A recent work trip took me to Brussels, Belgium for the week. There would be plenty of free evenings for exploring the drinking scene of Brussels. But first we decided to spend the weekend prior to my conference in Ghent. This blog was dedicated to drinking, but we also want to give a couple of our favorite finds in Ghent because it was a great weekend and a beautiful city.

Why Should I Go to Ghent?

Well, I’m glad you asked. We debated between Ghent and Brugges. It was a struggle of a decision, but we ultimately decided that Ghent was easier and we could take the train on a day trip to Brugges if we wanted to see it. Side Bar:  the train system in Belgium is super easy to navigate and pretty cheap – make sure you get the Train+ pass, our $3 pass for the month ended up saving us almost $40 by the time we left Belgium.

But I didn’t answer your question, did I? Ghent is a super cute little town, with a fairy tale/medieval feel to it. We stayed right downtown at the Novotel Ghent Centrum, and could walk our way through all the cobblestones, cathedrals, and around the canal system. Yes, I said canals. It’s like mini-medieval Venice.

But Let’s Talk Ghent Drinking

Jiggers

The one everyone says to go to is Jiggers. It WAS a speakeasy, so we were excited to try it. It is no longer considered a speakeasy, although they do have a slightly hidden basement bar. We do not rank or rate this as a speakeasy since it is not hidden and there is no challenge. But the drinks were fantastic, and the service from Gianni was awesome (and he and Eduardo provided us with new ideas for Brussels). We recommend Jiggers as a place you must find for a cocktail in Ghent.

Galgenhuis

On our canal tour we were informed of the smallest bar in Ghent – which used to be the smallest bar in Belgium until they put in a patio. In reliving our theme from Austin at The Smallest Bar in Texas, we decided The Hangman Bar had to happen. Technically called ‘T Galgenhuis, inside is definitely tiny. We loved the small, welcoming atmosphere.

We were not down for the patio, it seemed too common (and chilly), we wanted inside. The inside was full, but then we noticed the second-floor windows from the outside. Up a set of very steep, curved stairs was a loft with seating for 8 people. Bonus was that it overlooked the main floor, so we could people watch. Then our new friends arrived, two couples had taken the train in from their own small town to simply spend the afternoon day drinking. We were friends immediately! The service was great, and everyone was so friendly.

The Alchemist

Crossing the bridge to the other side of the canal, we happened by the cutest sign reading “Forgive me father for I have ginned” and that seemed a good sign that we needed to be there. Turns out it was a bar called The Alchemist. We have a history of finding some amazing bars called The Alchemist (London, Washington DC, Glasgow – The Alchemist is a pretty common bar name). Specializing in Gin and Tonics, it’s a small little hole in the wall, with a great wood-clad, homey feel. A little loud, a serious after work with the co-workers you like kind of place. The bartenders would all know my name and gin preferences if we lived in Ghent, it is definitely a place I would want to be often.

Bar Bonnie

During our walk exploring the city we passed Bar Bonnie. Assuming it was named after our mother, we popped by for a quick espresso martini. We ended up having to have their signature Bonnie cocktail, which was a peach and vodka based spritzer and and fit perfectly into our wheelhouse. Their warm Camembert with rosemary and thyme was amazing with warm sourdough bread as our snack time approached.

Jaggers

Not to be confused with Jiggers, we next found ourselves at Jaggers. Jaggers came highly recommended for a traditional Belgian mussel and frites. They have a great outside heated patio. Inside is a warm ambiance with an upscale, but slightly rock and roll feel (as in, great artwork, subtle colors, but famous artist pictures and guitars on the walls) The service was great, and they were lovely to engage two Americans and their need to speak English. Peggy found her usual Porn Star martini hit the spot, and we then figured out how awesome shrimp croquets are in Belgium – and yes, we snuck in a few more of these around Ghent that weekend.

Pui Piu

We stopped into Piu Piu, which came highly recommended. But it was packed and we didn’t love being cramped, it was the end of our night, we were tired and had quite a few cocktails by this point. However, they do have private karaoke rooms. Then we remembered that we didn’t need privacy to sing. It was a pretty bar, with a great cocktail list. So we recommend it, even though we didn’t have the best experience. But that night there was a big loud table, and we were crowded into a corner. However, it is a cool bar and worthy of you making your own decision.

But then there was ONE Speakeasy

And Peggy was so ready for 1898. We really wanted to stay at 1898 The Post. It looks so amazing. It also looks so fancy. But, as much as we love a luxury hotel, 1898 The Post was a little out of our budget considering the length of this trip. However, The Post is home to The Cobbler.

We are giving this speakeasy credit, as it is tucked away and not obvious. It does not have any task to get in, but reservations are recommended. Hidden behind a curtain, just down the hall from The Post check-in desk, The Cobbler is dark and moody, with couches and barrel chairs, wood, and fantastic old décor.

Our server was adorable, and we happily overlooked the fact he forgot us for a good 20 minutes. But he was an almost exact replica of my youngest child, mannerism, and all, and treated us to a sample of some great Belgian liquor. When I mentioned how much he resembled my son he smiled and said he loved Americans because we are so friendly and willing to share our lives so openly- and he manged to sound genuine about it! We scored a great candlelit table by the window where the server told us we had really scored the best seats in the house. It was a bit of a waste as it was very romantic for two sisters.

Books and Booze, Oh My

Last stop of the night was just across from our hotel. Books and Booze is a bookshop with cocktails. Kind of a mini paradise, actually. It’s set up amazingly so that the booze reflects the book topics. Hard to explain, but see the pictures, shelves of books, with bottles interspersed, and yes, you can get a shopping cocktail. We defaulted to a Gin and Tonic with a local brand called Dada Chapel. The owner was fantastic and fun to converse with. It was one of my favorite stops in Ghent, and I bought a book on the History of Drunkenness.

And all the other cool things in Ghent

So many cool things: street art, canal boat rides, statues, and gothic chapels. The city is very walkable. Let’s talk about some things other than the internet famous stops, like Frites Atelier, which provides fries with plenty of toppings (we will talk about Belgian frites in our Brussels blog).

The Castle of the Count

It’s a great central part of the city. Turns out the count who built it wanted it to be impressive, which it is, but it ended up being too cold to live in or host events in. The highlight: there is a dungeon room!!

Street Art        

One of our favorites was the giant Neptune over what used to be the entrance of the fish market. It was impressive. But then I found my Ghent obsession. . . because you know there had to be one. This was a little bit of a walk, but also creepy AF. It’s simply called Jonas. It is in a local neighborhood, and it is a seriously creepy statue of a little boy hanging on a wall. And I had to see it. Turns out, it was completely unsettling.

Apparently, there are a couple more statues we missed, most specifically The Little Girl with the Knitting Needles was just too far for our tired feet to walk (but too close to respectably Uber). However, we did find the diving lady, but neglected to get a picture, but she was cool in her own right (a simple statue of a naked woman about to dive off a balcony).

Celebrating Brand New Belgians

We also loved the cute little square outside the old fish market entrance called Sint-Veerleplein. It’s also across from Castle of the Count, but the cool thing is that the streetlights in the square connect to the maternity hospitals, and the lights will flash when a baby is born.

A Good Sister Giggle

As long as we are talking fun facts to see, the Marriott runs right along the canal that you should check out. There are two geese inlayed in gold high up on the wall. And they face away from each other. For those not educated on the sleezy side of history, when geese face each other, it’s a sign of romance and love. HOWEVER, when two geese face away from each other it is a sign of a brothel! Yes, we giggled. A Lot.

See all the Cathedrals

Grab a map and go on a walk-about. Saint Bavos, Saint Nicholas, St. Michaels. They are tall and gothic and amazing. Between St. Bavos and St. Nicholas there is a belfry that you can climb for an amazing view of the city. But no worries, there is also an elevator to get you to the top. Also, in this space between Bavos and Nicholas is Sint Baafsplein square and the Stadshal Pavillion, we loved that around the pavilion and down the street towards the square is a tourist route known as the Golden Circle of Ghent there are little gold circles engraved with city scenes depicting the trade route of the middles ages.

And speaking of metal spots in the street, keep your eyes out for some bronze squares. These bronze squares memorialize individuals who were victims of the Nazis. The squares were placed on the last known freely chosen residence of Jewish people before they were deported or killed. They are called Stolpersteine or stumbling stones.

And Finally. . .

Graffiti Alley – an alley down a side street about two blocks off the touristy area. The alley is top to bottom, start to finish, graffiti. It is a very cool street art exhibition (more covered than Freak Alley in Boise, Idaho, if you know it). Oh, and find it, take the walk, and find the chocolate shop smack dab in the middle. Get some chocolate made in house, and a cup of coffee that they import, roast and grind on property.

A Few Post Thoughts

We loved Ghent. It was perfect for a two or three-day addition to a trip to Belgium. Get a waffle, get the frites, get the mussels, get the croquets. Take a canal tour and walk everywhere. It is a great, beautiful, historic, marvelous place. It was borderline dreamy. We never did make it to Brugges, but we also don’t feel like we missed out by focusing our time in Ghent.

Other Posts

• Paris Speakeasy Guide
• Salzburg
• Munich Oktoberfest

That is how we will remember Austin for the foreseeable future – lots and lots of eclectic drinking spots with lots and lots of cocktails.  This is a great town for drinking.

If you’ve already read our Austin Speakeasy blog, then you know: our long weekend in Austin was packed with all the places you must drink when you are in the city for a fun girls’ weekend, college friends reunion, or bachelorette party.  But it’s also prime for day drinking.  When you are trying to avoid the humidity, there are upscale places, original and iconic drinking spots, and way more to this amazing city than just the ‘Dirty Sixth’.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – when we say Day Drinking, that is just a place to start and leads into evening. Many of these places don’t open until 5:00 pm, so be sure to check their hours.

The Tiniest Bar in Texas

This was not on the list.  Never planned, a stumble of good fortune.  We were about 45 min early for our dinner reservation and right up the road was a spot on Google Maps listed as The Tiniest Bar in Texas.  How do you pass up something as superlative as that?

Simple and inviting, The Tiniest Bar in Texas is really just a patio attached to a shed.  But it’s covered (read: shaded), has Christmas lights, and a short and sweet menu of drinks and shots.  Perfect for our one and done. But they also have music and TVs, and you could conceivably spend a few hours just hanging out with friends here.  We, however, had dinner plans and opted for the one and done of a couple of quick shots and some waters (stay hydrated in this town!). A disco ball with glitter and a green tea shot and we were off to dinner!

The Cloak Room

You will see this pop up on several lists of speakeasies.  With its dark, downstairs basement vibe, we can understand why.  But according to our rules and regulations, it is not a speakeasy.  It is not hidden, there is no secret to it. It’s a well-known drinking spot for many people working in the blocks around the capital.

It is, however, dark.  Like remember our Seattle speakeasy where we were warned it was dark, and it wasn’t?  This one was.  As in, I almost sat on a hutch thinking it was a bar stool, couldn’t see two feet in front of me until my eyes adjusted dark.  It does however have a jukebox, and intimate seating, and Francis behind the bar was the real gem of this place.

Not a great place if you are in a party mood, but perfect for a pre-date cocktail or for a happy hour.

Note: no pictures, it was much too dark to photograph.

Nickel City

A fantastic dive bar, yes, please.  There are many dive bars in Austin, but there is one that gets an absolute stop, yes, go, from us!  Nickel City has this homey, friendly, neighborhood bar feeling. But they also have a great bar menu of classic bar fried foods.  And they are not so divey that they don’t have an impressive cocktail list and whiskey selection.  Their martinis were ordered by darn near everyone around us but we opted for simple bourbon and ginger and a vodka soda.

Nickel City makes many lists of The Best Bars in Austin. Both the Infatuation and the World’s 50 Best list it along with Roosevelt Room for their 2025 lists.

ssn – it was so tempting to have a martini but we had many stops and thought it best to start out easy.

The Roosevelt Room

Exquisite, the perfect word to describe The Roosevelt Room.  With a long list of accolades and awards, for both the bar and the bartenders, The Roosevelt Room is sheer perfection in an upscale cocktail bar.  The drinks range from creative and unique to prohibition-era classics.  They have a huge menu, but also an enormous chalkboard above the bar that lists cocktails by era.  This was also a learning experience for leveling up our cocktail knowledge. I was unaware that my beloved Caipirinha is actually from the turn of the century, or that the Moscow Mule is from the post-Volstead time period.

Dumont’s Down Low

If you are into historic drinking spots, and especially if you are into rumors of a haunted pub, hit up Dumont’s Down Low.  We were drawn in for the ghost story, we stayed because it is super cool and sucked us in with their chill, laid back vibe.  Down the stairs off of Sixth Street, into a basement. But not dark basement, more like woodsy, whiskey barrel lined, brick wall elegance without being pretentious.

