The End Of An Era

Sarges Tailgate Grille, located in Saco, Maine, closed its doors on Wednesday, August 7, 2013.

If you never made it to Sarges, you blew it.

On Thursday, Cori and Sarge had a gathering of regulars, current and past employees, and family, in the restaurant to kill what was left of food and booze, and to enjoy and celebrate one last time the amazing atmosphere Cori and Sarge created in that place.

It was an amazing, emotional day filled with love and laughter. Just like many, many other days that we have experienced there. Except this time we left crying because it was the last time we would be leaving Sarges Tailgate Grille.

We have so many memories tied up in Sarges. Gatherings and laughter and parties, new friends who became old friends. Yeah the food was tremendous, the service was excellent, the bar was fun but I am talking about the intangibles, the feel, the comfort, the happiness.

People kept coming up to me and saying "I don't know what I am going to do now. I don't know where I am going to go."

That is how much of a vacuum the Grille is leaving behind.

We were there on opening night thirteen years ago. We were there before opening night when they were renovating the place, getting it up and running. I remember lying across one of the benches in a booth while the place was still being renovated. Lying there with a vicious hangover. It would not be the last but somehow the pain was a fitting price to pay for the fun.

We were there for opening night, we had to be there for the last blast.

They were forced to close in part because over the years a few chain restaurants opened up close by and stole some of their business with cheaper prices, lower quality food and lousy service. You figure it out. One of these days we will all wake up and this country will consist of one bank, one corporation and one restaurant chain. That is the day you might want to ask Jesus to take you home.

They were forced to close in part because of illness. Cori has had health problems, Sarge has health problems.

In my mind these circumstances are a sad and strange commentary on life. Creeping corporatization diluting the quality of our lives, and the fragility of just being human making life so unpredictable.

But I am not here to mourn Sarges.

Sarge and Cori imprinted their personalities on that joint. They made it like your living room, only with better food and someone serving you drinks. When I ask Carol to pour me another whiskey at home she says "Get it yourself, fat boy." I never had that problem at the Grille.

The bar was a blast. A great place to hang and relax, maybe get crazy once in a while. Yet it did not disturb the ambiance of the restaurant. Somehow Cori and Sarge created the perfect bar atmosphere while still maintaining a family feel in the restaurant. That is a delicate balancing act that a lot of places cannot achieve.

The joint was decorated to the max in NASCAR. Every inch of every wall and even the ceiling was prettied up with racing gear. The crowd that hung there was a racing crowd.

Sarge is selling a lot of that stuff because some of it is worth money. But Sarge has a generous side, a very generous side. I cannot count how many T-shirts, hats, posters and collectibles he has given me over the years. We walked out of there with arm loads of booty on Thursday.

The first driver I rooted for was Rusty Wallace. Sarge pulled stuff off the walls, stuff that I have lusted after for years, and gave it to me. Just gave it to me. He snuck a Rusty stand up into The Peace Mobile unbeknownst to me. As I climbed in to leave, Rusty was grinning up at me from Carol's back seat.

Now I root for Kevin Harvick. I walked out with Harvick hats, T-shirts and posters.

We will have to add a room onto the house to display all this stuff.

He even had a newspaper dedicated to Elvis for Carol, a Bobby Labonte metal wall hanging, and a prison tray donated by a friend of his who did time at Shawshank.

The atmosphere on Thursday says it all about what Sarge and Cori created. The place was rocking. It was busy. One of their friends carved a plaque out of granite with a great and fitting saying about friendship and family, with many customers signatures etched right into the stone. The thing weighed a ton. It was beautiful in design. Beautiful in tribute.

People were grabbing menus and asking Cori and Sarge to sign them. When was the last time you saw something like that?

When we left we hugged and were hugged by, cried over and were cried on,  people who worked there, and customers who frequented the place. People who became friends in our lives as a direct result of the magic that is Sarge and Cori. Good people attract good people. We could not help but make good friends there because of the people Sarge and Cori attracted.

The intensity ramped up as we moved on to family hugs. John and Kevin. Tears and love.

The toughest of course was Cori and Sarge. Lot of tears there and serious bear hugs. Honest, sensitive words exchanged, heart to heart communication.

More tears in the parking lot. It was very hard to leave.

But Sarge in his easy going way, eased the pain. We are heading back up to Maine in a few weeks for our annual getaway. A getaway that we cherish. One night was always dedicated to dinner at the Grille. We can't do that this time but the bonus is that now Sarge and Cori will be able to spend casual time on the beach with us.

Awesome.

Anyway I was saying one last goodbye to Sarge, one last hug, a few hundred last tears. Struggling to hold it together. And he said in his amazing upbeat way "Hey we'll see you in a couple of weeks."

The closing of Sarges Tailgate Grille leaves a hole behind that can never be filled.

But thank God we had them for thirteen years. Those memories will bring a lot of smiles to a lot of lips for a long time.

That is a gift few people have the capacity to give.

That is a gift straight from the hearts of Sarge and Cori.