I’ve matched the photos as closely as possible, though it was not always possible to match the same angle in Street View that some of my photos had. Furthermore, Street View uses a wider angle lens while I was shooting with zoom, so in some of my photos the background may seem closer/larger than the Google versions. Please keep these facts in mind while browsing these photos.

The devastation is unimaginable, and photos don’t even come close to conveying the scale of it. There are spots on 20th Street where you can look in every direction and see nothing but destruction all the way to the horizon. And, as you will see in some of these photos, the horizon has been greatly extended in some areas.

There’s already amazing signs of recovery. Temporary utility poles and lines have been installed. Temporary traffic lights and traffic signs, too. There’s even temporary cell towers in place. And, some buildings are already under construction.

If you decide to visit for yourself, please remember that people are mourning and trying to get their lives back together. Many areas are still dangerous, and many others are restricted. Stick to the main roads only — do not attempt to enter any residential neighborhoods. Don’t dawdle or block traffic. Don’t get in anyone’s way, and don’t touch anything that doesn’t belong to you.

We also got to see for the first time what Quincy looks like in daylight…

Crossing the Mississippi River into Missouri…

An old Drive-In near Hannibal.   We didn’t get to actually go in to Hannibal, as we needed to try to be home by early afternoon.   That’s okay, we’ll be back here soon enough.   We only managed to experience 20% at best of the dive bars Quincy has to offer, (only 15% when you factor in the greater Quincy-Hannibal area), so we’ll definitely be returning.

Chillicothe airport…

Finally we reached I-35 and turned south towards Kansas City.   Up ahead, we noticed something odd about a small car we were following…

We sped up and confirmed our suspicions, there was indeed a dead body in the trunk of that car!

Though this was our longest trip over in terms of both distance and number of days, since the primary focus was on moving a piece of furniture it was our second largest haul in number of bars visited. If you had to ask me what my favorite part of the trip was it would be really hard to decide, as each portion had things I really enjoyed.

I doubt there will be another long trip like this in 2011, but you never know. However, I am pretty sure I’ll be seeing Quincy again very soon. :)

Quincy, Illinois.   A town with a German heritage on the banks of the Mississippi River.   Population:  around 40-45 thousand.    Bar population:  Somewhere between 50 and 75 depending on who you ask.   (I estimate the number to be between 55 and 60 based on liquor license filings.)   In larger areas of this town you can’t go more than 2-3 blocks in any residential neighborhood without finding a corner bar.   Most are dives.

We are home.

#837: North End Tavern

1130 North 24th Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 222-8103

[map]

Finally, some 11 hours after it began, we completed our 4-hour drive across Illinois and arrived at our ultimate destination: Quincy.

Quincy is a dive bar lover’s paradise, with at least 55 that I had identified before we embarked on this road trip. In fact there are so many bars that as we approached town, I told B, “Tell The Bitch (our affectionate name for his GPS device) to find a bar near 24th & Cedar (an intersection I pulled out of my ass) and then we’ll work our way west from there.” As luck would have it, there was a bar at that very intersection.

Beer is very cheap at the North End Tavern (as it would prove to be all throughout Quincy), with domestic pints at $1.75 and Blue Moon at $2.25. We opted for our trademark 10oz beers, however.

We sat under a large back umbrella at the horseshoe-shaped bar. We were alone at the bar, save for a couple sitting catty-corner from us. The bartender was in the other room shooting pool with an unseen person, though he was quick and attentive despite being out of sight during his game.

The couple sitting at the bar kept watching us, and this made me too nervous to take pictures. But eventually they relocated to the back room, and I quickly snapped my shots before they returned. I was proud of myself for being so stealthy.

Eleven bars later, I would learn otherwise…

2001 Cedar Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 223-1603

[map] [web]

After we left the North End Tavern we instructed the GPS to take us to the nearest bar in a westerly direction. It took approximately one minute to get there. Ahhh… Quincy!

The Cedar Club was fairly busy, one of the busier bars we visited this Monday evening. The bartender gave us info about bar closing times (1am, except for a couple of bars open until 2am).

