Beers, Blogs, and Birthdays

This time last year I had just returned from Panama. Aging, out of work, and unsure of my next step, I chose to procrastinate in a place that's been described as "a shortcut with its own national anthem." Looking back, I think my decision to go actually made a certain amount of sense. All of the hiking, kayaking, and surfing I did kept me from dwelling on the disappointing reality of my joblessness, and the journey along the Pacific Coast reconnected me with two of my passions: writing and traveling. In fact, I started this blog not long after finally unpacking my luggage.

While in Panama City, I spent a very pleasant evening at the Istmo Brew Pub, a bar and restaurant that has been growing in popularity since opening in El Cangrejo in 2005. With 14 bottles (mostly imported lagers) and four of their own brews (Veraguas, Cócle, Colón, and Chiriquí) to pick from, Istmo definitely boasts the best selection in the capital, if not the country. Other than color however, their house styles differed little in flavor and body, and at $5 a pint, cost about four times as much as native brands like Atlas and Balboa.

That night the crowd was local, and yet the soundtrack consisted of hits from the US and the UK—"Under the Bridge," "D'yer Mak'er," "Love in an Elevator," and "Hurts so Good." The scene seemed a bit more Floridian than Latin American, but I liked the outdoor seating area, and was tempted to order one of their plantains smothered with toppings like cheese, guacamole, and pico de gallo. In the end I stuck with drinks though; I guess I'll have to go back if I really want to try the Isla Iguana or the Bocas del Toro. Who knows? It could make a nice birthday gift to myself in another 12 months.

Cup of Gold

"The sea was a round lake of quiet undulation, spread with a silken skin. Slowly, slowly, passing to rearward, the water set up a pleasant hypnosis in the brain. It was like looking into a fire... There is a peace in the tropic oceans which passes a desire for understanding. Destination is no longer an end, but only to be sailing, sailing, out of the kingdom of time."

John Steinbeck was a 27-year-old aspiring writer when his first novel, Cup of Gold, was published in 1929. Supporting himself on money earned as a laborer, a journalist, and a caretaker, he had visited Panama several years earlier and likely drew on some of his own experiences while penning this romanticized biography of Sir Henry Morgan. And yet, passages like that above still resonate 80 years later. In spite of spending such a short time in and around the isthmus between North and South America, he described this part of the world with convincing detail. For all of his determined effort and raw young talent, he received a $250 advance from his publisher, Robert M. McBride & Company.

I wasn't familiar with the book when I started planning my trip to the country this winter, but I happened upon a paperback copy at Idlewild Books and bought it on a whim. Reading it on the Pacific island of Taboga a few weeks ago, I learned something about Panama's piratical past and rediscovered an author I hadn't paid much attention to since high school. Add this book to your beach reading list now—especially if the stretch of sand you have your eye on happens to be an hour-long ferry ride from Panama City.