I left work friday intending to make only a short stop at the West Alabama Icehouse, one of my favorite places in Houston for about as long as I've been here.  Instead, I wound up staying most of the night there, as it was truly one of the place's exemplary evenings.  There was good icehouse music, people had brought lots of dogs to the place, the crowd was not the "yuppy" crowd that occasionally finds the place but rather the regulars (an eclectic mix of Montrose types, "old-timers," college students not into the "downtown scene," and people just look to have a good time in a friendly place), and a number of people I value were there (more on this below). 

One of the real treasures of the place -- of Houston in general really -- is Jerry, its owner and proprietor of... I don't even know how many years, and it really isn't important because it just seems like forever.  Last night, the wisdom he was dispensing as he was cooking free hotdogs for the crowd -- a regular Friday night occurrence that is best described as "a production" (if you've seen it, you know what I mean; if not, you should GO) -- was the following: "People don't come here for the cheap beer.  Cheap beer is everywhere.  Young people come here to meet people -- people get married from meeting here.  Families come here because it's friendly.  My family comes here to be together.  In general, people come here to be happy.  That is what this place is about, not the beer."

Some places, like people, just have a triumphant spirit or "sense of life" if you will.  The West Alabama is one of those places.  This is not coincidental, but a reflection of those behind the scenes, or in the case of this fine establishment, the gentleman dispensing wisdom while minding the hotdogs last night, sharply dressed in a slacks, pink shirt, and tie, protected by a bright red "West Alabama Icehouse" apron.  That Jerry is the father of my girlfriend -- whom I met at this place by the way -- may bias my conclusions.  So what if that is the case?  More people could stand to be biased by knowing him better.

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