And never speak badly of Blanche, the former madam of the former brothel that was originally housed in this building.  She is sensitive and appreciates being acknowledged.  I had the Bantha Milk – and heaven knows I can’t remember what was in it, but it was a creamy blue color and dang good.  Peggy opted for the Seasonal Milk Punch, which was a honeycomb-based cocktail.

Dead Rabbit

New York’s famed Irish bar has a location down on Sixth Street, this place is solid.  If you love a good Irish bar, make sure Dead Rabbit is on your list.  Get yourself a perfectly poured Guinness. Or if you just need an escape from the heat, get yourself one of their Frozen Irish Coffees.  Andrew made an effort to connect with everyone at the bar. He was chatty and helpful. There was a constant flow of people coming in and out, making this a great afternoon hangout spot.

In Plain Sight

Among the other downtown bars, In Plain Sight stands out, in that it definitely does not stand out if you are on the street.  It is designed with funky window covers so that you can only see inside from certain angles.  So basically, don’t stop and fix your hair or your panties on the corner of Brazos and Seventh.  Inside, it’s a small 10-seater bar, bright, white, and cheerful.

Now we had the unfortunate luck to be seated in front of some douchey guy looking to impress people. But Nicole and Chad behind the bar made up for it.  They have hand embossed ice cubes, and this machine that makes your cocktail glass nice and frosty cold.  They have a seasonal list of curated cocktails that are color based – a full rainbow of cocktails.  Peggy’s old fashioned was bright red (made with Big Red soda syrup). While I had a purply clarified pear and brandy beautiful drink.  If you want fun, different, and happy, this is your bar!

Jupiter Supper Club

While this had made it on our original list of bars we wanted to visit, we really weren’t sure we were going to have time to fit it in and had dropped it from our itinerary.  However, with a glowing recommendation from Shalay at Red Headed Stepchild, when we ended up with a block of time before our Here nor There reservation, we made the effort and the walk to JSC.

Upscale and fantastic, we are so glad we made the time! We are very in love with their tagline: Timeless Maximalist Luxury.  Every room in the JSC has a different theme and feel, and each is elegant and beautiful in its own way.

We opted for seats at the second-floor blue room bar, where JT made me an excellent Saffron Espresso Martini and Peggy had her best drink of the trip in the Osaka Seagrass, which came with a seaweed salt wrap to give it that salty, ocean-y feel.  We also highly recommend ordering yourself beet crisps with the avocado mousse.  The restaurant is entirely vegan, so try some outstanding culinary creations while you are there – it is a supper club, after all.

ssn – so far, the Osaka Seagrass is in the lead spot for my Sip of the Year!

The Aquarium

I am only throwing this into our list for one reason and one reason only: Giant Snake Slide.  This is right in the heart of Dirty 6^th.  Just another bar lining the street with big bass music blaring into the street, awesome drink specials (yay for $5 green tea shots), friendly service.  But you have absolutely got to jump inside, have a shot, then head upstairs, and then slide down the giant snake and out through the mouth.  You are never too old for a good slide!

ssn- most of the 6th Street bars are open in the afternoons, so pop in and check them out while it isn’t crowded and loud!

Final Thoughts on Austin

There are so many places to drink.  So many amazing restaurants that have great bars, so many bars that have great food.  Austin is a perfect destination for a long weekend with the girls.  Don’t miss the bats at sunset, but then get your butt back to drinking, because there are so many amazing places to drink in Austin, and something for every vibe and mood.  We will go back, we will add to this list, I have no doubt.  Let us know if we missed your favorites, or where we need to hit on the next trip.

Others in the Day Drinking Series

• Boise
• Reno
• Seattle
• Dallas
• Savannah
• Kansas City
• Santa Fe

We had a local tour guide to do a historic walking tour and a food tour of Cartagena. Mostly inside the Old Walled City, so we had a little feel of the land and had walked by some great looking spots.  We had also, naturally, researched before traveling, so we had a great mix of planned spots and happy little accidents.

El Pasquin de Joaco (Joaco’s Pasquin)

At the end of our walking tour inside the Walled City, we stopped into this beautiful corner bar.  This was an unplanned beginning to our evening, but the air conditioning pulled us in, and I’m glad it did.

We had pulpo (octopus) and Tartare Atun (tuna tartare) that were fantastic.  I ordered a Shakerato, which was like melted coffee ice cream, it’s a shaken espresso drink with baileys, much like an espresso martini, only creamier and smoother.  Peggy and our Guide, Gustavo, split the sangria.  Now, I’m not a sangria person, which is how I ended up with the Shakerato, but this sangria made a convert out of me.  It was amazing, and I am now a fan, not of just any old sangria, but of Colombian sangria. 

Juma

We had ended our walking tour at our hotel, and as we were heading out for the night, decided to pop into this cute little corner bar by the Plaza de San Diego near to our hotel. So cute.  A tiny little place serving local beers and some craft cocktails.  We were still early in our drinking, so Peggy opted to stay in her wheelhouse with the Noche de Amor (passionfruit and mezcal), and loved it. I stuck with my standard mojito, boring but always good.  There were baskets and vines and just a cute little tropical Colombian feel.  There was women’s futbol on the tv.  A great place to just hang out for a while.

Movich Rooftop Bar

When in Cartagena, you must do one of two things: a sunset cruise, or a rooftop bar for sunset (spoiler, we did both). The Movich was a Peggy thing.  And a perfect place to start our evening.  The Movich is a boutique hotel, close to the Plaza de los Coches.  It is pretty cute and a little trendy, but that rooftop is impressive.  And it was an amazing place for our first sunset in the walled city.

Drinks were fine, but it is definitely more about the atmosphere.  We took some great pictures, did some great people watching, had our first glimpse of Big Scorpio Energy (but we will get to her later), and reveled in the fact we were in Colombia.

Pink Dolphin

During our walking tour, I spotted The Pink Dolphin.  I took a picture of the sign so that I could remember it later.  I have become slightly obsessed with the idea of the pink dolphins in the Amazon, and how could a bar named The Pink Dolphin ever steer you wrong?

We arrived there shortly after sunset, and it was dead.  We weren’t even sure they were open, but the lady on the far side of the bar assured us they were.  And it was so cute!  I am still disappointed we were there so early that it wasn’t full of great people and energy, because you could tell it would be later.  Neon, Stone, a bartender singing along to Ed Sheeran, and a “Caribbean Spritz”.  This would be my hangout if I lived here.  I loved the feel and vibe of what could become an evening there; additionally, they had this cute back room with dining tables and a decent looking menu.

But, as a sister rule, one and done, we had somewhere to be!

Alquimico

We had to be at Alquimico as close to opening as possible.  This was number one on our Cartagena planning list.  Listed among the World’s 50 Best Bars for 2024, we definitely needed to check this place out.  They seated us without a reservation, escorted us to the 2^nd floor of this amazing multi-level experience.  It was like a cross between a club, a bar, and a lounge, each floor with a different vibe, it just felt good in there.  Our seats overlooked the first-floor bar, which was super cool to watch.

While their menu was all vegetarian, we weren’t really there for the food.  I had the Tomjiti; do I remember what that was, no, in fact I don’t I just happened to write it down, it was their version of a mojito, and I know it wasn’t tomato, because EW.  Peggy continued on her Porn Star Martini tour, the search is never-ending for the best version of this amazing cocktail.

We loved this bar and wish we could have stayed longer.  Roberto was a cute little server, and the whole place had this really fun vibe, but not too slutty, clubby. A place where there were tables of loud fun young people, a post-work party, and a romantic old couple all having a great time.

ssn – Alquimico won our award for Best Bar this year. Definitely a must-stop!

Barra 7

Hands down our best stop of the trip!  Barra 7 was a happy little accident. We realized that this had been on our radar, we just didn’t know we were that close.  A little unassuming hole in the wall, one of those skinny, long bars that take up most of the space, with some rail bar stools along the wall.  It was also reminiscent of The Zoo in KC, for its sharpie covered walls, tables, bar, tiles, bathroom, everywhere!    

The bartenders were fantastic!  The drinks were amazing!  The music was fun, sing-along kind of pop vibe, but not overwhelmingly loud, and THEY HAD A DISCO BALL!!!

I mean sharpies and disco balls, what else do you need?

I loved the Tropicolada – a mango pina colada.  Peggy loved her infused Paloma. 

We were having such a great time, so we stayed for a second round.  So much for the one and done rule, but clearly the buzz was setting in.

El Baron

And here’s where the buzz had fully set in.  We had wanted to pop into this little corner bar, they had a patio out in the plaza, and it just looked cute.  I grabbed a seat outside, Peggy went in to use the restroom. 

And I wait. 

And 5 minutes later a server comes out and tells me in broken English that I must come inside. 

This is where I found my sister, with a drink already in hand, making friends with Big Scorpio Energy (BSE).  This woman was awesome!  There was a table of women, two of whom we had coincidentally shared an elevator with at The Movich.  The other two had been on the balcony where we had first spotted this woman in this amazing hat that just simply said “Big Scorpio Energy”, and as a Scorpio I am now on the hunt for one of these.  They were super fun and in town for a birthday celebration.

Now, this little place has exactly 4 tables, and we were now taking up 3 of them, plus the couple in the corner, we had this place full.  The servers were excellent and attentive, and made Peggy this lime cocktail that was amazing in this little cordial-style glass.  I had my mojito.  We ordered some parmesan garlic fries and an amazing carpaccio that was covered in garlic oil. 

I was disappointed when it was time to leave and I felt like this was just a complete perfect kind of night.  But our BSE friends had plans, and I was dying for a little Donde Fidel.

The Clock Pub

Donde Fidel ended up being closed by the time we got there, so we decided to head back to our hotel when we stumbled upon The Clock Pub.  This had been seen on a list or two, so we night-capped it here. 

The Clock Pub was a bit of an English style pub, and they had American football on TV (clearly it was a Monday Night), and we had this great drink, I forget the name, but one of my notes said it was Malibu Rum, Amaretto, and Bailey’s.  I have since made this at home, and it was just that, and it was still tasty, it wasn’t just because I was drunk.  We cheered with some Dolphins’ fans but wanted to get to Manglar before closing time.

Juan Del Mar

Too late!  Manglar had closed at midnight, and it was just midnight.  Juan Del Mar was just across the street, back by where we started at Plaza de San Diego. 

We had noticed Juan Del Mar originally because it had great patio seating and the smell of seafood filled the air (in a good way, not in a dead fish way).  To end the night, we ordered one final round of drinks, because we really needed food, and we definitely needed some libations to keep us company while they made us a pizza.

We ordered the Carbonara pizza, because I am definitely one to try something different in the pizza topping game, and I was on a roll with my Colombian found new love of all thing’s gluten (my gluten intolerance did not exist in Colombian baking, which was amazing).  It was fantastic!  Thin cracker-like crust, amazing ingredients.  I’m bummed it was so late at night, and we didn’t make it back later for more of their pizza.

Other Cartagena Bars and Restaurants deserving of Honorable Mentions:

Donde Fidel

We had been by this place the night before on our walking tour, and I was DYING to go there.  Donde Fidel’s is a salsa bar (the music, not the taco topping) and a Cartagena institution.  It is owned by one of the most well-known salsa musicians in the world, and he sits right out in front of the bar most nights.

Donde Fidel’s sits right on the main plaza, by the entrance to the walled city.  The bar had set up lots of tables and chairs out in the plaza so that you can just sit and enjoy the salsa music coming from Donde Fidel’s.  There is table service for plenty of beers and people watching.  It was fantastic, just what you want for an evening in a foreign city vibe experience.

Inside it is small, with celebrity pictures on the walls, two small rooms with a bar in each, seating, and a back hallway that looked like it led to some stairs.  With the heat of Cartagena, you definitely wanted to be outside in the open air, but you could definitely get your dance on inside if you wanted.

We sat outside, watched the activity, were amused for way too long by a Mime imitating people and enjoying the night. 

Manglar

I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that Manglar was one of our best experiences in Cartagena.  This was an afternoon stop in prior to our tour, so that we could grab a quick snack and a glass of something local.

Peggy had what she has described as the best porn star martini of her life.  I had an amazing drink experience referred to as a “trip around Colombia” that was three martini shots representing three separate Colombian regions flavor profiles, plus a garnish to accentuate the flavor – it was amazing.

We had the mixed ceviche and the papas crujientes and were wowed by the flavors and the absolute thought and care with which everything was prepared.

ssn – Manglar made our “Best of 2024” list in both Best Bite and Best Drink!

