Friday, December 14, 2012

Christmas hours/Irish Sessions!




Hi, folks! We just wanted to let you all know about the best night of the week at The Townhouse. It's Sunday or "session night." My very talented sister, Susie, hosts an Irish traditional music session every week from 6:30 to close. She has been playing for 12 years or so, and spent several of those years playing several nights a week at sessions in and around Cork, Ireland. If you haven't experienced a proper session before, it's high time you did. They are wonderful. Relaxed, informal, unrehearsed, fun, and especially these days, very festive. The music is lively and lilting, mostly instrumental, but punctuated by the occasional song. Flutes, fiddles, whistles, banjos, guitars, accordions, bhodran, and small pipes are unpacked from their cases and played by a rotating cast of devotees who come out and join in for the sheer pleasure of it. Some are self taught and still learning, some are seasoned professionals. Their numbers range from 3-4 players some nights to outnumbering the audience on other nights. The music is always fantastic and infectious. We have players traveling from Cape Breton and Pictou Co., and several you'll recognize from right here in Antigonish. If you're into the tunes you can sit close by and catch all the nuances, if you're getting together with friends and family, nothing makes for a more pleasant atmosphere. 


The music starts around 6:30ish (these things are, after all, very casual) and continues until closing. We do last call at 9:30ish (again, it depends how much fun we're all having!).  The kitchen is open from 5pm until 9pm, and we suggest coming infor dinner a bit early to score yourself a table as the session is catching on, and the place fills up rather quickly most nights.

Anyway, we have 2 more sessions in December - the 23rd and the 30th, and we'll be resuming them after a brief break on Jan 13th. Check out our decorating efforts - nothing gets us in the X-mas At-mos like edible decorations, real fir and pine, and twinkling lights... Thanks To Susie and my mum for all their help!




Home-grown garlic bulbs and gingersnaps hanging from the boughs.


And just so you know, here are our Holiday hours:

Last day before Christmas: Sunday, Dec. 23 (SESSION!)

CLOSED Dec. 24-27

OPEN Dec. 28-30 (regular hours) (Dec. 30 = SESSION!)
We didn't want to miss out on all the Christmas cheer! Come in for tasty craft beers, or a seasonal sipper like a Hot Scotch Toddy, a proper Irish Coffee, Rum'n'nog, or a new fave of ours the Hot Port!

CLOSED Dec. 31-Jan. 7

REOPENING Jan. 8

Merry Christmas to all! We hope to see some long missed and much loved faces through the Townhouse between Christmas and New Year's - make sure yours is among them!

Cheers,

Rose, Terry, and the whole Townhouse crew!

Pete, Jordan, Noella, and Terry wishing you all a very merry, and peppery, Christmas!