Thanks to Barb Lickness for reminding people how great it was to go to Moby
Dick's.
It was a perfect example of a place you could only find in the city, that
was often misunderstood by those who didn't go there, and ultimately, was
destroyed because we often aren't comfortable with being a city.
Like Barb I loved going to Moby's. No matter how scary the people seemed at
times, the bouncers were always scarier and tougher...so most people really
didn't get out of line. It was a place were suburbanites, and yuppies
(before they were called that) and pool sharks and street people and people
who wanted to dance and people who wanted to sit on a stool all night
downing gin and bachelerette parties...and everyone in between and beyond
could have a good time. People were dancing or playing pool or talking with
people they would never run into in their daily lives...which in so many
ways is what's at the core of what a city can do.
Yes, near the end there were some problems there but mostly this was an
institution that didn't have to go. Too often we are left with an
antiseptic, sanitized version of downtown...when part of the whole fabric is
that we have to have some places where everyone feels welcome.
R.T.Rybak
East Harriet