The Townhouse

I had hit on The Townhouse on one of the best rooftop bars in Cartagena lists.  But it was part of a hotel, so I wrote it off.  That is, until we happened to be right there on the walk back to our hotel on night number 2. 

We figured we should definitely see what the fuss was all about.

It’s a cute little rooftop bar, with a cute little pool.  Nothing big or sprawling or crowded with lots of people and a DJ.  Just a fantastic bar, on a rooftop overlooking the city.  Great drinks, great appetizers, and great service. 

There is a reason this makes so many lists, and we are giving it an honorable mention with a recommendation you try it at sunset!

ssn – if you go read our friend, The Thorough Tripper‘s post about Cartagena, you’ll find that they loved The Townhouse as well!

Our Cartagena Wrap Up

Cartagena within the walled city is a great place for tourists, safety, food, and drinks. It’s very walkable and the people are friendly. There are plenty of great places to pop into, both for both upscale and common evenings out.  There is dancing and music, and a strong sense of culture.

Be aware that taking pictures of street performers will expect tipping. Use care and safety in public, don’t be stupid or careless with your attitude or money. But there is great music, there is a great vibe in the plazas, it is beautiful but in a cultural not in a fancy way.  This is definitely a city worth visiting and exploring and one of our favorite evenings out.

More Colombia Content

• Colombia – Things To Know

Now, I have never been to Santa Fe. I’ve never been to New Mexico, not even on a drive through to get to somewhere else. So I was all for this idea.  Plus, it was only a 4-hour drive from Peggy’s house, so why not?

This was a pretty quick decision with only 3 days until departure, unlike our usual months of research and reservations and planning. Peggy had been there before and had a few places she still wanted to try. We knew a little of where we wanted to be and a did a little social media research. We had enough for a skeleton itinerary to begin our journey and a reservation at The Eldorado Hotel. So off we went.

Where to Stumble back to after a day of drinking

When visiting Santa Fe, you really want to book a hotel near the Plaza.  All the shopping, restaurants, and bars are in this area.  It’s more expensive than outlying areas but will save Uber rides (or fighting over who has to DD). Stay where the action is, you’ll never regret it.  We settled on the Eldorado Hotel , and it was a great choice, beautiful and well located.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – I’ve been to Santa Fe quite a few times and have always dreamed of staying at the iconic La Fonda on the Plaza but it did not work for this trip. If you get the chance, do it and let me know what you think!

Upon check-in at the Eldorado was where we met our new friend, Jay, the front desk manager.  He’s just adorable and was happy to give us a list of places he considered our best stops for a must-try trip.

But first, sustenance

Jay sent us to Tia Sophia for breakfast.  Luckily, it was where I had already picked out. Jay solidified our faith in him.  It turned out we were a little late for breakfast, but happily settled on the special of the day, which came with the sopapillas that all the reviews raved about.  The reviews were spot on, the sopapillas were light and fluffy and mouth-watering.  A bottle of honey and a shaker of cinnamon and sugar waited on each table, and now I’m lost in the oblivion of lust for these little pillow-y doughy slices of heaven.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the rest of the meal was outstanding, the service was amazing, but now I’m hyper-focusing on those sopapillas. Just carry-on with the reading and I’ll stay here.

Time to get to drinking

The Coyote Café was our first stop; partly because it’s the iconic Santa Fe café, but partly just to get it done and out of the way. It was kitschy, that is the first adjective that comes to mind.  Loud, splashed with all the colors, and packed.  Our service was mediocre at best, definitely no time or desire for personalized service in this place, no chitchat, no ability to ask a lot of questions.  But it is cute and is an open-air covered patio over-looking the street kind of perfect.

We didn’t eat, but the shrimp and corncakes looked incredible, as did the nachos and the tacos.  For our one and done theme of the day, I chose the Caramel Mai Tai – white rum, guava, and black strap – with a caramel rim.  Different, but the caramel weirdly blended with the rum and guava really worked. Peggy stuck to her wheelhouse with the Cantina Crush – Vodka and Passion fruit which she found to be too sweet for her. I liked it and thought the sourness offset the sweetness – as is usually the case with my sister and I (her sour, my sweet, you get it, right?).

A Little Wander through Town

A walk became a necessity because we were still full from our visit to Tia Sophia’s, and to let you know there are things to do in Santa Fe besides drink.  We wandered to the Loretto Chapel. The Chapel houses the famous spiral staircase. The spiral staircase, featured on “Unsolved Mysteries”, built by a mysterious carpenter who then disappeared. It’s quite the legend and is very beautiful.

Santa Fe is also the state capital of New Mexico, and the capital grounds have a beautiful sculpture walk. 

Then there is The Plaza.  In the center of the downtown district, it has vendors selling their crafts, a few notable architectural features, and a great place to spend some time outdoors.  We passed by several times on the course of our visit, and it is beautiful and peaceful, even in the chaos of all the people.

Los Poblanos

Los Poblanos Farm Shop is a beautiful gift shop with all local products, bath, beauty, artisanal food, and a bit of alcohol.  The Los Poblanos Ranch is located in New Mexico in the Rio Grande Valley, with gardens and lavender fields.  Yes, there are a lot of their own lavender products for purchase.

BUT, also in the farm shop is the Bar Norte.  And it was one of our favorites.  Beautiful, in a Jane Austen kind of way (if Jane Austen was Southwestern instead of English), stunning details to connect the local heritage with beautiful lighting, old pictures, leather benches with fluffy pillows, and a gin forward menu. 

They have their own botanical gin label, and a lavender gin as well.  You can sample the gin in the farm shop, or you can try some of their beautifully curated cocktails in the Bar Norte.  We, naturally, opted for both.  Our waiter, Walter, copped to being hungover and having woken up on a friend’s couch, but he was still funny and recommended the cocktails he deemed important for us to try on our one and only visit.  We chilled in the air-conditioning and sang Seasons in the Sun, and it was very relaxing and laid-back experience.

ssn – not that I want you to stop reading, but this was my favorite stop! I fell completely in love with this space, the vibe and the shop. The outdoor patio was lovely (but it was unseasonably hot out!).

Two Drinks In

And we were struggling with the heat and feeling pretty worn down.  So, what’s the perfect solution?  A hand and foot massage, of course.  An hour-long stop in at the One Sacred Body Spa, we found zero gravity recliners, infused oxygen, and an amazing foot massage.  Finally, we were feeling like us again and headed back out to get busy on our list.

ssn – One Sacred Body is connected to Apothecary Dining. Apothecary is nutrient-rich, gluten-free, vegetarian/vegan friendly, sustainable, so on. “Alchemy Tailored to Your State of Being”. Very woo-woo. Very Santa Fe. We did not try it but by evening…it was packed!!

Secreto

Secreto came highly recommended, as all their bartenders are certified mixologists, and their cocktails are well-respected among their peers.  This stylish bar resides in the St. Francis Hotel and consider their menu to be “Garden-to-Glass” concept, a play on the whole farm-to-table movement. The lounge was busy, but we grabbed two seats right at the bar.

It has a dark wood, smokey feel to the place, but the light fixtures were incredible.  I opted for the drink they are best known for:  the smoked sage margarita (and that explains the smokiness of the bar).  Peggy had the Butternut Squash Old Fashion, and dare I admit, she won that round!

Our mixologist, Andy, was amazing – super busy, eyes on everything and everyone, but still polite enough to engage people in conversation.  We were blown away by his knowledge. Our discussion turned to tequilas where he informed us that they don’t carry Patron because it is not a sustainably run business. They don’t carry Casa Azul because of their infusion techniques. It was great to learn that they are putting in to practice the values they hold with regard to quality and sustainability.

ssn – Secreto has a great feel. It definitely has that “hotel lounge” feel, but in the good way. Happy couples and groups chatting about their day and their plans. Lively, upbeat and paired with great service. The Hotel St. Francis Hotel is fabulous and I would recommend a stay here. The (newly renamed?) steakhouse, Wolf and Roadrunner, has the prettiest patio in Santa Fe, IMHO.

The Closest Thing to a Speakeasy

There are no speakeasies in Santa Fe, much to our dismay.  The closest thing we could find was Tonic.  It is not hidden, there’s a sign on the street.  But it is down a little alley, off the street.  And it was cute.  Follow the alley to the end, and there’s a door on the left.  There is the bar to the right, it was this beautiful blue space with low-key jazz feel and a mirrored front bar that reflects the light perfectly.

The left of the entry opens into this enclosed patio space with big open windows with a very Mediterranean feel to it.  Bar stools line the drink counter around the windows, so the whole space feels huge, airy, and open.

That being said, I didn’t love it.  I wanted to, I desperately wanted to.  But the whole place left me with a meh, are we done here feel, almost like the vibe.  It made the list of best place for a cocktail in New Mexico (msn article “Have You Tried the Best Cocktail Bar in Your State?“), and I didn’t get it.  We were disappointed that they had stopped carrying food, aside from a charcuterie board, and they were out of one of the ingredients for the drink I wanted.

The server immediately had this friendly vibe, but then I heard him giving the exact same welcome to everyone else as they came in.  So clearly rehearsed down to the cute little side comments.  And the cocktails were good but had the same problem we ran into at many places, confusing ingredients that you don’t know what they are, and an attempt to be quirky and original instead of focusing on simply amazing cocktails. Maybe it was just an off day for Tonic, we hope so.

Matador

We had passed The Matador several times on our walk.  It’s a basement bar, with cement stairs leading down from the sidewalk.  It looked Dive-y and we were in for that.  However, when we got to the block at opening time, we could hear the loud music coming from the basement and Peggy was a “Nah!”.  But we were already there and committed and it was hot out, so we ventured down into the darkness. 

The Matador is a cash only bar (there’s an ATM in the back), dark, locals’ kind of place.  Music pumping out of the speakers – 70’s, 80’s and earlier country – so a bit of the twangy stuff, and some of the stuff our parents listened to. Think Johnny Cash, Hank Williams (Sr!), there might have even been some Roger Whitaker in there. We may have sung along to a couple of tunes.

The bartender was a little rough, but fabulous, just what you would expect from this kind of place.  We had two blueberry kamikaze shots. Served in mini old-fashioned Coca-Cola glasses, and they were PERFECT. The bartender even said “whoa” to how good they were.  In the end, it ended up a great, laid-back spot and we loved it.  But by then we needed food.

ssn – I sure was not feeling the dive-y, loud 70s Country blasting up from the door. I’ll admit that I was wrong. It was just the change of pace we needed!

La Boca

We had been saving our last stop for the food.  Tapas at La Boca.  We didn’t have reservations but were lucky enough to score two seats at the bar (you will definitely want to make reservations).  The bartender was friendly, but clearly overwhelmed and frazzled (he kept audibly sighing).  The floor plan is open and light, a pretty minimalist design, but it fits the feel. La Boca’s chef has been nominated 6 times for a James Beard award, so we were very excited for this meal.

Peggy opted for the Smokey Pineapple Mojito, which was delightful. I had a Brother’s Old Tom gin with the Fever Tree Lime and Yuzu tonic (yes, I paid money for the same drink I have at home with a better gin).  The lady sitting next to us was a solo digital nomad, so our conversation was amazing discussing the benefits and drawbacks of nomad-ism, plus sharing tips and tricks from our travels.

We opted for the Manchego Frito (fried Manchego cheese, it was amazing), the chicharrónes (I love some Spanish-style chicharrónes and they were fantastic), and the croquetas (we love some jamon croquetas!). 

The food was superb, the drinks were refreshing, and the service was bustling, but friendly.  We will definitely recommend La Boca if you need dinner in Santa Fe.  Tapas are always fun way to try a lot. 

Shutting it down

Of course, by the time we came out of La Boca, we had to dash for a great spot to see the sunset.  We got to La Fonda on the Plaza for the premier spot in town, the Bell Tower Rooftop Bar…. Just in time for them to tell us the bar was closing.

We didn’t need anything more to drink, we just wanted to see the sunset, so they let us pull up some chairs at the railing.  It was very weird that they didn’t adjust their closing time to accommodate the sunset. It wasn’t even fully down and they were sweeping through collecting everyone’s tableware.  But it was a beautiful view.

We headed back to the Eldorado, noticed the bar was empty and decided we needed a White Russian to close down our day.  The bar at the Eldorado is called Cava, it sits right off the lobby and is probably one of the prettiest hotel bars we’ve been in. Beautiful lighting and white chairs, it was lovely, but also completely dead by 9 pm. 

However, the benefit of an empty bar is that we got a lesson in making the perfect White Russian (the key is to put the vodka in a cold glass BEFORE putting the ice in).  It was really cool to watch, and we learned something new! 

