It was a Crazy Night at the Mohawk Tavern

The third weekend of July was my friend Emily’s bachelorette party weekend.  We all met up in Graeagle, CA at our friend Taylor’s cabin for a weekend of fun and a few cocktails to celebrate Emily’s upcoming wedding to Roy.

The big celebration was Saturday night.  Emily’s fiancé Roy is a huge hunter so we all surprised Emily by dressing up in camouflage.  After a few Kodak moments at the cabin we headed out for a night on the town of Graeagle.  Graeagle is a small town in Plumas County, California with a population of about 700 to 800 people.  It is a very popular place for weekend and vacation homes for people from Reno and nearby California cities.  The town originally prospered because of the timber industry, and there is a wood mill pond in the center of town that has now become the local swimming hole. Graeagle is also well known for its lovely golf courses and great snowshoeing and hiking.  

The bachelor and the bachelorette share a shot of tequila.

We started our night on the town of Graeagle at The Coyote Bar and Grill.  We walked up looking cute in our camo and we ran right into a group of guys sitting at a table celebrating a bachelor party.  As they got up to leave they came over and said hi so we had their groom and our bride do a shot of tequila to celebrate their upcoming marriage.  The bachelor party was headed to the Mohawk, the best bar in Graeagle, so we told them we would see them there after our dinner. 

We had a great dinner at the Coyote, more drinks, and then a really yummy cake that was baked to look like a part of the male anatomy, to protect the bride and innocent bystanders I won’t post a picture of the cake.  After dinner we went over to the Mohawk Tavern.  This is my favorite drinking hole in Graeagle, it reminds me of the Toby Keith song “I Love this Bar” (see the video below).  The patrons are the most random people, from UNR basketball alumni, bachelor and bachelorette parties, golfers, bikers, doctors, former NFL players, old guys, young guys, real cowboys to rednecks, everyone is there and accounted for. 

(There might be a commercial first, but stay tuned for the real music video)

Every time I walk into the Mohawk I get a little nervous, because I never know what the folks inside are going to be like.  It is always fun, but you just never know.  When we walked in on this special night it was packed.  It felt a little like Cheers though because we ran into the bachelor party we met at the restaurant.  These guys were mostly UNR basketball alumni so they were pretty easy to recognize, not many packs of guys are that tall. 

We pushed our way to the packed bar and ordered our first round of drinks.  I got myself a Makers Mark and coke, my favorite!  I was feeling a little overwhelmed because the bar was so crowded.  I started watching these old guys play pool for a few minutes.  It looked like they had been running the table for some time beating everyone that played them.  I asked Jessica if she would be my partner so we could play.  We put our money on the table to get in line for a shot at the old guys and the title.  Now the funny thing is that we were in line after at least two other teams, but when you are two cute girls in a bar that is three quarters full of men, you aren’t going to have to wait your turn. 

 

As soon as the old guys beat the team they were playing all the other gentlemen told us we could cut in line and play first.  So it was on, Jessica and I were playing the old guys.  The old guys got to break since they were the winners from the previous game.  Then it was Jessica’s turn.  Jessica took her first shot and boy was it a shot!  She hit the cue ball right off the table and it hit a guy on the dance floor.  I was watching the people around the table and I could tell they thought me and Jessica were going to be entertaining to watch.  I thought this was funny because Jessica is one of the best pool players I know.  I don’t remember every shot, but I know Jessica and I each hit several in when it was our respective turns.  We were going toe to toe with the old guys and the whole bar was watching and cheering for us.  They all wanted the young chicks to beat the old guys.  It was time for the eight ball, I was so pumped that we might win but I thought for sure the old guy would sink it in a pocket and there would be no glory for me and Jess.  These guys were really good.  But what would you know, the old guy scratched on the eight ball.  Jessica and I were jumping up and down and all of the people that were watching the game cheered like they themselves had won.  It was all very exciting. 

The old guy dancing with my friends.

The old guys became two of my favorite friends we met that night.  One was from Ireland and I think the other guy was local.  I thought they were good friends because they made such a great team and they were both excellent at pool but it turned out they had only met there a few hours earlier.  They were such great sports when they got beat by us girls, they gave us high fives and hugs for winning and then they stuck around and cheered for us when we played the next team which was two guys from the bachelor party. 

We also made friends with this new team from the bachelor party that we were playing against.  One of the guys was an Australian and I think the other guy was from Reno.  We still had a lot of people watching us when we played the young bucks but it just wasn’t the same fun as playing against the old guys.  It is so much more thrilling to be the underdog and go up against the old guys that were running the table all night before we got there. 

While we played pool a lot of nice people told me and Jess that we were good, and they all wanted us to win.  It was really nice to have fans, at least for a quick game of pool.  Well this game against the young bucks went much like the first game, a few good shots here and there, and both teams were pretty equal.  It all came down to the 8 ball again, and the young bucks hit the eight ball in…and scratched.  Jess and I won again!  The same way we won the first game!  It was pretty dang exciting.

After becoming the undefeated team we decided to take a break and let other people play pool.  I think it was great that we quit while we were ahead, and while a few people still thought we were pool sharks or hustlers.  It was time to dance and have a few more drinks.  Someone from the bachelor party started playing rap on the jukebox, which was a major downer for most of the bar.  So I stepped up to the jukebox and decided to play Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”.  The bar went crazy, everyone was dancing and singing.  I didn’t think everyone would get so fired up but they did, guess everyone just loves some Johnny Cash. 

An older cowboy, probably in his 50s or 60s, came up to me and thanked me for playing some respectable music, so he slipped five bucks in the jukebox and told me to play more good songs.  I have never had anyone appreciate my music selections like that before so I made sure to only play songs I knew this guy would like.  He was a pretty neat cowboy, the real deal.  He had cattle to go with his hat.  He told me about working a ranch near Bridgeport and he actually knew some of the rodeo folks I know, which was really neat.  I liked this guy because he told me he knew I was a respectable young lady because I strolled into the Mohawk Tavern in camo and cowgirl boots, and real cowgirl boots at that.  I cracked up when he told me this because all night people told me they knew I was tough or sensible because I had on real cowgirl boots.  No one ever appreciates my hillbilly fashion so I was grateful for their appreciation of my good taste in boots.

We stayed at the Mohawk pretty late and then it was time to go.  The jukebox was over loaded and we weren’t hearing any songs we wanted to hear so we knew it was time to call it a night. 

We had a great weekend in Graeagle and we gave Emily one heck of a bachelorette party.

Emily and Roy got married-up 8-6-11 - Congrats to the newlyweds!