It must have been the space, the incredible tininess of that single dark room, on that quiet, leafy street, in that residential-looking two-flat (pure Chicago), that led us, some hours later, to do what we did, under that dead railway overpass, ten steps from the Get Me High.

This was before everyone drove SUVs, before Bucktown went fancy and before this bar's hours of operation went consistent (the owner, rumor had it, liked to drink). So just finding the place open, on that certain summer night, made us feel lucky and in the know and open to all the giddy possibilities of our first date.
     For years this had been one of city's best spots to catch some jazz, the sort of graffiti-covered, ill-marked dive where the nation's top players might (or might not) show up, unannounced, to jam the night away after gigging elsewhere earlier on. And with such moody atmospherics, the pull wasn't hard to get. The ceiling was low. The floor sported just a few tables. The stage, depending on the ensemble, stood cramped enough to require the drummer, say, to lean in, mid-beat, when you squeezed past to use the john.
     On this night, however, the barstools were mostly empty. We drank George Dickel rocks. No musicians showed up. And yet just being in such an illicit-feeling spot — could anything so small be legal? — with such feeble lighting made us feel intimate enough, upon our departure, to do what we did outside, under that dead railway overpass, with those faint jukebox melodies leaking through the door.
     Much has been lost. That girl and I don't kiss anymore; the Get Me High has changed hands, changed soundtracks — it's now a laid-back lounge for hipster electronica — and even added an upstairs dance floor. Still, when I go there alone to drink downstairs, the seating remains tight, the light remains negligible and that old feeling comes back to me, that first-date sense of possibility and expectation still written, like the faded graffiti, on those smoke-stained walls.

The Get Me High Lounge
1758 North Honore Street, Chicago
(773) 252-4090
Recommended drink: Chocolate Martini — Stoli Vanilla, Godiva liquor and chocolate cream.
(Photograph by Kurt Gerber)

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