Then it was off to bed for a scenic drive home the next morning.

Honorable Mention

We had breakfast the next morning at Café Pasqual’s.  It is the place for breakfast in Santa Fe.  You need to get in line early! They fill up fast. By the time they had been open for 15 minutes, they had a 45-minute wait for a table.  They offer a community table for those that don’t mind sharing their space, a 10-topper right in the middle of the room. It looked fun, and I would have happily sat there had we known.  The food was amazing, the staff was amazing, the room was beautiful, and it was a great way to close down our Santa Fe experience.

ssn – Cafe Pasqual’s is a Santa Fe institution and it is worthy of the hype. We were seated right next to the host stand (he was delightful and hilarious!) and you could tell the people that had been in before from the newbies. When newbies came in and were told it was a 45-min wait, they would leave, when veteran diners came in, they would gladly put their name on the list. If you know, you know.

Others in the Day Drinking Series

• Reno
• Seattle
• Dallas
• Savannah
• Kansas City
• Boise

We decided we needed to see Rod Stewart in concert before there were no more chances left.  And sure, he was playing in Seattle and Denver (near where we each live), but why would we make this an easy night to remember when we could make it an epic weekend?  Rod was playing in Reno the weekend after we had planned to do the North Cascades National Park in Northern Washington State.  So, Peggy could just come home with me, work remotely for the week, and then we could road trip right on down to Reno.  It’s only a 10-hour drive, and sister road trips are the best!

Peggy booked her flight into Seattle and out of Reno, and we were off to planning.

Downtown Reno – the grim reality

Now, downtown Reno is a bit of a pit, a lesser version of the downtown Las Vegas before the Fremont Street Experience. If you remember that far back. No cool light show cover, no street shows, but plenty of sordid souls smoking, drinking, and gambling. However, when you step out a few blocks, there are some great bars and restaurants.  There are a couple of outlying casinos that are nicer and have great restaurants and gambling that a Las Vegas lover could find solace in for a quick weekend getaway.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – we had been to Reno as kids on a rare family vacation to Lake Tahoe. I remember Circus Circus and seeing the real lion at MGM so no other frame of reference, but yikes, there are few blocks that are rough. I can’t even sugar coat it!

First Stop – Brunch

We started our first morning in Reno at a cute little breakfast spot called Two Chicks.  They only do breakfast and lunch, so yes, brunch, go with what you do best.  It’s all fresh, vegan/vegetarian friendly, with gluten free options, and local ingredients.  Their Red Chick Scramble was fantastic, and they have chilaquiles, which are always top of our list! As I looked at the menu again, I could not even believe we didn’t have the GourMelt Bene, grilled cheese benedict, YES, PLEASE!!!  Full breakfast cocktail menu, mimosas and bellinis.  It was a great way to kick off our Reno adventure.

Where we stayed

We got ourselves all checked into our hotel after breakfast.  We stayed in the Riverwalk district of downtown at the Courtyard by Marriott for reasonable rates, and a great location right across the street from the Reno Aces ballpark.  Reno has a great baseball team and a beautiful ballpark, if you are looking for a little side entertainment. 

The hotel was right on the river and just outside of the grunge, although within walking distance. And to be fair, within the few square blocks of downtown, there are some nice hotels (the Renaissance comes to mind) and some great bars and restaurants. But the walk to get there is intimidating.

Navigating Reno

Our plan was to walk to most drinking locations and Uber to the concert, which was out in Sparks. We needed to get a feel for the layout of downtown Reno and kill some time before our first Reno list bar opened, so we set out on foot.  This is when the “pit” realization set in, as we clutched our purses a little tighter and google mapped the location of a casino chain we may have heard of and wasn’t quite so sketchy.

On the way, we knew we needed a photo op, The Reno sign. We found out it was also the weekend of the Biggest Little City Wing Festival. There was about to be little more action in our weekend than we even expected, so big yay!  Plus, surprise free street concerts from Jana Kramer and Chase Bryant.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Sketch walk, casino for a cocktail and a little gambling looking for that feeling of love we get from Las Vegas but failed to find in Reno.  This killed enough time until it was finally 2 pm and we headed to Midtown.

We opted for an Uber to our chosen drinking neighborhood…Midtown. This area south of downtown (where Two Chicks was) was funky and vibrant. Shops, Victorian houses, fun restaurants…definitely the vibe we wanted. Aren’t you glad you stuck around for this??

Midtown Reno

Death and Taxes

Peggy’s number one choice for this road trip, Death & Taxes, was an immediate victory.  Everything painted black with a Victorian era feel to it. Completely elegant with a bit of an ominous feel.  And as we were there at opening, we were one of only 2 duos at the bar.  Of course, this meant more time to have a chat with the bartender, get drink recommendations, learn about their concept and watch the creation of some fantastic drinks.  The Bam Bam Punch and the Dead & Lovely are our recommended order.  And we were enjoying them immensely when the wall behind the bar opened up to reveal a hidden back kitchen, super cool and unexpected.

We let the bartender, Chad, have some input into our next stop.

Which led to…

Poor Devil’s Saloon

As part of our walk down Virginia Street, we popped into Poor Devil’s Saloon. Super cool looking from the outside, nondescript on the inside, but margaritas and giblets (I don’t even know what I meant by that, but it was in my notes).  The bartender was super cool, and it really had a vibe where you assume all the local bartenders are coming in after their shift.

But One and Done, we are off to Emerson

ssn – after reviewing our end of night wrap up, I had described this place as neighborhood divey hangout but upscale cocktails. Great, friendly service and impressive whiskey wall!

Emerson

Emerson is a beautiful bar, in my wheelhouse, or what I ideally want to be my wheelhouse.  Pinks and greens and blues, little pink neon lighting up the stage for live performances, and a mural in the bathroom hallway of Snow White doing lines of cocaine.  Little punk, little princess.  They bill it as mid-century modern, but they also host Reno’s first Drag Brunch monthly, so I like a that it is a little more focus on modern.  Their cocktails seemed to fit the theme, some light, some quirky, some a little unexpected.  I know I loved the strawberries muddled in lemon and vodka in the Strawberry Fields.  It was one of my favorites of the day. 

Rum Sugar Lime

Yes, that’s their name, RSL for short. But with a name like that, we gotta go!  Of course, it’s a Tiki Bar.  But a nice, pretty Tiki Bar, not chintzy or cheap, it is wood, tropical decorated.  Their cocktail selection was amazing, but how could it not be when they specialized in rum, sugar, AND lime.  Peep the Jongo with its mango lassi inspiration with cachaca and a cardamom-mango syrup. They hit Peggy’s wheelhouse with the Saturn made with gin and passion fruit. They also make amazing Tiki Bar standards in wee bit upscaled versions like the Painkiller and Daiquiri. 

ssn – quick to note at this point that none of the bars to this point had food. So weird! RSL had olives or nuts, Emerson had a charcuterie board but not that day as their refrigerator was broken. We were definitely needing food at this point!

Chapel Tavern

A quick walk away, Chapel, was at the top of our list right behind Death and Taxes.

It’s this big room, with a long bar wrapping the entire front – all wood and metal industrial style décor.  Their point of view is Redemption through revelry, Deliverance through drink, Salvation has arrived.  And how could we not love that? They will have an extensive drink menu that feels like the owners were just drinking one night and throwing out bizzarro names like “Jerk Off” and “Daisy Duke” laughing their asses off the entire time, AND their little kitschy addition was that each drink comes with your own tarot card.  I got the Wheel of Fortune, Peggy got Justice, they seemed perfect.

Five drinks into our day, we decided it was best if we found some food and headed for…

The Brasserie Saint James

Brasserie Saint James has a very old, traditional brewery feel to it with lots of brink and dark wood.  We were thinking we were simply headed for pub food and got so much more than we bargained for with the best bone marrow I have ever had.  Definitely more upscale than we were anticipating, but oh such an amazing meal.  They had standard pub fare in the way of burgers, fries, and flatbreads, but they also have a full dinner menu with Argentine Flank Steak and Truffle Ravioli.  A great selection of their own beer, they also make incredible cocktails.  Keep this place in mind if you need a great dinner in Reno that’s not at a casino.

One last stop for the night…

Z Bar

Our last stop was at Z Bar, simply because of the name.  Bit of a dive bar, however we stumbled upon a class reunion after party, and they were FUN.  We stayed for a couple espresso martini’s, mostly because one of the construction workers at the bar had never had one, and insisted on buying a round so he could try one with us.

After a wander back we decided to catch the Jana Kramer concert down the street from our hotel. It was a great crowd, the production team could not get the audio system working but she was a trooper! She improvised by doing an acoustic set, the crowd sang along with her and it was a pretty cool thing to witness. Thus ended our evening.

We cut our night off and headed off for some sleep and to rest up for the second night of our trip and the whole purpose for us ending up in the “Biggest Little City”:  Rod Stewart Concert.

Reno Wrap-up

But we want to throw out a couple of honorable mentions for Reno drinking:

Bundox Bocce

It’s an indoor bocce ball court!  About 15 lanes for Bocce ball, full bar, snacks, bright and fun.  They also have an amazing patio with fire pit, skeeball, and a cornhole area.  They are super fun, if you are in for loud, fun, party kind of night.

The EP Listening Lounge

A super cool place to hang out and listen to vinyl, coffee by day, cocktails by night.  It’s cozy, and a great place to kick back and just hangout.  Side bonus is that they also sell the vinyl that they play.  If that’s your thing, vinyl is your style, this is the place for you in Reno.

If you stayed with us for this long, Reno really turned out to be great! The Midtown neighborhood was hip and really lively. Definitely worth the visit if you find yourself in Reno for a conference or traveling through on your way to Lake Tahoe, etc.

ssn – my honorable mention was the campfire old fashioned at the Atlantis Casino steakhouse. It is a whole performance – they toast a marshmallow tableside for the cocktail infused with chocolate. To die for!!

Others in the Day Drinking Series

• Seattle
• Dallas
• Savannah
• Kansas City
• Boise

Peggy is in the home stretch of getting to all 50 states, and this trip to Kansas City covered two of her remaining eight:  Kansas and Missouri.

We had a tough time in our Google search for interesting things to do, and experiences to be had, we also had a limited amount of time. 

Don’t get us wrong. KCMO (that’s the cute acronym for Kansas City Missouri, if you didn’t know) is a fantastic little big city, with gorgeous architecture and a history ripe with mobster and prohibition stories. And we had a wonderful time.  But you do not come to Kansas City with high hopes of fun and magical escapades. 

Kansas City is nicknamed The Heart of America due to its location about 250 miles from the geographical and population center of the United States. It is known for BBQ, Jazz and the Chiefs. It’s not necessarily an adventurer’s paradise, or a hub of activity. So we might as well see what this place has to offer in the drinking category. Who would we be if we didn’t?

Sister Side Note (ssn) – while we had a fantastic time enjoying this list of Kansas City bars, we were there on Sunday & Monday nights and there were a few at the top of our must-visit list that were not open until Tuesday. Very disappointing but I think we made the most of it.

And off we go to begin with breakfast

We started our day at Tribe Street Kitchen.

It was in walking distance to our hotel, and a TikTok mentioned breakfast shots.  Seems like where you should begin a day drinking excursion: solid food and breakfast shots.

The Topless Chicken Sandwich with chorizo gravy was amazing. The biscuit was light, buttery, and fluffy.  They gave me the KC hot sauce on the side, and I loved it. The bar was comfortable and warm, the staff was super friendly. And yes, the breakfast shots (Jameson and Butterscotch served with an OJ back, in case you were wondering) were worthy of the hype. Plus mimosas are available by the carafe in orange, pineapple, cranberry, or grapefruit.

ssn – I had the “Morning After Bowl” – breakfast potatoes with KC hot gravy, chorizo and eggs. So good! The staff was so friendly and even put the Seahawks game on tv for us.

Little walking does a body good

The server at Tribe recommended we hit up City Market, an outdoor shopping area more like a farmer’s market combined with a craft show.

However, it was cold, as it tends to get in Kansas City in November, so we kept walking.  Not much was open at the market this time of year. 

And that led us to Harry’s Country Club.  A fantastic dive bar, playing old Waylon and Willie, offering an amazing selection of whiskeys.

We opted for a one and done breakfast shot. And we are off to explore with a little warmth in our bellies to combat the cold air.

A little cold, but a beautiful walk

We headed back to the hotel for a little freshening up before hitting up our neighbors to the south, John’s Big Deck. The city is mostly brick buildings, with fantastic architectural features and old style charm, so the walk was interesting with a lot of looking up and thankfulness for not a lot of hills.  They’ve done an amazing job of keeping the older buildings repurposed for a truly charming downtown.