We noticed a virtual shuffleboard game, something we had never seen before until today, so we took our beers to the back to give it a try. It took some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it it’s very similar to the real game.

1301 North 12th Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 224-5601

[map] [web]

Our visit to the next bar may have made the bartender nervous, as B entered the side door while I almost simultaneously entered from the front after getting a picture of the place.

Unfortunately it was pretty quiet in here and the bartender stayed in conversation with his friend after serving us up with some Busch cans, so I don’t have much else to say about this place. :(

1020 N 10TH St.
Quincy, IL 62301
(217)-228-0854
[map]

We left Uncle Bob’s bar with no real destination in mind, and within moments found a residential street with two bars diagonally across the street from each other.

This town is awesome!

We decided to start out with the one on the left, which was a tiny little converted house called the Silver Moon Tavern.

Officially the capacity was 21, but there’s only seating for about 16.

B chatted about football with the lone other patron, while I admired the broken shuffleboard game.

Gotta love this mugshot from a theft that occurred here a while back!

1023 North 10th Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 222-7169

[map]

After finishing at the Silver Moon we walked across the street to an unidentified bar.

“The Club, formerly The Saddle Club,” the bartender informed us after I asked where we were. “And it was called The High Hat quite a long time before that.”

The bartender here was pretty friendly and helpful. He told us a little of what he knew about the town’s history. It had been settled by German immigrants, and he suspected this was a good part of the reason for so many taverns.

We asked him what place we should check out next, and he recommended a place called Jimbo’s. Though I had to re-ask him what it was called a few minutes later, we were quickly able to find it after we left.

601 Chestnut Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 224-3361
[map]

Jimbo’s Place, recommended by the bartender at The Club, contains a tiny zig-zag shaped bar inside a circular building. It’s a very unusual layout for a bar.

When we pulled up the bartender (who was alone) had just stepped outside for a smoke. He came back in to pour us our drinks, we offered to behave ourselves so he could go back out and smoke but he wasn’t comfortable with that idea.

We told him about our travels, and when we mentioned we were from Kansas City he list up, remembering visits to a huge hospital in Kansas City when he was young. The description he gave did not ring a bell with either of us, but we later identified it as the McCleary-Thornton-Minor Hospital in Excelsior Springs, MO. So, if you’re reading this, Mr. Bartender, that’s the hospital you were thinking of!

He also gave us additional info on the history of the town. The original German immigrants had set the town up with a church and a pub on nearly every corner. During Prohibition there were as many as 120 bars or more in town. By the 1960s that number had thinned to somewhere in the 70s. He estimated that the number was in the 50s today, which fit with the estimates I had made while planning this trip.

Our conversation about the town’s history came to an abrupt halt when a very distraught woman ran into the bar and pulled the bartender away from us. After several minutes passed, during which time we channel surfed on the TV to pass the time, the two returned from the back. The woman was in tears and just when we thought she was calming down, she started yelling at us and accusing B of being a cop. The bartender tried to assure her he was no such thing, but she wouldn’t believe it. So we took that as our cue to leave. :)

(I don’t know what it is about B that gives off the cop vibe, but this isn’t even close to being the first time I’ve seen someone in a bar accuse him of being a cop. Or from Vice Squad. Or an FBI agent. Or an INS officer. Or a private detective. Or a sheriff’s deputy. It’s crazy!)

B channel surfs during the crisis…

339 Cedar Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 222-7356
[map]

Just when we thought things couldn’t get any weirder than how our visit at Jimbo’s Place had ended, we went straight from that into how our visit at B&R Tavern began!

We had decided to stop this portion of the trip and head downtown to barhop on foot. But as we made a turn I noticed a bar in my rearview mirror and decided we ought to go ahead and stop. As I circled around the block to get to it, we found yet another bar! (I love this town!) We pulled up to what turned out to be the B&R Tavern.

