The first bar I visited in AC was Gecko – I can’t remember what year it was but I was a late arrival to Fields Ave and certainly didn’t experience it in the 70’s or 80’s like so many of my expat friends keep going on about ad-nauseam.
An Australian friend of mine had said that if I ever ended up in AC, go to Gecko’s and ask for Mama Fe and to tell her we were mates. Fe didn’t disappoint. I don’t think I got back to my hotel until 6am and missed all my appointments the next day mostly because of the hangover, but partially because of the insatiable spinner in my bed.
Gecko’s is a small place, in-between some larger and more established places. Even so, I’d rate it higher because it’s just a great place to relax and drink. There is literally nowhere to hide from the gaze of the girls on stage swaying in the breeze. But it’s dark.
Now I have to admit that I haven’t been there in a couple of years as most of my friends don’t enjoy seedy dive bars as much as I do. But last time I was there I did take-out. Now there’s a trick that I have been using for a while: arrive early, bar fine the girl you want, and then go somewhere else with her.
Gecko’s opens early evening/late afternoon [ed: actually it’s 2pm you dick] and so I think I rocked up about 6pm [ed: dick]. Luckily for me there were a few nice ladies there and one crazy one with glasses caught my eye. There are three things I love: glasses, rich and crazy. In this case two outta three wasn’t bad.
[ed: yeah this is me talking to myself. I need to go back to Geckos.]
We paid the tab (and the long time bar fine) and then departed for another bar, and another bar, and another bar. The good thing about this for us cheap mf‘s is that you don’t have to pay double or triple for the ladies drinks.
Anyhoo – I digress.
So come 1am and we are still bar hopping and what should I hear from the other side of the road: “Sir! Gecko Bar!”. I looked at my companion, she looked at me, and we said: “Okay”. We had come full circle.
Upon entering Mama looked at me and laughed. We spent until closing drinking and chatting and then departed for my hotel for some boom-boom time.
Fun fact: if you ever look around Gecko’s you’ll see my name written on the mirror in about 10 places… may be more. It’s probably 3 more times than Angelwitch and about 5 less than Rogues. But who’s counting.
I give Gecko’s and Mama Fe a giant thumbs up and a piña colada.