But on to The Big Deck

How do you not get excited about a big deck? 

John’s is three floors, with a huge deck up top, which is enclosed for the winter.  Turns out the deck didn’t even open until 4. So after a little peach vodka we decided it was best is we moseyed along as the next Dive bar was opening at 3:00 and was less than a mile away so we could walk.

The Zoo

The place that made Harry’s look downright fancy in dive bar comparison.  This is old school, sharpie-covered graffiti walls, amazing stickers and pictures, and ugly ripped up bar stools. One side has pool tables, the other side just a bar and a lot of stools, maybe a few tables along the wall.  Nothing fancy, or looking to be themed, just a good old fashion dive bar.

Behind the bar is Mama Bear. You know this from a sign that informs you Mama Bear Makes the Rules.  Just an amazingly lovely little lady, who happily shared with us the 40 year history of The Zoo, and made sure we found some sharpies.  The only rule is to not mark up the bar top or any of the rented equipment.

We made sure a #sisbehaving sticker made it onto the index box by the cash register. 

Yes, I said Cash Register.

The Zoo is a cash only facility, with an ATM at the back.

A couple regulars stumbled in got a roll of quarters and two cans of Budweiser without having to ask. Another regular came in and stood at the end of the bar, clearly a friend of Mama Bear.

And this is where the Pocket Ribs happen!!!

I GOT POCKET RIBS!

On the way out, I ask the guy at the end of the bar where the best BBQ in KC was, he listed off a couple of “people say you should go to. . .” and as Peggy is getting in the Lyft I say “ok, but where do YOU go for BBQ?” He says he doesn’t eat any but his own, “do you want to try some?”

Well, fuck yeah, I want to try some.

And this is where I get into the Lyft with my own aluminum foil pack of ribs from his little bag sitting on the table next to the bar. (I think he brought Mama a little afternoon snack or something, because he had a couple of bags full of food.) I absolutely just walked out of a Dive Bar with some strangers homemade KC-style ribs in a foil packed wrapped in a grocery bag.

And I now have a pocket snack to take with us on our journey.

I AM DYING OVER THIS. ALL NIGHT LONG.

POCKET RIBS

IN KANSAS CITY

But we are on our way to The Monarch, so let’s go there

The Monarch came recommended by our hotel staff (super cute, I put a comment in the notes section when I made a reservation that we needed good bar recommendations this was on their list).

The Monarch was just gorgeous.  A themed butterfly bar, gorgeous white and cream and elegant.

And we burst in to this lovely place, giggling madly about my pocket ribs.

We created a bit of a scene, but the bar was almost empty, so it’s all good.

Migratory Butterfly Pattern Menu

The cocktail menu is divided up into regional cocktails based on the migratory patterns of butterflies.

And our first stop that actually has themed craft cocktails.

First round was very successful. My choice was beautiful and sweet, Peggy’s was elegant and warming.

But the second round, ohhhhh the second round was a full triumph.  The Steak and Shake, where our bartender, Stephen (who insists that we know he is actually the General Manager) says it is “hands-down” the best drink on the menu.  A5 Wagyu Tallow Washed Talisker Scotch Whisky…they infuse their own scotch with the best beef tallow on the planet (so stays Stephen).  Umami bitters and black garlic foam, who knew this was even a thing?  But IT IS!

Peggy has a beautiful cocktail, which is purply and creamy and was soulfully delicious.

But we’ve been here for two, and we are dying for the Mercury Room.  Stephen confirms that this is a don’t miss spot, and is a sister bar to the Monarch, so we should drop his name at the door.

The Mercury Room, and our new best friends

Luckily it’s a Monday night, because we don’t have reservations.

But we also have the ability to name drop “Stephen sent us”, ok, well in honesty, I inform them that Jonathon has sent us, and Peggy very loudly exclaims “who the fuck is Jonathon” and we erupt with laughter. Not exactly the classy first impression, and we are slightly dying over the cheesiness we are feeling at this anyway.  Jonathon…Stephen…whatever, both formal and end in an “n” sound 

The door guy clears us with the upstairs people, and we are granted elevator access feeling a cross between should we be fist bumping at our status or are they just really putting us on that they weren’t going to let us in. We can’t tell.  But we are in.

The Mercury Room is at the top of the building, all lit up with white lights and blue velvet. This is astonishing level of beautiful and we are here for it all, soaking it all in.

ssn – sorry for the language, mom. The Mercury Room was seriously impressive – this would be a standout in any city!

---

---

And then we meet Til Death

Never one to pass up conversations with strangers, the couple next to us are fun loving drinkers celebrating their 30^th wedding anniversary. And clearly know the bartender.  So hey, we got regulars, who drink and know things.

Andrew and Liz are super sweet and own a funeral home in nearby Raytown.

And he starts telling us this incredible story of buying this funeral home when they were just 23, coming from a family of funeral directors, etc.  And after they take ownership, they find that people keep showing up and asking them where the bar is.

They discover there is a secret bar in the basement, they now have their very own speakeasy in the basement of the funeral home, they only open once a year on Prohibition Repeal Day for a big party.

And we are now sad we won’t be back in KCMO on December 5, as it’s right around the corner and we need absolutely see these people again!

They are our new besties

We start sharing drinks, with the “oh, you gotta try this”, and then swapping bar and travel stories. 

Andrew talks to dead people, I read tarot, Peggy’s not white, someone is lying about our parentage (uh, mom, should we talk?).

We swap Instagram follows and swear we will come back and see them again and plan a night out.

ssn – you should go follow them on IG @tildeathkc

ssn – I guess I will have to ssn the drinks because they are sooooo worthy of mention! The drinks were incredible and the bartender, Levi, was a genius. We each had one from the menu then Levi created our second ones based on our likes and a bit of magic. Sorry, we were totally distracted and didn’t get pics of all.

They leave for dinner, we leave to make it to John’s Big Deck, for the big deck and music bingo. . . until we are sidetracked by The Green Lady Jazz Bar.

It’s Iconic

The Green Lady is Iconic. Everyone has told us this. Peggy doesn’t give a rip, but the hotel, the uber driver, Stephen (not Jonathon), all say “it’s an icon”.

And its just up on the next block from the Mercury Room.

So, we cave and go. Because we are here for you, to help you make informed drinking decisions, its the sacrifices we make for our readers.

And it’s Jazzy

There’s a trio playing jazz when we get there, the usual bass, drum, and guitar.

And despite being called The Green Lady, it’s very red.  Red and Velvety.  Kind of what you would expect from an Iconic jazz bar, I suppose.

Ask me what you drink at an iconic jazz bar. . .

I have no idea.  We were many drinks in over about 6 hours, and neither remember nor took photographic proof of a menu.

Our livers have been trained for this, but our phones have not.

One and Done, we gotta get to music bingo by 9.

And the Big Deck is in fact Big

But enclosed with plastic weather insulation, not classy, not good to look at, and you can’t see through it.

But that’s ok, the action is downstairs.

Where we force our new bar neighbors to play bingo with us.

And we suck.

A lot.

It’s a Funk themed first round.

(and now, I’m stuck singing Funky Town, sigh, the things I sacrifice for this blog)

And it’s seriously about halfway through that the bartender informs us that we are allowed to cheat and use Shazam.

Game changes in our direction, but it’s a little too late for round one.

Cheating feels dirty

But by round two, Peggy scores a double bingo and a gift card. So we are ok with being dirty, dirty girls.

I should throw out as a side note, that we realize about this time that we haven’t eaten since a late breakfast, so we split a burger and tots. And the burger was fantastic.

We opted for another round of drinks, probably a mistake, but we are cheaters not quitters.

Mistakes were made.

And after belting out Roam and Oops I did it again, (and I am now completely wondering why we weren’t kicked out and cut off), we decide it is time to call it a night.

ssn – the videos of this unofficial karaoke sesh are not pretty and will not be shared. But we did have a great time as we tip-toed along that border of entertaining and obnoxious. At least in our mind.

Lucky for the Close Stumble Home to the Hotel

I am thankful that I still have those pocket ribs, because it’s now started snowing.

We took a quick cut through the parking lot, and decide we should definitely end our night at The Savoy (our hotel bar) with a night cap.

And this is where you know God is looking out for ya girls, because it’s miraculously closed at midnight.

So, we head for some comfy beds, warm covers, blaring a/c, and some white noise to sleep it off.

ssn – Pocket Ribs are still the source of such hilarity that one of us may have laughed so hard we peed a little in the elevator (for clarity, not actually ON the elevator floor)

What did we miss? 

Well, not much in KC, we gave it a good go round, but ended up hitting a few spots in the following days.  We also managed an almost sober nightcap at The Savoy at a much early hour. More on that and other fun things we found in our next installation. Stay tuned for that, I’m writing as fast as a hungover girl can.

More in the Day Drinking series:

• Las Vegas
• Dallas
• Seattle – part 1
• Seattle – part 2
• Savannah
• Boise

We found out how much there really is to do in Dallas (Things to do in Dallas), but we also found out how much there is to drink.  You know day drinking is our jam but looking back, I feel like we really should have buckled down and hit so many more spots. In our defense, there really is only so much alcohol you can consume in the heat.  However, I assure you, we gave it a good go, and found you some amazing spots to try!

Sister Side Note (ssn) – and also we had a family commitment that evening that we wanted to be coherent for.

Honorable Mentions

Before we start with a rundown of our full day of bar hopping, I need to throw out an honorable mention to the night before when my son, his girlfriend, and I found The Ill (that’s ill, not 3) Minster Pub in the Art district.

The Ill Minster Pub

This bar is known for doing pop-up themes, and we were lucky enough that they were doing “Gotham” as their current theme, and my son is a huge Batman dork.  They crushed this theme, with a Riddler room covered in neon green question marks, the hallway done as a Joker tribute, plenty of posters, movie memorabilia, an Arkham Asylum mugshot wall

But my favorite part was the shot wheel. $5 a shot, 12 different shots, all Batman themed drinks.  I landed on the Ba-na-na-na-na-na-na shot, while Emmy sadly spun to Penguin Piss.  Additionally, they had eight different themed cocktails to choose from, including a Mr. Freeze.  It was a cool experience.  If you are in Dallas, check out this bar and see what pop up they are currently doing.  The staff were super cool, and it had a great vibe to hang out in.

The Nodding Donkey

We needed bar food after this and chose The Nodding Donkey based solely on the name.  It was loud, it was open air, it was packed, and it was fantastic!  Patio seating, great food, and tons of TVs, pizzas, burgers, deep fried bar foody goodness!

The 3Eleven Kitchen & Cocktails

Not from the night before but worth a mention, The 3Eleven Kitchen & Cocktails. We hit this lovely place while we were waiting for our JFK tour. Such a great interior and classic cocktail menu – we had a drink and some calamari to sustain us through our tour. Looking at their menu now, I don’t know why we didn’t have the carpaccio bites (doesn’t sound like something we’d skip). Anyway…definitely worthy of a stop.

side ssn – The carpaccio bites were our first choice since we wanted something quick, but they were out of them, so calamari was had because Emmy had never tried calamari.

Day Drinking Official

And now, back to our regularly scheduled Day Drinking post.

We arranged to meet Emmy (my oldest son’s girlfriend) in Deep Ellum so she could tag along. She will be making guest appearances in this story for her ability to rally for the cause. 

In Dallas, the best drinking area, with the most bars and fun to be had is Deep Ellum.  We decided that it was definitely a walkable distance from our hotel.

Elm Street Cask & Kitchen

Peggy and I grabbed a quick mimosa at Elm Street Cask & Kitchen. They had a fantastic menu, but we hit it on a day where it was breakfast buffet only.  It’s southern inspired food as well, and they had a great feel to the place, was bummed we couldn’t just get a little breakfast snack.  But loved our mimosas in the cut glass goblets!

ssn – One of my favorite interiors. Would love to have spent a little more time.

Renaissance Saint Elm

On the next block is the Renaissance St. Elm hotel, and naturally, hotels have bars! And this one has the Brasserie Toussaint and get this, it’s French, New Orleans, Vietnamese fusion!  Holy cow, Marriott crushed this place.  Only we were too early for that kind of food, so drinks were had instead.

Opting for my wheelhouse I went with the Lapse in Judgement (seemed on theme) which was Aperol, peach, rosemary, lemon, and wheat beer, while Peggy had the RHOD, vodka, peach, lemon, and vanilla, YUMMERS, she won this round!

ssn – another great interior. Plus the bartender was fantastic (he spent summers in Pueblo, my current town, growing up and we talked all things Southern Colorado). AND…they had the beautiful knobby blue highball glasses from Pottery Barn/Crate and Barrel/Williams Sonoma that I’ve been obsessed with forever. They are pretty spendy in the stores but the manager agreed to let me buy a set if I came back at the end of the day. Sadly, I didn’t make it back but next time!! Some people make back alley drug deals, I go for back alley glassware.