We parked the van across the street from the bar, but just as we were about to get out, B’s phone rang. While he was on the call, I decided to pass time by taking pictures. But a man had just left the bar, and I didn’t want him to think I was taking pictures of him, so I waited, fumbling with my camera in the driver’s seat. After a moment B had got out of the passenger side and started pacing beside the van while on the phone.

The man who had stepped out of the bar would not stop looking at me, and I noticed him get on his phone. Thinking he’d never leave, I got out and walked around to the back of the van, pretending to rummage through our cargo just to pass the time until the guy would get out of my way.

FINALLY he got into his vehicle and drove away, slowly, talking on the phone the whole time. Meanwhile B’s phone conversation ended and he dashed on into the bar, entering the side door. I was still outside, and hadn’t taken any photos yet. I took one quick picture (which sadly turned out crappy as you can see above) and entered through the front door.

I stepped inside to see B seated at the bar, perfectly still, The female bartender, with her phone pressed to her ear, looked at me nervously, then seemed relieved. “Okay, the second one is in now,” she said into the phone. “I think it’s okay.”

As it turns out, this bar had recently been nearly robbed, and our arrival had set off so many red flags with the man who had just left that he called the bartender to warn her about us!

After she warmed up to us and learned about our travels, she had a good laugh with us about her worries. She then told us about the attempted robbery, and it’s a tale of criminal ineptness and stupidity with few rivals!

It seems that one of the B&R’s regulars came into the bar with a ski mask over his head, intent on robbing the place. The bartender, the same woman we were talking to now, immediately recognized him and assumed he was joking. She laughed in his face and told him he looked ridiculous. So he took off the mask, sat down and had a few drinks, paid his tab, and left. A few minutes later the Scrub-a-Dub Laundry across the street was robbed. The bartender was shocked when the police showed up and told her that she had been the original target of the robbery.

But it doesn’t end there. A few days later, out on bail, the robber had the cajones to show up back at B&R Tavern to shoot some pool! He seemed genuinely surprised when they kicked him out and banned him for life.

This place has been the B&R Tavern for about 20 years. Prior to that it was known by the longer form of its name, Bob & Rays, for about 50-60 years.

I wonder what “other unhygienic acts” they had in mind? :)

1139 North 5th Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 222-9177

[map]

Okay, here’s the deal. We think this is where we were. We cannot say this was our next stop with 100% certainty. But the preponderance of evidence supports it:

• While I cannot for the life of me figure out why we would have been driven north to Cherry Street after leaving Jimbo’s Place, this bar is in the right spot to have been seen in the rearview mirror if we then turned left onto 5th Street.
• Circling around the block to go back to it would have taken us to B&R Tavern.
• It’s the only building in all of Quincy whose satellite view shape seems to correspond with the photo I took. And believe me, I checked them all!

So why are we confused?

Because when we arrived, we saw a sign that said “Halftime Sports Bar” and recorded that as the name of this bar. But we can find no listing for a bar by that name in Quincy, nor can we find a liquor license issue to a place with that name.

So, I am working with the assumption that we were in French Quarters, and that at sometime in the past it was known as Halftime Sports Bar.

With all that said, the only note I wrote about this bar is “Beer was served in plastic cups.” That’s it, that’s all I thought to write. :) But, as you can see in the interior photos, it’s pretty similar to the other bars we had visited so far in Quincy.

236 N. Front Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 223-5888

[map] [web]

We were looking for a particular bar downtown when I asked B how many many more blocks away it was.

“17 miles,” he said, after checking the GPS.

It was then that I realized that the bar I was thinking of was actually located in Hannibal, not Quincy.

“Oh, hell, have it just find us the closest bar, then.”

After a short but tricky reroute down almost to the Mississippi River waterfront, we pulled up in front of Kutter’s Bar & Grill.

This was a large, clean, and very nice restaurant-bar. Our bartender, Tina, showed us some of their bar merchandise and told us a little bit of the history. For instance, the riverfront strip we were on had been a red light district several years ago. “Little Chicago,” is what the locals called it.

