This Is My Blood: Victoria

Tonight, Thanksgiving Eve, is traditionally known as the "biggest bar night of the year." If you've ever wondered why that is, don't worry, because I've had enough beers on the fourth Wednesday of November to wonder as well. Here are some possible reasons that this tradition came about.

Everyone comes back home for Thanksgiving, especially when you're at the prime drinking age (i.e. in college). Christmas is the only other holiday for which everyone might return home at the same time, but that holiday could stretch to a week or longer. Thanksgiving's festivities are laser-focused on one day, so everyone is around the night before in anticipation. Christmas Eve has the same family obligations attached to it that Christmas Day does, but Thanksgiving Eve has nothing like that, so everyone is free to do as they please. And it's not like anyone wants to host anything the night before Thanksgiving anyway. Hosting Thanksgiving Day is enough to want you to forgo hosting anything else two weeks before and two weeks after at least. Finally, let's not forget that there's a lot of great food being served on Thanksgiving, and there's not usually anything planned that would require physical exertion, so it makes for the perfect hangover holiday.

There was a period of maybe five years when I took the obligations of Thanksgiving Eve seriously. Those were some great years, but this isn't going to be some gloopy emo nostalgic blog post, because I refuse to romanticize it. Going to McNally's and getting blitzed the night before Thanksgiving was just something we did for a few years. November 24, 2010 was fucking great because we were 21 and everyone was home from college and McNally's was packed literally wall-to-wall with other young drinkers, and I felt like I knew everyone. It was a reunion of sorts.

So of course we're gonna try to recreate that as many times as we can, and it lasted a few more years. 2011 was probably equal in stature. In 2012 I worked until 11 PM but I got out an hour early and rushed back to McNally's and did like five shots when I walked in the door at 10:30. Pam might've worked 2013, which means that it wasn't till like 2014 when I started getting shit about being too old for this shit. I don't blame Pam for not wanting to go to McNally's ever, let alone on Thanksgiving Eve, when the whole "I know everyone!" thing didn't apply to her, which is a terrible feeling that I empathize with, but still... that was the beginning of the end. I didn't live in Rockledge anymore by 2015's Thanksgiving Eve, and so on, and so on. 

Even without the pandemic and McNally's consequential demise (and even if my Thanksgiving Eve partner in crime wasn't gracefully riding the wagon), I know for sure that I would not be going out on Thanksgiving Eve. It's a young man's game, and I ain't young. Nah, man, I was content chilling at home with the girls and drinking one lager and going to be early. There will be plenty of Thanksgiving Eve-esque nights in my future, just not tonight.

 

But I support all drinking traditions (again, assuming that COVID doesn't render your tradition unsafe). I love the idea of Thanksgiving Eve being a big night at the bars. I love any gathering of drinkers. You do you. I'll see you in a few years.

NOTES

BEER: Victoria

STYLE: Mexican Vienna Lager

ABV: 4.0%

BREWED BY: Grupo Modelo S.A. de C.V.

LOCATION: Mexico City, Mexico

PURCHASED AT: Krewstown Beer

PAIRED WITH: Tacos (it was no McNally's Pizza by Iggy, but it'll do)

GRADE: 3 pukes out of 5

 

BEER COUNT: 492