Friday work day is done, now what? PSM called from work and said he’s going to pick me up and we’ll go out to a new place and maybe check out the local motorcycle club, sounds great!

He picked me up from work about about 6/630p and we went to the Gin Mill Restaurant & Tavern, finally! I say finally because we have tried to go on several occasions, but their hours aren’t great. They are open Monday-Saturday until 9p and on Sunday until 8p, not great if you’re out late or riding around and hungry later, and the kitchen closes about 30-45 minutes before the doors, no shade, just hard in the summer when you might want to go out later. But tonight, we got in there in plenty of time!

Did anyone have the fog we did here? It was cr-azy! You could barely see in front of your face! This is what it was like when I was walking the dogs, it was worse for PSM on his way to pick me up! It took him an extra 15 minutes to get home because he couldn’t see!

It’s a lot larger on the inside than it looks from the outside. Great atmosphere, huge bar, two sitting areas off of each side of the bar, not a lot of room to walk behind each side of the bar, but enough to get buy, one of those places where servers kind of have to raise the plates to get buy and not hit you. The place was pretty packed, PSM had been there one other time and it wasn’t this full, it definitely has a different feel when it’s full. There were people of all ages and families sharing a meal together, definitely a local type of place. The decor was fun, a lot of brewery and beer logo signs, things made out of beer/brewery labels, sitckers, and bottle caps, just what you want to see in a pub/local brewery.

I will say, if you’re not a meat eater, it won’t be easy for you, but if you’re going for drinks and a few apps or sides, you’ll be fine. PSM ordered a few mixed drinks, I had hot tea, always happy when a bar/pub has hot tea! It came out in a glass mug, my favorite! I had a Caeasar salad and a side of broccoli, and PSM had their Chinese Takeout Burger. Think…Chinese takeout on a bun with a side of fries, I know right?

We sat at the bar, as we do almost everywhere, which, as you know, we love. Chatted with the bartenders, one of the chefs, which was who convinced PSM to get the burger, from his description, and had a great time on our date night! What more could you want?!

Now…motorcycle club time! We were about 15 minutes from there, but it took a little longer to get there because of the fog! Ugh, should I be drinking London Fog tea? Should I be wearing a London Fog coat? Wow! We got there about 730p, the doors open at 7p, meeting is at 8p. The Lebanon Valley Motorcycle Club has their own clubhouse, very cool! We went to one door, no go, we went down around back where we saw other people heading and score! Just outside the door we met the president and treasurer of the group, the president opened the door, led us in and announced we were there, to a great big welcome, it was grand!

We walked towards the bar and met a lot of people, they have drinks, water, beer, soda, they have coffee cans for the money because they can’t exchange money by handing it to each other, so they put the money in the cans, love it! They have a pool table, currently out of commission, waiting on repairs, they have tables and chairs, places for people to sit and chat before the meeting begins.

There were people of all ages and with different types of bikes, this is a motorcycle club, all bikes welcome. It’s similar to the other groups we ride with, but the primary bike in those groups are Indians, because they are the Indian Motorcyle Riders Groups [IMRG], all riders are welcome, but to join you have to have an Indian Motorcycle, same with Harley Davidson groups, that’s fair. This one is ‘come one come all’, you just have to have a bike! At least I think so!

Several people asked who told us about it, I wish I could remember! I was at White’s Harley Davidson, the dealership near our house and someone told me about it, they knew who I was talking about. Apparently you have to be recommended to join, among other rules, they are serious. With our IMRG groups, you only need to pay your dues, for this club, you have to be recommended by a current member, you pay an application fee, then you’re on a 6-week probationary period where you have to attend at least 1/3 of the scheduled meetings/events, then after the 6-week period, the board either votes you in or not. I kind of like it, you need to attend events or meetings to show you’re interested, not just join and don’t do anything, every group has their rules, I’m ok with that!

We socialized with the group downstairs in the bar/pool room, turns out one couple lives on the street right behind us, how cool! then at 830p, we all went upstairs for the meeting. They are very official! We stood for the pledge of allegiance, then they asked if there were any visitors, we were, we stood up and introduced ourselves, then it was on to reading the last meeting’s minutes, then on to new business, including announcements and updates on how some members who were ill, a very caring group!

The couple we sat with, who are the ones who live near us, gave us the lowdown as everything was happening, as they made announcements, talked events, and happenings. There is a banquet next weekend, unfortunately we won’t be able to attend, but it was nice to be included right off the bat.

After the meeting we spoke with a few people, got more information about the group and joining,turned in our applications and money, got a calendar of events, it’s actually a pocket calendar with the events stamped in, love that! Their first ride is in April, so ready!

We headed home, it was a long day and we were done! Tomorrow…new adventure, I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow!
Night! Dreaming of being on the bike, when is the fog, rain, and snow going to stop! Vroom vroom!