225 North 5th Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 223-1185

[map] [web]

After Kutter’s we knew we were “Kutting” it close to bar closing time. We looped around the downtown area looking for a bar, but everything we found either had the lights off or was locking the door.

We finally found Player’s, but as we parked the car, two men stepped out and the lights went off.

“Are we too late?” we asked.

“Not if you hurry,” one of them replied, “the bartender is still in there.”

We went on inside and ordered a couple of bottles, promising the be quick. All of the lights were off, so we drank quickly in nearly total darkness.

The men from outside came back in, and B began to wonder if we were making them all uncomfortable. After a couple of minutes he straight up asked them if we were making them nervous, and reassured them that we were harmless.

We finished out beer and thanked them, and they locked the door behind us as we left.

Here is the least helpful interior picture of a bar ever… this is a pretty accurate representation of the light level in which we were drinking. :)

906 Hampshire Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 223-6681
[map]

Back at the Cedar Club, where we learned of the 1am bar closing time in Quincy, we also learned that there were 2-3 bars in town with 2am licenses. Of those, only Twilight Zone would be open that late on Monday.

We were expecting a dance club, but stepping inside we found that it was nothing of the sort. It was a good dive bar just like all the others we had seen in town.

This was the busiest place we had been to in Quincy, which made sense since it was now the only place open. We grabbed a couple of Busch Light bottles and started out seated at the bar, but later moved to stand at the end of the bar.

A familiar-looking dude approached us. “Wow, you guys are still going at it?” he asked. “You really are going to all the bars in town.”

B explained to him how we were on a road trip and on our way back to Kansas City, and how we go barhopping everywhere we go and log all of the stops on a web site.

“So THAT’S why you were taking notes!”, he suddenly exclaimed as a look of realization and relief came over his face.

At that moment, I realized why this guy looked so familiar.

“You’re the bartender from North End Tavern, right?” I asked.

“That’s right,” he said. We were wondering what was up with the notebooks and the pictures you were taking.”

“But, you were in the other room shooting pool,” I protested, “how did you even see me doing that?”

“I was a scout in the Army,” he replied, “Nothing gets past me in my bar.”

So much for thinking I was being stealthy earlier. Oh well. Having a beer with the bartender from our first bar in Quincy made a good bookend for the evening now that we were at our last bar in Quincy.

Finally we found a place right on the edge of the bluff, overlooking the river.  We stumbled inside with out belongings and were promptly out for the night.

To be concludeed…

Another early start.  Today would be the last barhopping day of the trip, and we knew it would also be the biggest.    Thankfully here in Terre Haute we had found another decent yet inexpensive place to stay, so we were well rested for what lay ahead.

While B checked us out of the motel,I watched these guys spend several minutes — and a few failed efforts — trying to figure out how to load this into the truck…

Once checked out we hit the road.  Within moments we were in Illinois.  Our first destination, Paris…

#822: Rosebud Saloon

112 East Court Street
Paris, IL 61944
(217) 463-3505

[map]

After a breakfast of delicious Hardee’s biscuits, we popped in to Rosebud Saloon at 9:35am for our first Illinois beer of the day. We selected their finest Natural Light bottles for our morning beverage.

The aspect I most remember about the bar, for whatever reason, is the autographed photo of Judge Judy hanging behind the bar.

The bartender and another customer were vigorously discussing the local Domino’s Pizza, specifically stories of how terrible their delivery service and customer service is.

The bartender told us about how, under a new Illinois law, she had to get rid of all her video slots / video poker machines. Oddly, this would turn out to be just about the only one of the 26 bars we’d end up visiting in Illinois today that did not have video slot/poker machines in operation.

139 East Court Street
Paris, IL 61944
(217) 465-3202

[map] [web]

We walked into this bar at 10:00am to find about half a dozen customers already seated. We ordered Bud Lights, and three people converged to hunt for them. The owner then mentioned the the distributor hadn’t brought them any yet. The bartender apologized profusely as he had to give us regular Budweiser, but we were perfectly fine with that. :)

Behind us, the owner had the old CD jukebox completely opened up and he was making repairs to it. We were impressed that he had the know-how to do that.