The next block up took us right by Kitchen+Kocktails, which had made Peggy’s short list of planning.  We popped in quicky, because Cotton Candy cocktails must happen, even for breakfast.

We are still super sad we didn’t eat here. The next table had the chicken and waffles, and some seriously amazing looking southern comfort food.  But Peggy’s cocktail bubbled, and we will be considering this our second home next trip. 

Deep Ellum

The Biscuit Bar

We had planned this route intentionally to take us by The Biscuit Bar. They had cocktails and great reviews. Bright and sunny atmosphere, order at the counter for some fantastic sounding food, or go right to the bar and have a mimosa.

We bought a bachelorette a signature cocktail but had to jet after just one drink (servers were slam packed busy), to make our reservations at one of our new favorite spots on the planet The Neon Kitten.

ssn – that poor bachelorette was not having a good time – literally every one of her friends were scrolling on their phones. So we had to step in…we felt like it was our obligation as Cocktail Godmothers to bring free drinks and smiles to her. Also, I had some sort of Cinnamon Toast Crunch breakfast drink and it was awesome!!

The Neon Kitten

We walked by The Neon Kitten twice trying to find the place, we even stopped and took a picture of this adorable sign on a patio, which later turned out to be their patio. But dang, for some reason we had a hard time finding this place.  Here’s a hint: look for a neon kitten out front.

We walked in, first ones there for the day. The entire staffed stopped what they were doing and cheered! It was the welcome home we had been looking for.

Neon Kitten is an Izakaya and Dim sum, so plan to stay a while and have many plates of food.  But their cocktail menu!  Oh my goodness, so well thought out, and such amazing presentations.  We ate so much, we drank plenty, I didn’t want to leave.

Highlights included Pichifizu (peach and vodka again!), Kiraimupai Mimosa (Key lime pie flavored bubbly), and the signature Osaka, which was a sake, cherry blossom and gin creation that was served in a hello kitty looking glass!

Food, omg, we could have cleared the entire menu:  Pork Belly Benedict, Pork Belly Bao Buns, and Dim Sum including morel shrimp dumplings, prawn and pork sui mai, these crazy bright green mushroom dumplings, and the chili and peanut wontons.  I’m dying just now reliving the experience in my head!

ssn – this was seriously incredible. Each item was perfection and we could have stayed all day. Patti didn’t mention the matcha french toast – it was special that day, off-menu, and insanely delish. We never get sweet breakfast food but so glad we didn’t pass on this one.

The Blackbird Society

THEN, omg, THEN, as I was exiting the bathroom, I noticed the bookcase to the back of the room was propped open at a weird angle, so had to check it out. I peaked behind it, and there was an entire room, the manager was back behind the bar and invited me in: it was The Blackbird Society!  A speakeasy that was on our list for later in the evening that we were super excited to check out.  It was a gorgeous room with the great blue velvet feel to it.

Hawkers

Sadly, it was time to move on, but bars line the street, so we had tons of options.  We settled on across the street, Hawkers Asian Street Food.  Unfortunately, we were too full for more food.  But Emmy decided it was time for Sake Bombs, and I can’t say that she was wrong!  The staff at Hawkers were amazing!  Loved them, felt like we had new family in our bartender.  The atmosphere was fun, the drinks were great, and next time we will try some food!

ssn – Hawkers website gets it right when they claim it is a Total Vibe. This place was fantastic.

Double Wide

Needing to walk it off we headed for Double Wide bar.  This place was on our list, I was excited and ready for it.  But it was also hot out, Dallas level hot.  And we were slightly dying by the time we got there, only to find out they were closed for an event that night.  Super sad because it looked so cute.

Thunderbird Station

But we managed to duck into the Thunderbird Station on the next block to cool down. Built out of an old gas station, with a huge outdoor patio area, it was a fun little place!  Vintage feel with craft cocktails, and frozen drinks to rectify the sweaty betty swampy feeling!

Las Almas Rotas

We were starting to wind down from the heat, so we hopped an Uber to our final stop of the day. The Mezcaleria, Las Almas Rotas.  I mean, Mezcal, it’s a great way to finish strong.  And you know they had tacos, and esquites (corn, lime, cotija, cream, yes, yes, and yes!).  While it was too late in the day for me to convince anyone to do tequila shots with me, I had a Pajaro Loco. That’s super fun to say, and it had banana and pineapple!  The back of the restaurant had a speakeasy-esque Spirits Room, which would have been a good time if we could have come back.

Day Drinking Conclusion

There were so many places we wanted to stop and didn’t.  We definitely could have done two or three days of day drinking just sticking to Deep Ellum alone.

A little side bar to close out this story, the night of the Nodding Donkey, we managed a quick stop into Truth & Alibi.  It’s considered the go-to speakeasy in all the research we did for this trip.  It’s cute in that you enter through a fake candy store, but inside I was shocked at how loud and night-clubby it was.  Speakeasies tend to be more quiet, hidden gems. This was full in your face smoke and lights, but it did lend an opportunity for me to be present for my son’s very first burlesque show, and that made this momma happy!  Happy Birthday, Tanner!!!

More in the Day Drinking series:

• Seattle – part 1
• Seattle – part 2
• Savannah
• Boise
• Kansas City

Update: since the original post, we have added to our Seattle list with another must-do tiki bar and a not quite nearby speakeasy…scroll to the bottom to read about them!

After a trip to the coast, Peggy and I had the fun of staying one extra night in Seattle where we “accidently” discovered a couple of new-to-us businesses. If you saw our original day drinking in Seattle blog post, you know we had previously hit quite a few spots and had an amazing time, but we were going to try to outdo that?

On this particular day, we were exhausted and just not feeling it, and actually debated just Door Dashing something to our hotel room. What is the point of having a balcony with a waterfront view if you don’t take the time to enjoy it?  Only what was supposed to be a waterfront view turned out to be a “rest of the hotel” view if you weren’t actually on the balcony.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – we were returning from a couple of nights on the Olympic Peninsula and had been in the pouring rain ALL day. Being native Washingtonians, we realize that it takes rain to make all of this incredible beauty. But we had had enough.

We had timed our arrival back in Seattle for sunset from our balcony at the Marriott Waterfront. The weather was clear in the city but the lack of balcony view was a disappointment and just kind of added to the mood. But the room was great and the view was beautiful (if you leaned left). So off to the hotel bar to plan our dinner.

Tiki – Ooh, is that a Tiki Bar?

Since it is sister-time we really wanted sushi. If you didn’t experience it during the pandemic, takeout sushi kind of sucks. Peggy convinced me that we should go out for sushi, and that we wouldn’t regret it. But we had no intention of bar hopping!

When we pulled up our Google maps Peggy noticed there was a tiki bar, Navy Strength just a couple of blocks away. We couldn’t get reservations at our sushi choice until 8:30 pm. So scratch what I just said, we decided that we should definitely start there. Due to our dedication to our readers, you absolutely needed to know if this was better than the last Seattle tiki bar experience, The Lava Lounge. 

Navy Strength

Navy Strength has done a great job with the theme. Instead of looking like some cheap tiki hut, this bar actually reminds you of the bars you would see in a movie set on a military base in Hawaii.  Picture From Here to Eternity or Pearl Harbor. Fantastic drink choices from tiki glasses to flaming shots, they really thought through the selection.

After we each ordered a shot, Peggy announced, “We are not getting fucked up tonight”.  So, you know shit is about to start going downhill.

ssn – the drink menu was so creative! I honestly don’t know why we started with a shot. Except that it sounds exactly like something we would do. I had a “Gnarly Proposition” with Mezcal, Cynar, Passionfruit and lime. Patti had the “Surf Rock Radio” with Pineapple rum, Amaro, Coconut liqueur, Falernum and lime.

We actually one-and-done’d Navy Strength for the sole reason that my phone battery was dying. You are required to show proof of vaccination in order to dine-in within the city of Seattle and my vaccination card was on my phone.  I found out Bathtub Gin Speakeasy was right up the road, and we had missed that on our last trip to Seattle, so I really wanted to make sure to get that stop in before our dinner reservation. 

Thai – Bangrak Market

Then it happened.  Walking right down 2^nd Avenue in Belltown, it was right there, in all its glory!  The spot that had recently become a bit of a Seattle TikTok sensation:  Bangrak Market.  A restaurant specializing in Thai street food.  It was lively and colorful, we were just drawn in.

Inside was hustling and bustling, and there was a big top tent looking area right in front of the open kitchen leading it to look like a true Thai hawkers stand. We were greeted by this wonderfully nice man at the door who was running around like crazy. He cleaned up and led us to the corner bar seats that had us wow’d.  We love bar seats because you get the best view of what the bartender is creating.

ssn – I have seen this so many times on Tik Tok recently! I had saved it knowing we wanted to try it sometime but we didn’t think we would be getting into anything except sushi on this night. Good thing it threw itself in front of us!

The Drinks

Everything looked amazing. I ordered the first thing I saw, the Tom Kah Martini, Peggy stuck with her wheelhouse passionfruit based.  Hers was prettier, but mine was amazingly perfect for the restaurant theme.

---

---

There are huge glass apothecary style jars on the bar with infused vodkas in assorted Thai flavors claiming to enhance your libido, fancy drinks being poured left and right, and a choice of Thai and other Asian beers

Then we see a big bowl of shots and flowers…what?? And the server lights up a huge sparkler in the middle!  I’m immediately thrown back to my birthday in Tulum with the sparkler.  But our sweet little host was racing around like crazy and didn’t stop long enough for a proper video presentation of what was going on in the bowl.

ssn – don’t worry, I’ve got you. I finally managed to get this shot.

The Food

We decide that we had better try something to eat, so as not to let our readers down.  Just a small plate, since we still have sushi ahead of us.  We agree that Moo Sam Chan Tod Nam Pla is the winning choice, that’s fried marinated pork belly to us English speakers.

ssn – just yum!!!

I may have died and gone to heaven with those flavors but came right back to Earth when our cute little host set our very own sparkler shot bowl in front of us because he felt we needed to try it.  He explains there are four shots, the red is the spicy, Thai flavor shot, and the yellow shot is to smooth it out and make it all ok.

And far be it from us to question what is actually in them or to clarify what he means by spicy shot. It’s lit up and sparks are flying so we just go for it.  It was pretty much incredible.  We still don’t know what was in it, but it was an amazing flavor combination like nothing either of us had ever experienced.

As a side note, the people next to us were having a beef noodle bowl, and the fresh garden rolls, and everything looked amazing.

ssn – you know you’ve really hit on someplace special when the service, food & drink, and atmosphere are all in competition for the stand out part of the experience. This had all of them – very hard to choose which put it over the top!

Speakeasy – Bathtub Gin & Co

It was so sad to leave, but our time had come. We had just enough time for Bathtub Gin & Co before our dinner reservation, so we had to go!  Bathtub Gin turned out to be a little difficult to find, luckily Google had a photo of the door, and we had a bit of experience after our Savannah stumble to find Alley Cat.  We knew when it didn’t turn up on the street that we should check back behind the street in the alley.  And, boom, there it was, we are getting rather good at this.

A wooden door with a plain little sign telling you that you are there.  Walk into the landing, show vaccination cards, choice to go downstairs to actual seating or upstairs to the bar area was a no brainer.  Upstairs is a little 5-person bar and two small two person tables.

Again, right in front of the bartender with a great view of the drinks they were pouring.  Clearly a Gin joint, serving a plethora of gin varieties. I stepped out on a ledge with a carrot infused gin.  I do not recommend you do this in the future and if you do read all the ingredients. So you know it has Ancho Reyes Verde in it, proceed down the menu with caution to several of the other items that looked amazing. I have huge regrets about not ordering the Death Star.

The bartender can also help find you ideas within your wheelhouse as their gin selection is impressive.

Sushi – Umi Sake House

And finally, we hit our reservation time for sushi.  I love sushi with my sister.  It’s one of my favorite things.  We eat well together and always share plates. Umi Sake House was our winner for the night.  It was beautifully decorated, the staff was friendly, the place was clean, and we had seats at the sushi counter.

We started with the uni, which was very sea water flavored, and good, but we don’t see what the fuss is.  Next up was the Bad Boy roll, followed by the Pretty in Pink, and ended with the Rainbow Tartare stack.  Everything was amazing, very fresh, well prepared.  We absolutely loved our sushi experience at Umi Sake.

