We sat outside on that balmy night and after we ordered, Jim got up to use the facilities.
Hardly a minute later, the waitress came back with our drinks, “Hey, did you know your friend just walked into the ladies?” she asked. We all burst out laughing. “Well, he does like ladies,” I offered. Moments later Jim appeared at our table. “Hey man,” Ken said. “The waitress said you went into the ladies.”
“That explains it,” Jim replied. “I thought the graffiti was really strange in there. Like kinda weird for a guys’ restroom.”
“You didn’t see a sign saying it was the ladies?” I asked. “Nah,” Jim shook his head. “There wasn’t one.” None of us believed that.
“I’m gonna check it out,” I said. I walked into the bar and in huge letters over the restroom door on the left, admittedly high up, was a sign that said, wait for it:
LADIES
When I told Jim, he stood up and peered in the door. “Well who can see that thing way up there?” he shrugged. As he sat down, his chair completely collapsed underneath him. I mean he was just sitting in a bunch of sticks on the patio floor. We all lost it with that hard, hysterical laughter where you don’t make any sound until suddenly it all bursts out. We were snot nosed and crying, people had to pee, Ken started coughing up a lung, and Jim didn’t really see the humor. He was all right but his ego was badly bruised. And this was our designated driver.
Now Jim, Pinetop Perkins and The Noodle’s Hal Yeagy are gone. I miss Jim. I miss knowing I might be able to catch Pinetop again. And I miss going to the Noodle. I’d like to go back there someday soon and drink a toast to Jim and Pinetop. And we’ll have another in memory of Hal Yeagy.
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