The L-shaped bar is huge, unusually long for this type of bar. The owner later informed us it is 54 feet long.

We got to talking with the owner, and we were surprised to learn that he had been in poor health until recently and as a result the bar had actually been closed for the past 5 months. In fact, we walked in just minutes after he opened the doors for their first day back open! Indeed, we soon heard another customer excitedly call a friend to say “You’ll never believe where I am right now!” :)

The owner took us around on a short tour of the bar, showing us all the things he was having to put back together and showing us the artwork and paintings his son had made as decor for the bar. We told him all about our travels, and I began openly taking pictures.

In a flash (literally, except falsely so as you’ll see in a moment), the bartender dashed over. “Are you okay?” he asked the owner. “I saw the flash go off and saw these guys taking pictures of you.” The owner calmed him down and told him everything was okay. The funny part, though, I didn’t even have the flash turned on.

After the walk-through we went back to our seats and we noticed a siren light mounted on the bar in front of B. The owner noticed us notice it and flipped a switch, causing us both to leap from our seats due to the extremely loud buzzer sound it made.

We always love finding bars where we actually get to meet and talk with the owner. It was a really nice stroke of luck that we happened to walking in here first thing on re-opening day.

1863 E State Route 133
Hindsboro, IL 61930
(217) 346-2912
[map]

We plopped down near the corner of the L-shaped bar that wrapped along 2 sides of the building. Our beers were served to us on astroturf coasters.

We couldn’t sit in the exact corner because of a big peanut vending machine in the corner. According to a sign on the machine, an M&M is hidden somewhere within the peanuts and if you get it in your handful you get a free drink.

The two of us plus the bartender sat for a while watching a History Channel documentary about Fort Knox.

1806 E State Route 133
Hindsboro, IL 61930
(217) 346-2239

[map]

This place was freshly cleaned and full of hunters. We sat down alone at the boomerang-shaped bar, the hunters were all at tables waiting for the burgers they ordered.

In addition to video poker and a pool table, this bar has something that’s still rate in dive bars but is starting to turn up in more and more dive bars: free wifi.

The original Teresa’s burned down in 1993, the building we were in replaced it soon after. Teresa still owns the bar today.

After we left, B asked me if I had notice that both of the bars in this town had originally opened in 1989. “No, I didn’t notice,” I said, “but that’s a pretty weird coincidence.”

Or so I thought, until we reached the next bar…

#826: It’ll Do

106 North Oak Street
Arcola, IL 61910
(217) 268-5078
[map] [web]

There we’re two bars (that we know of) in Arcola, about a block apart, but we had time for only one. The other, Dog House, did not look open at first. But we had parked closer to It’ll Do, so we decided, well, that it’ll do.

We chose wisely, as we had a great time visiting this bar.

(Technically this was a bonus bar, as neither the GPS nor Google Maps had it listed. Dog House had been our original destination.)

Our bartender was the 21-year-old daughter of the bar’s owner. She’s a very busy gal, in addition to working at the bar she is in college and also in her 4th year with the Air National Guard. She was delightful to talk to.

There’s a grill right at the bar, and pool tables in a room off to the side. We were unsure if there was outdoor seating, it looks like it from the outside but I didn’t notice a way to access it.

The bar sells all sorts of branded merchandise (see the photos below), even including “It’ll Do”-branded thongs! (See photo below.) I bought a koozie — which they refer to as “huggies” in this region.

We noticed a prominently displayed “banned” list, a redacted photo of which appears below. I asked what you had to do to get such a public shaming. The stories were varied and about what one would expect. However the story of Blake, whose full name I wish I could reveal because it’s a classic name, takes the cake. I can’t remember the exact detail of the initial offense that got him in trouble with the bartender, but his act of retaliation against the bar led to sanctions against the bar from the Illinois ABC. Consequently, Blake is banned for life. In fact, he is SO banned, that it’s written into contract that if the bar is ever sold, any future owner must honor the ban. Sucks to be that guy!

