NYC's Da City: The Raccoon Lodge (Part I)

So this weekend in the city was kind of crazy. After a week of absolute boredom at work, I cut out of work a little early and hopped the train from New Haven into NYC. First I made a quick stop in Harlem and had some take-out dinner with Dani and then it was off to TriBeCa to pre-game before the Clipse show at the Knitting Factory. I met up with Kerel around Franklin and W. Broadway and we hit up a few local pubs. At first, we couldn't really find any places that were really busy, but a beer's a beer, so we had some beers and whiskey shots at a small Irish pub. Eventually, we made it to the Raccoon Lodge. It was kind of an odd place, part hole-in-the-wall, part kitschy bar with its fireplace in the back, but overall, a good time. Kerel and I played some Big Buck Hunter (where I completely destroyed him), downed some more beers and whiskey, and chilled with the pool hall crowd.
The best moment at the Raccoon Lodge was when Kerel thought he recognized a guy at the bar as someone he almost got into a bar fight with at a bar on the Upper East Side. I thought that would be some coincidence, running into that same person down in TriBeCa, but then the guy started walking toward us. At first, I was like "oh shit," something might happen here, but the guy just started chatting with me.

He opened with "You look like my cousin" and then asked if I was from Colorado.

I said, "No."

"So where are you originally from?"

"Minnesota." (awkward pause...)

"No, what's your nationality."

"Oh...Taiwanese." (I'm thinking...great, is this going to be another conversation with an ignorant person???)

"Oh, because you look Indian."

Ok, so let's just pause for a second. I do not look Indian in any respect. At this point, I couldn't figure out if this guy was just completely drunk or was confusing his Asians, but I decided to indulge him and continue the conversation.

I respond, "Nope, I'm not Indian. Purely Taiwanese."

"Oh, cause you look Indian...you know, I mean Native American. I'm a quarter Native American. You know...you look Native American cause you have that "beautiful face," you know how Native Americans' have that "beautiful face..."

"Uhhh...thanks...I guess I do have a beautiful face."

We continued talking about Colorado, his Native American background, how terrible the white man was, etc. Then he started talking about blacks and slavery, referencing my friend Kerel. He likened it to the horrible things done to the Native Americans (i agreed) and then he said, though, that to some degree blacks, while slavery being bad, have some good opportunities being here in the US now. At this point, I was trying to end the conversation. I didn't really want to get into a discussion about race with the guy and was also a little confused; he was obviously hitting on me, but opening with a line like..."you remind me of my cousin..."...weird. So I politely ended the conversation (read: slipped away when he drunkenly stared off for a second.)

The guy was definitely harmless, but quite a sight to see as he continued to hit on a bunch of other guys at the bar. The rest of the time at the Raccoon Lodge was just as interesting as we chilled with motley crew of people. We finished off by doing another round of shots of Whiskey and then Vinnie, the bartender gave us another round of shots on the house.

Next: Clipse concert @ The Knitting Factory