I walked into a pub called The Ship and Whale right by (appropriately) Canada Waters in East London. Right across the Thames River from Canary Wharf . I bought a pint. Okay maybe a couple of pints.
When it came time to pay the cute barmaid I pulled out a $5 pound note, stared at it dramatically and near-shouted,
Holy Shit!!! You guys got the same Queen I do !!!
Alcohol might have been a factor.
In 1969 Johnny Van Landeghem and I paddled a canoe from Winnipeg to New Orleans. About a hundred miles north of New Orleans we paddled into a small bay under the cliff at the historic city of Natchez Mississippi.
We tied our canoe up and walked across the street to what looked like a run-down hotel, and asked to use their phone at the bar.
Johnny’s talking to the Mayor of Natchez announcing our arrival and I’m sitting beside him looking around at the bar and it’s patrons. There were some women sitting around at the tables and a lot of naughty lady pictures on the wall. Suddenly I put two and two together and near-shouted to Johnny…
“Tell him we’ll meet him at the dock!”
“Why?”
“Because this is a whorehouse!”
Eventually the Mayor showed up at the dock. He looked across the street and those nice ladies all waved. Smiling he waved back.
“Where did you two boys phone from?”
John pointed north, I pointed south.
That Mayor of Natchez Mississippi laughed so hard he wiped away tears all the way back to his friggen’ office.
Rick Ranson 