Incidentally, as we were seated at the bar I noticed a sign on the wall that mentioned the year 1989. I looked at it more carefully, and began to laugh.

“Uh, you know how you mentioned the last 2 bars we were in first opened in 1989?” I asked B.

“Yeah,” he said.

I pointed at the sign. “Yeah, that’s the sign stating that you have to have been born by today’s date in 1989 in order to be served.”

So much for the wacky coincidence… :)

1003 E Southline Rd
Tuscola, IL 61953
(217) 253-3172
[map] [web]

This is a pretty big bar. There’s a large front room that’s the “face” of the establishment. There’s an even larger back room with pool tables and a stage area. Back in the corner is a smaller room, somewhat isolated, where all the video slots/poker machines are located.

The actual bar is centralized and configured in such a way that the bartender can serve all three rooms simultaneously.

The movie “Knocked Up” was playing, so we stayed a little longer watching the flick with the other customers.

As we were leaving, I got busted taking pictures of the place by the owner. I rarely get caught when I’m being discrete, but this made twice so far just today. Damn. She seemed nervous about it but since I was leaving I just said “Hi”, smiled, and ducked out. :)

115 S. Main
Atwood, IL 61913

[map]

This small-town bar is almost completely absent from the internet. I could find no information other than that it exists. I couldn’t even get an address, I had to pull that from its liquor license info at the Illinois ABC web site. I could not find a phone number or any other info.

Kel’s is a big open room with an L-shaped bar in the far back. There’s a stage in the front, pool tables, Silver Strike, foosball, video poker, and an Extreme Hunting game. There’s also a stage in the front of the bar.

We played a game of Silver Strike that was going very well for both of us, until B “broke” the game in the 10th frame. :(

We enjoyed our “woodsy” Busch cans…

102 E 1st St
Hammond, IL 61929
(217) 262-3049

[map]

We liked this little tavern quite a bit. We sat at the small L-shaped bar watching Headline News and discussing the various kidnapping stories that kept coming up with the bartender.

There’s a someone larger room in the back with pool tables. I didn’t notice an obvious area for bands.

The distinctive feature of this bar is the ceiling tiles for sale. For a price, you can “buy” a tile and have any message you want painted onto it. (In retrospect, we should have done this!) As you can see in the third photo below, you need to be careful about what you choose to have printed on as the tiles are more permanent than some other things. :)

5995 E US 36
Long Creek, IL 62521
(217) 864-9227

[map] [web]

This is a new-looking sports bar in a strip mall on the outskirts of Decatur. It has pool tables, a stage, and a variety of video games. B played 3 free games of Golden Tee before we continued on in

to town.

Now that we were in Indiana and only needed to get as far as Terre Haute we could start slowing things down.   Sort of.   We elected to make only one stop in Evansville, but then stop in every town after that with a bar.

#809: Deerhead Tavern

222 East Columbia Street
Evansville, IN 47711
(812) 425-2515

[map] [web]

A pizza pub, jazz tavern, and sidewalk cafe all rolled up into one.

This is a new one for me — the beer was served in malt glasses…

This was a good pizza. A cracker thin crust, and big tasty chunks of meat. The only thing keeping it from being perfect is that the sauce could have been a little richer.

8 minutes later…

115 North Mccreary Street
Fort Branch, IN 47648
(812) 753-9914

[map] [web]

This biker-friendly dive had critter heads mounted all over the place. The bar was pretty busy so we sat at a table by the door.

The front room was done in red, the back room with the pool tables was done in green. There was also a side room behind us with a stage.

1031 Washington Avenue
Vincennes, IN 47591
(812) 882-9728

[map] [web]

The GPS took us in via a side street so we ended up coming in the back door. The front entrance looks a little “classier” than the photo shown here.

This place was quite crowded, we had to sit against the far back. We were served gigantic Old Style pours. Far too much beer, so we had to enact the “12 oz” rule. I ended up accidentally finishing 16 oz though, so I was full for a while after this.

