The Bird & Bottle Inn

Note: This is an excerpt from my Substack post this evening. I shortened it in order not to re-post things already on this website. If you’d like to subscribe to the Substack, follow this link: it’s called LOVE ME AVENUE.

I sometimes use a random system to pick what I’m writing an article about—for example, vinyl records—I have my albums listed in a spreadsheet and use a random number generator to pick which one to listen to next. In that way, I don’t have to choose—and also, I can pretend I’m working for a long-lost music magazine and getting paid for it. So, I figured I’d use a random system to pick a restaurant from my library of favorite restaurant guidebooks as a title for each of these weekly newsletter posts—just to get the ball rolling.

I decided to try a weekly newsletter via this platform—Substack—and see how it goes. I used to send out one mass email a year (none last year!), but I want to reach out a little more. I’ve heard good things about Substack—but need to try for myself. It offers the option to send free or paid newsletters—this one is free. My idea here is to write a weekly letter—could be long or short—and then excerpt a few things from my website, RSPEEN.COM, where I typically write and post two to six new things a week—always available to check out for free, no ads. It’s just out there, but some of the writing is buried pretty deep, so I thought it might be fun to go back and see if I can find articles worth reprinting in this newsletter. I’m not sure how much or many—I’ll see what seems to make sense—or if I get any feedback. I welcome any questions, comments, or concerns—email me, or contact me any way convenient for you! I’m going to try to send this out weekly, on Sunday evening. I used to watch Columbo every Sunday, when it was consistently on one of the broadcast TV channels, same time as 60 Minutes. I would love it if a few people getting this welcomed it as a way to end or start their week. (Or else put it aside for an idle 10-minute spell, midweek.) But, of course, feel free to not subscribe, unsubscribe, or simply ignore it. That said, I’d love to keep in touch.

The Bird and Bottle Inn, happy to report, is still open, at 1123 Old Albany Post Road, Garrison, NY, 10524—it’s looks remote, but not far off Highway 9, only about 10 miles north of where U.S. Route 6 passes through Peekskill. This is particularly exciting to me because of my “U.S. Route 6 project”—but more on that, later, hopefully! Anyway, the illustration in the Ford Times book shows an old inn, painted yellow, and today’s internet shows a similar paint scheme, and some impossibly quaint interiors. They boast being open “Since 1761”—believe it or else! Also, you can stay there (five unique rooms). I’m not going to excerpt the inn’s history—too much there—but it’s well worth reading about on their website, especially if you’re in the area and want to stop by. I’d imagine that reservations would be wise.

—Randy Russell 1.12.25