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Our Time Together at Bar Pilar
November 12, 2009
Catherine Barker - deardavelieberman.blogspot.com This is a blog about food, and any other thing that strikes my fancy.
I’ve mentioned in an earlier blog that my father read Ernest Hemingway. What I haven’t mentioned is that a drawing of Hemingway’s house hangs in our kitchen on the wall behind my dad’s chair at the table. And that a copy of every one of Hemingway’s books resides on my father’s bookshelves. My dad brought my mom to Key West several times, and when the three of us went to Paris a couple of years ago, he spent an entire afternoon alone at Shakespeare and Company. In other words, my dad was a die-hard Hemingway fan.
This is why I always told him that on his next trip to D.C. we had to go to Bar Pilar . “What’s that?” he asked. “It’s this great bar with good drinks and food, but you will appreciate it because the theme is Hemingway,” I said. In less than two seconds my dad got the connection: “Oh, of course! Because the name of his boat was Pilar. Let’s go there next time, Cath.”
I am so grateful to be able to write that my father and I did go to Bar Pilar together eventually. It was last June, and we didn’t have much time because we were meeting my mom and sister soon for dinner. But that didn’t ruin our experience. We sat at the bar, ordered a couple beers and some scallops. I pointed out all the various Hemingway memorabilia to him and we talked about A Moveable Feast, which is my favorite book by my dad’s author hero. He loved the place, and I felt happy. I was looking at my dad on the stool next to me, enjoying himself at a hangout I’ve enjoyed for years. It was just one of those wonderful father-daughter moments. And as it turns out, it was our last drink together, just me and him.
It makes me sad to think about that fact, but somehow the thought brings a little smile to my face because it couldn’t be a happier memory: me, my dad, a couple beers, and a fascinating conversation about books. It was exactly our style.
This is why I always told him that on his next trip to D.C. we had to go to Bar Pilar . “What’s that?” he asked. “It’s this great bar with good drinks and food, but you will appreciate it because the theme is Hemingway,” I said. In less than two seconds my dad got the connection: “Oh, of course! Because the name of his boat was Pilar. Let’s go there next time, Cath.”
I am so grateful to be able to write that my father and I did go to Bar Pilar together eventually. It was last June, and we didn’t have much time because we were meeting my mom and sister soon for dinner. But that didn’t ruin our experience. We sat at the bar, ordered a couple beers and some scallops. I pointed out all the various Hemingway memorabilia to him and we talked about A Moveable Feast, which is my favorite book by my dad’s author hero. He loved the place, and I felt happy. I was looking at my dad on the stool next to me, enjoying himself at a hangout I’ve enjoyed for years. It was just one of those wonderful father-daughter moments. And as it turns out, it was our last drink together, just me and him.
It makes me sad to think about that fact, but somehow the thought brings a little smile to my face because it couldn’t be a happier memory: me, my dad, a couple beers, and a fascinating conversation about books. It was exactly our style.