That was one thing that has been odd about this trip so far, the pours have generally been far too big. We expect that in cities and college towns, but not in these small towns.

203 E Main St
Oaktown, IN 47561
(812) 745-2222
[map]

This is a very hard bar to find. Some mapping software claims it doesn’t exist, and the roads in this town have some strange twists. They are also very poorly lit at night. We had to set our BARDAR to maximum power to find it.

The building is divided in two, with a half-wall separating the bar area from the stage area. There’s also a patio out to the side of the bar.

This is one of those rare bars that has Coors Original on tap, so that’s what we got.

At one point B got up top use the restroom. When he finished he attempted to turn out the light in the men’s room, but accidentally shut off the lights for a good portion of the bar instead. :)

30 West Washington Street
Sullivan, IN 47882
(812) 268-9071

[map]

Located on one of the corners of the downtown square. This was a brightly-lit venue, with a center island serving as the bar and cafeteria tables elsewhere. There’s package liquor for sale, a flip-style CD jukebox, lottery tickets, darts, and a stage. There’s a pretty cool mural behind the stage, see the pictures below.

103 East Main Street
Farmersburg, IN 47850
(812) 696-2060

[map] [web]

This was a bonus bar, found entirely on a hunch. We had to step around some construction tape to get inside. (We limboed under it instead when we left.)

The bar’s amenities include a pool table and air hockey. The back room was dark but it looked like that might be where bands set up.

B and I discussed ninja movies and Rutger Hauer films.

Our bartender was pretty friendly, and she seemed to enjoy hearing about our travels.

1612 South 7th Street
Terre Haute, IN 47802
(812) 232-2886
[map] [web]

We pulled into Terre Haute considerably later than we had intended. Leave it to us to make a 5 hour drive take 13 hours! Consequently we drove past any strip mall bars on the way into town and headed north of I-70s, where we expected the older bars with more character to be located.

I’ve been to Terre Haute many times but only on the main strip south of I-70, so I had no familiarity at all with the older part of the city. We pointed the van in a direction where I felt the downtown area might be. T’s Lounge was the first bar we found along that path.

T’s is a cajun bar and grill. It was moderately busy, more so than my pictures make it look. We were served beer in big-ass plastic cups.

We asked the bartender for info about where we should look to find a lot of bars close together, and what time they closed. She told us to check out Wabash Avenue and that most of the bars would close at 1am.

I’ve seen the address listed as both 1612 and 1617. I went with 1612 since that’s what the web site says.

810 Wabash Avenue
Terre Haute, IN 47807
(812) 238-0033

[map] [web]

We found Wasbash Avenue and took a left, to find disappointment. The only open bar we found turned off its lights right as we pulled up. We circled around the university campus and came back through the other direction. Eventually we found two open bars right next to each other. We started with the one on the left — The Copper Bar.

The bartender here was very friendly. Domestic pints were $1.50. There’s an upstairs level but we didn’t go up there.

Out front is a patio with some interesting statuary (see below) that I’d love to know the significance of.

820 Wabash Avenue
Terre Haute, IN 47807
(812) 232-8480
[map]

Right next to Copper Bar is Terminal Sports & Spirits. This is a big sports bar in what appears to be a converted 19th-century bank building. The venue wraps its way around a central bar. There appeared to be a patio in the back.

This is a good bar, so it seemed odd that it was empty while Copper Bar, just 60 feet away, was packed.

1367 Wabash Avenue
Terre Haute, IN 47802
(812) 235-1445
[map] [web]

This Italian restaurant & catering operation looks so elegant from the outside that I was stunned to step in and find pure dive bar.

Karaoke was under way… really bad karaoke. I don’t mean that the KJ was bad, I mean that the singers were bad. :) But that’s what makes it good! I love bad karaoke, this is exactly what dive bar karaoke is supposed to be about. People cutting loose and having fun without a care, as opposed to the uptight corporate contests that some other places offer. (Side note, it was also cool how the KJ sat in a little both high above everyone.)