And yes, of course we had the sake.  But no, of course we were past the point of remembering what kind we had, but it was amazing, and I remember it being whatever was on special. So, if you go, order the Sake special!

ssn – we had been wanting to try uni for so long and hate to say it was disappointing!! The menu was incredible and our other dishes were so, so delicious. Our server gave us the final recommendation for the Rainbow Tartare and it was a winner. I cannot wait to go back and try the rest of the menu!

---

---

I am already excited to go back to Bangrak, it was definitely the highlight of the night, and has inspired me to revisit the idea of going to Thailand in March after our Bali retreat.

ssn – we had a lovely, slightly buzzy, slightly giddy walk back to the hotel. Such a fun night!

Additional Tiki Bars and Speakeasies

Recently, we were in Seattle to see the play, Six – which happened to be on the same weekend as Taylor Swift, a Mariners game, Capitol Hill block party, a WNBA game – the city was madness! We, naturally, made some time to get a few new stops in. The first was a speakeasy on Whidbey Island – while technically not Seattle, it is certainly worthy of a ferry ride when you have time. The second was a tiki bar that Patti had been scoping out for a while – Inside Passage!

Speakeasy – Skein & Tipple

We found Skein & Tipple on TikTok and knew we had to make the trek to Whidbey Island! For those not familiar, Whidbey Island is a farily large island northwest of Seattle in Puget Sound. It can be accessed by ferry or across Deception Pass on its northern end. I could go on and on about Whidbey Island but I’ll save that for another post. Skein & Tipple is a yarn shop by day and speakeasy by night. To quote the website, “She’s Skein – she loves yarn. He’s Tipple – he loves cocktails. Together, they just might make it work!”. Let me just say, they were the loveliest people!

Tiktok tells you that you have to get there early because there will be a line to get into this 20-seat speakeasy when it opens at 5:00 pm. This was no lie. We got there about 10 minutes early and we were 17th & 18th in line!

Once inside the yarn shop, you are led through a curtain to the small, but perfectly decorated speakeasy. A little nautical, a little history, dimly lit but lively at the same time. We were offered a seat along the wall or on stage…no surprise which we chose! So from the stage, aka, our Thrones of Judgement, we enjoyed a fantastic evening!

The drink menu is full of inventive, interesting choices. All are prepared by the owner…it is damned impressive! And speaking of impressive….the glassware is handblown by a local artist and is like nothing I’ve seen. I’m a sucker for glassware and I am still, weeks later, obsessing over it!

Not Tiki – Inside Passage

Patti has had Inside Passage on her radar for a while and was so thankful to get a reservation despite the crowds in Seattle that day. Inside Passage is located in Rumba Bar (which is also beautiful!) in the Capital Hill neighborhood.

While we lump it in here as Tiki, Inside Passage does not consider themselves a tiki bar, but rather “an immersive underwater, tropical experience celebrating the uniqueness, history and beauty of the Pacific Northwest”. We now consider it absolutely perfect.

The decor is so elaborately true to theme and features at its center, Kiki, the giant tentacled sea monster. Inside Passage is known for its equally elaborate cocktail menu. Immersive drinks that are as over-the-top delicious as they are fun. And don’t pass on the food!! Three little words that changed my life…Shrimp.Corn.Dogs!! Throw in some Brie wontons…Amazing!

For more food and drinks, check out our Day Drinking adventures:

• Seattle – Day Day Drinking
• Boise
• Dallas
• Kansas City Day Drinking
• Savannah

Speakeasy Guides

• Seattle Speakeasy Guide
• Las Vegas Speakeasy Guide
• Chicago Speakeasy Guide
• Denver Speakeasy Guide
• Kansas City Speakeasy Guide

Savannah Basics

If you are a day drinker or a fan of fantastic food, I’m going to give Savannah, Georgia a 4.5 out of 5 stars.  For the most part, tourists are going to stick to the historic district of Savannah, so from here on out when I say Savannah just assume that I am talking Historic District. Here are our recommendations for you to find a little of everything to fit your mood. Upscale classy bars, dive bars, walk-up bar, basement bar, speakeasys.

Generally, if we have a few days in a new city, we dedicate an entire afternoon to day drinking, shareable snacks, and an early bedtime.

Savannah is a very walkable, so perfect for day drinkers to not to have to worry about catching a cab, and convenient for walking off those fantastic meals.  Also, a plus for Savannah Historic District is the open container laws, that allow you to walk around with a beverage of choice, “To-Go-sa” is a thing, and plastic cups are available in plenty of bars to take your drink to go. Apparently, this is not a city-wide ordinance, so do not try this in the residential areas.

Brunch Choices

The Ordinary Pub

Our choice for starting off the day is The Ordinary Pub.  Downstairs in a building basement.  They have the best way to start off a day:  bottomless mimosas.  They also have a fantastic brunch menu, with the absolutely not-to-miss Pork Belly Donut sliders.  Hands down the best thing we ate during our entire trip. 

We were also impressed that unlike many other bottomless mimosa joints, they were not stingy with the refills.  In fact, servers circulated the room with carafes of mimosas, topping people off on their way by, one of the few places you actually get your money’s worth on the deal.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – we would have gone back for these sliders over and over! So good! Plus this bar is so much fun – amazing energy & staff!

Collins Quarter

After a morning at Bonaventure Cemetery, we stopped at Forsythe Park and scored outdoor patio seating at The Collins Quarter.  The lavender mocha and avocado toast were as good as all the reviews said. We were concerned that it may have merely been overhyped, but nope!

ssn – we really wanted to check out items on their brunch and dinner menu as well, but didn’t get time. There is a second location on Bull Street in the Historic Downtown.

The Grey

After an early start to walking the historical sights in Savannah, we had been looking forward to The Grey! Our goal was to get there as it was about to open and hope to get in without a reservation!  And we did!  The Grey is a really cool restaurant built in an old Greyhound bus station.  Themed as such, refurbished and yet left with a lot of the interior décor but with high end finishes.  It was fantastic, Peggy discovered her new favorite drink, The Passionfruit Spritz. We shared crab beignet (yes, I said crab beignet)!

ssn – Again…there is a reason this gets mentioned in most related blogs. Highly recommend! Great service, great breakfast cocktails & those crab beignets!

---

---

Wandering & Day Drinking

Sorry Charlie’s

Staying down on Congress Street is where you will find the most walkable pub crawl area.  We needed to hit up Sorry Charlie’s as a pretty standard drinking spot in Savannah, but mostly for the oysters.  Doing great southern food, with a little Savannah charm, Sorry Charlies is a multi-level restaurant and bar.  This means you can pick what you are feeling.  As we were walking in, a bunch of “woo-hoo”ers were headed up to the rooftop bar, so naturally we decided to stay on the ground level.

There is a full oyster bar and a full restaurant, we opted for bar seating.  A fairly standard service item in Savannah is the frozen cocktail, which I’m sure speak volumes about the heat in Savannah; however, we hit on a chillier day, so passed on the brain freeze, and had the Georgia peach tea vodka and lemonade.  Most bars have this stocked, and I can’t recommend it enough. Peach tea vodka is just a boozy, peachy Arnold Palmer.

Oysters!

We had the sampler dozen of oysters, since we are more familiar with west coast varieties of oysters, they had a wide variety of regional styles, and the garlic and parmesan roasted oysters. Another round and we were ready to face the rooftop.

---

---

God loves a good rooftop bar, and this one was pretty fantastic.  Suddenly packed with the newly found sun, it had a great atmosphere of happy guests and great booze.  We lucked into a perfect corner couch seating (first come, first serve on the roof), a nice little fire pit, and great service.  And, then we lucked into a first date couple to our left, and a trio of Lululemon girls to our right, so at least the people watching was good.

When places are packed, we really try not to hold our table too long. It prevents the servers from getting good turnover, so after an hour we decided we needed to see more of Congress Street.

City Market

We popped by Wet Willies, because honestly, I fell in love with their cute little plastic To-Go cups on their website.  But after a brief discussion we just couldn’t do the frozen drinks just yet.  And Wet Willies has a wall of frozen drink concoctions to choose from, it makes me think of Vegas or New Orleans in this sense. 

Around the corner was Jen’s & Friends.  If you are planning nothing but day drinking, definitely hit up Jen and Friends walk up bar.  Big long cocktail list, but we also hit prime time for a big long line! HA, maybe next time Jen (and friends).

Rail Pub

We were about to start getting thirsty, but there was plenty more bars on the list to choose from.  As we wandered down, we hear it. . . the soulful smooth sounds of John Legend filling the streets. We had hit one spot that was high up on my list:  The Rail Pub.

It’s a complete dive bar, which we love, and was featured on Booze Traveler (The Travel Channel). I loved that episode so I had to go.  It is over 100 years old and has one of those checkered pasts that some of us have. It was a boarding house and a brothel, and was favorited by the old timey railroad folks, hence the name.

It’s divey to the point of you can still buy a 40 oz beer for $5, they actually have pickled eggs at the bar and peanuts on the floor.  They also have a jukebox…and a fantastic “Rule #8” of “when people around you are having a good time, please don’t play Pink Floyd on the jukebox”.

Outdoor Karaoke

But now, I digress, we were lured in by John Legend.  Which I am sure you are now thinking ‘WTF, we can’t play Pink Floyd, but they can play (yawn) John Legend syrup”? Well you are probably also thinking “WTF is Pink Floyd even on the jukebox if we can’t play it?” but ask them, I have no idea.  So, turns out John Legend was coming from the side patio, where we stumbled on Karaoke, OUTSIDE!!!  I mean, come on, this is my new camping spot, throw out my sleeping bag, I can be here all night.

Until…we discover the complete lack of acceptable restrooms, and only port-a-potties.  I mean, not that I blame them given the surrounding clientele at the time, but I’m a hard NOPE on drunkenly used port-a-potties.  So, one drink in, and the 21^st birthday girls got up for Love Shack and we are OUT.  Next time Rail Bar, next time, you and me, we gotta thing!

ssn – this was a damn good time! Karaoke — outside —- yes!!!

Congress Street Social Club

Down towards the end of the block we found Congress St. Social Club.  With a great patio, and a huge indoor space, all wood. It was pretty awesome.  And it was relatively dead, but I had to gooooo.  Something about the inside of this place smelled like Portland, OR, must have been all the wood.  Another Peach Sweet Tea Vodka, the bartender was funny and we should have come back to this place.  The patio had sofas around fire tables, and an outside bar.  Next visit we will be back for more.  Really loved this place.

Broughton Street

Savannah Seafood Company

It was actually time for real food, so we stopped in to Savannah Seafood Company because it had such high ratings online.  Tiny little, order at the counter, hole in the wall.  Grabbed a beer, and an oyster po’boy.  Wasn’t what I was looking for, but Peggy loved it, cuz even though it wasn’t crispy enough, the oysters were still amazing! 

Common

Then we walked by Common, and their BOGO Happy Hour and 50 cent oysters sign.  This is our typical, upscale bar. Great décor, loved the ambiance.  Unfortunately, the bartenders had two fucks left to give and they were saved for the young pretty girls down at the end of the bar.  So, hey, here’s a strategy, older ladies have more money to tip with and are more flattered by the attention, know where to put your energy.

ssn – I don’t know what she’s talking about…I don’t recall any “older ladies” there. The decor drew me into this one but it was just a pretty face.

Alley Cat Lounge

As evening was upon us, I found my newest obsession though a quick Google search of what’s next.  I don’t even remember what drew my focus in on this one, but The Alley Cat had to happen.  And I know the next SSN is going to tell you how completely right this choice was.

We took a little wander, and by that I mean, we were attempting to follow Google’s walking directions and happened past The Grove, which had amazing looking food, but we were completely swayed by the outside bar.  While not completely outside, it was a long bar with big open to the street French doors, and a super friendly staff that just invited us right on in. How could we say no to that level of Southern Hospitality? 

ssn – I had forgotten about the Grove. It was so cute & very New Orleansy to me!

Ok, so back to The Alley Cat.  We go back to Broughton Street, we go left.  We walk a few blocks.  Google says we passed it.  We go back, nope, passed it again, we cannot find this place.  It is right by The Ordinary, we see The Ordinary, we cannot find The Alley Cat!!  Ok, we give up, we decide to start walking back off Brighton, and I am frustrated.  We get a block over, I check Google again, and it says we are 250 feet away, so WTF…

Finally Found It

Turn around, turn around, turn around, and OOOOoooh, I get it, it’s in the back alley…it’s The ALLEY Cat.  One sign, one chair outside a door, total speakeasy vibe. Maybe that’s why I was obsessed.  So, open the door to a staircase, go down the stairs. I think we are at the back of the place, but maybe we are at the front, but who cares, there are two seats at the bar. 

