I am currently in the midst of FINALLY reading The Celestine Prophecy … I know, I’m late. Being prompt and jumping on bandwagons are both things that I tend to fail at, so it is what it is and I’m happily making my way through the book now, post hype. For those of you who have read it, you know that one of the primary themes throughout is that of purposeful coincidences, i.e., unsystematic and arbitrary things happening for a very specific (fate motivated) reason.
Similar to learning a new word and then suddenly seeing it everywhere, now that I am reading this book, I am increasingly aware of my many daily incidences of “happenstance.” Last night for example, I intended to visit a venue in order to write on it here, but rather than the evening going according to plan, not a damn thing did, and I ended up in a completely different part of town with what I can only imagine was a far more favorable end result.
After getting lost trying to find intended venue, then said venue having an hour long busy signal on their phone, then finding venue, and aforementioned venue having moved locations or either out of business completely, I ended up in NoDa. The intersection of 36th and North Davidson is the intersection of the city that I most love to inhabit, but far too infrequently get to.
That being said, some things have changed since the last time I ventured over in search of a cocktail. While attempting to choose which of the many barstools in the variety of bars that I would plant my ass on, I noticed that one joint didn’t appear to have a name or a sign. A bar with no name … huh, what a mystery, let’s do this.
Of course, upon approach I realized that there was a name — I just wasn’t wearing my glasses and it was simply scribbled onto a white board out front, too small for me to see from a distance. The very existent name was Jack Beagles. Huh, a bar named after a dog ... that's lazy and hilariously cute.
Long story short: Thank you Providence for (unbeknownst to me at the time) directing me to one of the coolest fucking bars I’ve been to in a while. Amenities include a solid beer selection on the cheap, ultimately friendly and cool staff, and the epitome of the neighborhood bar. They are open until 3:30am on Friday and Saturday and have a full menu until close, including hot dogs (who doesn’t love menu puns??) and “sammiches.” All food is made fresh and right in front of you from a grill easily observed from any barstool. Although the owner was too — well, we'll use the word "happy," for lack of calling him out — to chat with me, that made me dig the place and the vibe even more. I say, what’s the point of owning a bar if it’s not a place that you yourself would want to get drunk — I mean happy?
Consider reading this article a purposeful random event in your day and follow my lead by stumbling aimlessly into Jack Beagles in NoDa. You won’t regret it, and who knows where destiny may take you from there.
Megan Henshall is a project coordinator by day, favorite child, rollerskating enthusiast, blogger, and lover of all things social and under appreciated. For more writing/ramblings/rants visit www.dearsuchandso-keyboardventing.blogspot.com.
