History oozes from the walls of Chicago's Billy Goat Tavern.Credit:Tim Newhouse
It all started with a feral goat that fell off the back of a truck and wandered into a bar. The year was 1934 and Greek immigrant William Sianis took pity on the creature,nursing it back to health.
The two became firm friends and the goat,known as Murphy,was soon a regular fixture at Sianis'bar,which was then called Lincoln Tavern.
Like any self-respecting Chicagoan,Sianis was a massive baseball fan,but when Murphy was ejected from the Chicago Cubs'Wrigley Field Stadium one fateful day in 1945,he was incensed and declared a curse on the team. The Cubs failed to win a World Series for seven decades until it was finally broken in 2016.
The Billy Goat Tavern is one of the stops on a bar crawl of some of the city's most colourful drinking establishments.Credit:Tim Newhouse
Situated under a classic Chicago underpass,the modern-day Billy Goat Tavern,named in honour of Sianis'and Murphy's friendship,oozes history from its walls.
We're here on one of the first stops of a historic bar crawl with Chicago Detours. It's lead by Morgan Lott,a guide whose thorough knowledge of the city is only enhanced by the beer and quartered cheeseburgers a barman has just delivered to our table.
Our group of about a dozen is a mix – some from afar,others from cities in the US,including a group of women from South Carolina with similar haircuts and attire.
Around the corner,we stop outside the site of Bert Kelly's Stables,a renowned jazz club in the early 1900s that was a favourite of Al Capone's.
One night,Capone approached black band leader and clarinettist Johnny Dodds to request a song. The musician feigned ignorance,though in truth he simply considered the jazz standard beneath him and was reticent to oblige. Pulling a crisp $100 bill from his wallet,Capone is said to have torn the note,tucked one half into Dodds'breast pocket and suggested it might be in his best interests if he learned the song before Capone's next visit.