*Update January 2025 – there are now glass doors and the name clearly marked above*

The bartender hands us each an old timey looking newspaper that is their drink menu.  Pages of nothing but completely original, well thought out craft cocktails.  We could have stayed here all night. The stories behind each style, info on Savannah.  Someone put some thought and attention-to-detail into The Alley Cat. And we loved every second of it.  But it was the end of the night for us, and we had one last stop to make.

ssn – Patti nailed it with this choice! Hands down, my favorite bar of the trip. LOVE the genius & creativity! Plus, the vibe was on-point!

Abe’s on Lincoln

Abe’s on Lincoln was Peggy’s favorite bar on her previous trip.  So, she was insistent that I see it.  And it was actually super cute little bar.  Love the play on the name.  Inside is wall to wall and ceiling to ceiling cocktail napkin drawings of Abe Lincoln.  I get it, I see her love, I feel her vibe on this one. 

ssn – nothing to add here, just restating that this is indeed, my favorite stop!

Other Worthy Mentions

River Street

River Street, like most of the downtown area, it is just a block away from the Hop On/Hop Off (which you can’t take a drink on, BTW).  So, a swing down to the river front district found us at Boar’s Head. It’s a staple, and a must. Super authentic, dark wood & brass pub. After a couple of local drink specials, we moved on.

Tubby’s is upstairs and overlooking the river.  Loved the people, loved the drinks, loved the view.  Even loved the horn blowing Busker who seemed to only know 3 songs.  The riverfront is also home to another Wet Willies (which we still passed on), and we definitely want to check out the rooftop bars next time.

The Cotton Exchange looked amazing, but more like a place I would go if I wanted real food, which we did not at this point.

Pirates’ House

The Pirates’ House is one of the oldest buildings in Georgia, and it’s haunted (as we find out most places in Savannah are), AND they used to kidnap drunken men, shove them into the basement and then shove them onto pirate ships as deckhands against their will.

Of course, we have to stop for a rum punch, and ordered this amazing pecan honey fried chicken which has been covered by several food/travel shows, and was actually pretty amazing.

ssn – the Pirates’ House is one of those must-see Savannah establishments. It is touristy but it is worthy! And although the Honey Pecan Fried Chicken is their most popular dish, I think the Low Country Spring Rolls were the star of the show!

---

---

Hitch

Hitch was a drink and a snack stop we had to hit! We attempted to get brunch at one of the other Treylor Park properties but could not get in. This location absolutely did us right. We had fantastic service, and loved the shrimp and grits tacos!

ssn – So glad we had the chance to stop here. The Chicken & Pancake Tacos were amazing!

The Peregrin

We highly recommend catching sunset on the rooftop at The Peregrin! There was a firepit, and great company in the form of fellow travelers, and The Peregrine provided blankets, which was a nice touch.

ssn – even though sunset didn’t wow us on this particular night, it was one of my favorite evenings. Beautiful views, interesting people and a cozy fire with blankies! Plus Patti got her coveted Tiki drink!

Sixpence Pub

This was the starting point for our Creepy Crawl Haunted Pub Tour. Super fun pub to start the night. Grab some drinks and wander!

McDonough’s

McDonough’s was another stop on our Ghost Tour. It had a great vibe, a mix of locals and tourists! And Karaoke! As their website says, “Many a good night has started, or ended, or both, at McDonough’s”.

The Original Pinky Masters

The Original Pinky Masters stop on our Ghost Tour was a fun one! Very 70s, very nostalgic. Pinkie’s is known as a place to get cheap PBR’s, listen to great music from the juke box, and visit with some really colorful patrons.

ssn – there was something super funky and comfortable about this place for me. Even though it was a challenge for them to accommodate our tour group, it worked for me!

Honorable Mention

The Honorable Mention on our Savannah drinking tour has to go to Better than Sex.  If you are in Savannah on a date (or Key West), get a reservation here!  It is late night only, cocktails and desserts only.  And it is romantic af.  The glass rims are lined with homemade caramel sauce, the drinks are divine, and the desserts are amazing.  It was fantastic.  This place gets an A+ and I can’t wait to bring my husband instead of my sister next time (no offense to the sister, she’s still an amazing date).

ssn – Dessert & drinks here were over the top. Patti had something rimmed with caramel. I had the Love Potion 69 – with housemade Amaretto! Giggle-worthy for sure….

Checkout the others in our Day Drinking series

• Boise
• Seattle
• Dallas
• Reno
• Kansas City
• Santa Fe

We haven’t been as good at blogging about them as we should. Hmmm….maybe a flawed plan? But check out our previous post in this category, Day Drinking – Boise.

We experienced an epic day drinking afternoon in downtown Seattle.  While a little limited by Covid shutdowns, our biggest challenge seemed to be the fact that bars didn’t update their Google information to show their true open hours.

Now, as we move through this blog post with our recommendations and sharing our experience, please gloss over some areas that lack details as there are portions that tend to get a little hazy. Nah, just kidding, one of us pushed through, one of us snoozed at a table.  And I’m not telling which one. Then again, one of us rallied like a champ, and one of us is still nursing a twisted ankle.

The Search Begins

So after our amazing adventure in Skagit Valley the day before, we actually held off drinking until after 2. I know, it’s a little shocking.  We had a hotel room right downtown, the Charter Hotel Curio Collection by Hilton was perfectly located right in the center of all the goodness, and close to Pike Place Market.

Which is where our wander first took us.  I only got about a block down when I realized that NOPE, my post-Covid isolationist self was not ready for that level of people.

We raised our vibration by raising our elevation about a half a block up to Post Alley. Located between the Market and 1^st street, where we found one of our favorite Irish Pubs, Kells.

Kells has an outdoor patio with a little bit of skyline, and Irish car bombs. Aaaand, the cutest older server with a thick Irish accent who almost certainly was a relative of the owners. Unfortunately, she didn’t know squat about drinks and couldn’t recommend anything different for us. Now, I love me a good Irish Car Bomb, but it was our first stop and I felt an Irish coffee was a more realistic start to an afternoon, plus it was still a little chilly out. 

Sister Side Note (ssn) – Kells has been around a long time! It was one of the must-go places when visiting Seattle during college. Floods of memories!

This Is More Difficult Than It Should Have Been

A Google search showed plenty of bars, pubs, and cocktail lounges in about a 4 block radius, so we were off to first street to start a pub crawl of our own design.  First place closed, second place closed, third place guy outside smoking has zero idea if they are open but recommends a few places on the next block that he knows are open, and finally, success.

And unfortunately, it’s a creepy clown bar.

Shorty’s is technically Coney Island Themed and was the start of Seattle’s pinball culture, in case you didn’t know there was such a thing.

Now I’m all down for a good theme, and the tables were all made out of old pinball machines, and the music was 90s alternative, and I LOVED IT.  Peggy was unimpressed, but after a couple Kamikazees we got to play some skeeball and it’s all good!

ssn – those damn kamikazees were so good! Sub in your normal vodka for any flavor – I think we did peach and blueberry. You’re welcome.

And The Ball Gets Rolling…

Having broken our traditional one and done guidelines, we decided we needed to move on.  Right next door, just opened and completely empty was the Rendezvous and Jewelbox Theater.  In non-Covid times it houses a small theater, a basement bar, and a pretty 1920’s gin joint vibe.

I dug it and enjoyed checking out the décor since it was empty and we were free to move about.

This is the point where I have the Mermaid Man cocktail and start quoting Zoolander endlessly about being a MerMan, pops, a MerMAN! (here’s a quick tip, when I get focused on something, like a movie quote or I don’t know, say seashells imbedded in the Savannah sidewalk, I’m probably feeling pretty good).

So, Mermaid Man causes a bit of a brain freeze cuz it’s a frozen slushie drink and we must move on.

ssn – when she says ‘quoting Zoolander endlessly’, she means endlessly – not an exaggeration! We’re talking Blue Steel, the Black Lung Pop, Ridiculously Good Looking, Water is the Essence of Wetness, on and on….

And next up on the list was the Lava Lava bar, yes!!!!! TIKI THEME!  How did my little heart sustain such joy as two themed bars in one afternoon? A big ole surfboard greets you with the menu list, and they are all tropical themed. And my heart goes a little thumpity-thump at a drink in a tiki glass.

We end up out on the patio, which was fantastic for people watching and gathering more recommendations from the patrons who had clearly knocked off work a little early. 

Rolling Downhill Quickly

It’s at this point that I get super excited that The Rabbit Hole next door is opening, so count it with me now. THREE THEMED BARS!!!  The Rabbit Hole is Alice in Wonderland. Which I’m nuts about and love to seek out Alice reference in places. It probably ranks above Wizard of Oz, but just under Winnie the Pooh – which does not make for a good bar theme, BTW.

Pretty low key design, so it’s definitely themed but not over the top and tacky, AND they get bonus points for more skee ball in the back. 

A Small Detour

So at this point, Peggy is drunk social media-ing and sees that one of the Seahawks has posted from a restaurant in Lake Union and we MUST go. Boom, Lyft to Lake Union, where you know how this is going down:  he’s already gone. 

ssn – you know we love our Seahawks, and this wasn’t just any Seahawk, it was Luke Willson! Love him!

And there’s a 20 min wait so we wander next door for some sushi to pad our tummies since it’s been a few hours since we have consumed anything non-liquid.

Sushi from I Love Sushi at Lake Union was just what I wanted, the gold flaked sake that Peggy insisted we get with it, was not.  Looked like Goldschlager, tasted like sake.

And, see, I get to blame Peggy for this one because she doesn’t remember that it was her that ordered it. But I think we all know it was.  And the sushi was so freaking good. Like I don’t know why we were surprised, we were in Seattle. But it was called “I Love Sushi” which doesn’t instill a warm fuzzy feeling that I would actually love the sushi, but I did!

Back To Our Mission (well, one of us)

Lyft back to where we left off, where we are pretty sure we need to go to Mr. Darcy’s for a Pride and Prejudice theme.  There is only one over-worked man we believe was the co-owner. The place is a little obscure but has such great potential.

There are only 4 cocktails on the menu, where I now decide I have to drink both of to keep anyone from noticing that Peggy is not drinking but instead has decided she should meditate on how close we were to hanging out with a Seahawk. By meditate, she must sit quietly with her eyes closed, in a bar.  And I’m sure we will get kicked out if they notice, therefore I have taken it upon myself to drink for both of us.  See, logic, pure logic.

ssn – y’all, I was done! I hit that wall, whoomp. I definitely had to close my eyes to center myself.

The Rally

Peggy has the forethought that we need a little booze snooze before dinner. We hit the hotel, and I’m sure we are done for the night. I document the occasion with a few pictures of her sleeping it off, giggling to myself for having outlasted her, only to delete them 30 minutes later when the girl rallies like the champ she is. WOOT!

ssn – I’m not sure how this happened. I am not a rally-er. But this place is wildy popular and dinner reservations were hard to come by! She didn’t mention that they were also at 9:30 pm. Who does that??

Peggy had made us reservations at The Pink Door, which we had both been dying to go to.  It is just half a click above Pike Street Market back to Post Alley. While not a speakeasy, the entrance was not marked, no signs, just a faded pink door with string lights.

It’s a local seafood-driven Italian restaurant that has Burlesque and Cabaret acts throughout the restaurant.  We were super-duper excited to finally get to go.

Then they smashed our hopes and dreams by having canceled the floor show for covid.

Rally-worthy Pink Door Experience

But we will say, definitely add The Pink Door to you must-dos in Seattle. The restaurant is gorgeous, upscale, romantic, and the food was amazing!  The cocktail special was a dedication to George Floyd, proceeds were being donated locally. On top of amazing food and ambiance they also have a social conscious.  And I can not wait to go back when the floor shows resume!

ssn – oh sure, she can talk about me resting my eyes in public but completely leave out her little incident. I’m talking a lapse in walking ability. Maybe an over-extended curtsy. Whatever you call it, she ended quite gracefully on the Seattle sidewalk.

This is where we shut down our evening. Pretty impressed with the downtown Seattle daytime bar scene. And with many more bars that we will look forward to visiting next time. Including several roof top bars, and other quirky bars we do not want to miss.

Side note:  we hit up the Unicorn Bar on Capital Hill, it was fantastically tacky circus décor, themed cocktails, carnival food, and flair – plus karaoke, but this was the next day and therefore can not be included in our day of Day Drinking.

Check out our next Seattle adventure: Explore Seattle Center and Seattle’s Quirkiest Neighborhoods

Checkout our other Day Drinking adventures:

• Boise
• Seattle – part 2
• Savannah
• Dallas
• Kansas City
• Reno