I never got laid from going there, but I enjoyed the people-watching. One evening in particular (March '91) stands out. Still reeling from Dennis's passing I needed to get out and be with people. I didn't particularly care for any of the Castro bars, but I'd visited the Lion Pub with friends some weeks earlier and enjoyed myself. It was pouring rain and I almost didn't go, but I grabbed an umbrella, walked down to the Castro, hopped on the Divisadero bus and headed north. I distinctly remember grooving to the debut CD of a little group called Enigma during the ride to and from the bar, and it was there I fell in love with Clown Loaches (they had a big aquarium in the bar), a type of freshwater tropical fish that became an integral part of my own fish-keeping until I gave up the hobby entirely four years ago.
Of that particular night, I wrote in my journal:
I just got back from The Lions Pub. It was dismal. There was one guy there, a hot, smokin' dark-haired number who I couldn't figure out. We flirted off and on. Was he interested or not? He finally left, and, considering the two of us were the best looking men in the place, I decided to follow suit. The place had a definite lack of facial hair.
He drove off, probably never to be seen again.
Actually, I can't just write it off like that. I would have liked to have met him. I suppose it's reason enough to return next weekend.
I bought an absolutely wonderful recording yesterday. It's by a new group called Enigma, and the CD is entitled MCMXC a.D. I don't really have adequate words to describe it. It's totally unlike anything else I've ever heard, yet it bears resemblence to several old and dear recordings, and takes me back to earlier times. It conjurs up all sorts of emotions, and, if only indirectly, prompted my journey back out into the land of gay bars.
The bar closed in 2016 with the death of its owner, and was converted into a six-million-dollar residence.