When we arrived here we noticed there was an Irish Pub across the street. But when we left we somehow forgot all about it, so we missed that opportunity. :(

1801 Wabash Avenue
Terre Haute, IN 47807
(812) 232-7805

[map] [web]

We liked this place a lot. A nice quiet bar with a cool bartender, a place with no games and no loud music so you truly can carry on conversations.

At the end of the long, curvy bar is a computer that’s free for anyone to use and loaded up with an iTunes music library — the main source of music for this bar. (Though evidently someone wiped it out a few days after our visit.) Behind us was a slightly elevated platform with additional table seating.

The TV behind the bar was airing an early episode of “Breaking Bad”, which spurred a lot of conversation.

There’s a popular bar in Terre Haute called Mogger’s. (We’d go looking for it later but would fail to find it before it closed.) The bartender told us that one of the cast members of “Breaking Bad” (presumably Dean Norris, since he’s the only one I can find from this area) stops into Mogger’s once or twice a year and generally makes an ass of himself. :)

1728 Wabash Avenue
Terre Haute, IN 47807
(812) 234-2638

[map]

This is kind of weird, the address implies this is west of Speakeasy but it’s actually east of Speakeasy. It’s a quirky result of the angle of Wabash and the way the side streets intersect.

This place looked quite new and we found out it had just been remodeled 3 weeks earlier, with new walls and a new ceiling put in. The bartender told us that his roommate is slowly buying the bar.

We had a really good visit here and enjoyed chatting with the bartender and the other customers about our trip.

900 Chestnut Street
Terre Haute, IN 47807
(812) 232-3939

[map] [web]

We found this bar as a result of our unsuccessful attempt to circle back and find Mogger’s. We didn’t know it, but this would end up being the final bar of the night.

Ballyhoo’s is primarily a pizza place, but this late at night it didn’t appear the pizza area was open. We took our beer back to the Golden Tee machine and played in batches of 3 free holes at a time — registered players get 3 free holes whenever swiping their credit cards in a new location for the first time.

After we were done here we headed in a direction that I thought was east (but was actually north) in search of some bar — any bar. We spied a couple, but they were either closed or closing. We finally turned around and B, with an amazing sense of direction, guided us back to our motel on a route that I insisted could not work since my personal orientation was off by 90°.

I later learned that had we either driven one block further before turning around, or headed north on a street just a few blocks over from the one we picked, we had a really good chance of finding at least 1 or 2 more places before last call.

Oh well.

To be continued…

As we approached Nashville again, we decided to make a quick stop for souvenirs.   Assuming we could find any, anyway, as it was about 10am on a Sunday morning.

We were surprised to find that not only were gift shops open this early on a Sunday, but so was pretty much everything else.   We turned the corner to find Broadway teeming with activity.

We thought this was a cool name for a bar, until it turned out to actually be a boot store. :)

#805: Paradise Park Trailer Resort
411 Broadway
Nashville, TN 37203
(615) 251-1515

[map] [web]

After walking most of the length of the Broadway strip, we decided this looked like the most interesting place to check out.

Given that it was 10:30 on a Sunday morning, we were initially alone in here. B got a Bud Light, I wanted to try something local so the bartender selected a Yazoo Pale Ale for me.

A few other people came in during our visit, but they were there to eat. The restaurant is mainly in a side room but the food counter is accessible from the bar as well.

Mullet Wall of Fame…

[map] [web]

We had gone walking around some of the side streets looking for a dive, but we didn’t find anything that was open yet. Our walk back towards the car took us by this brewpub, so we decided to stop in.

B got the Southern Flyer Lager, I got the Iron Horse Stout.

The bartender told us that this is a local place, but that it had fairly recently been bought by Gordon Biersch so is now technically part of that chain.

[map] [web]

We had noticed a 2 for 1 drink special advertised here when we first arrived in Nashville, so we wanted to stop in here before getting back on the road.

Sure, we only went to 3 bars in Nashville, but this was our favorite by far. Both of us would see ourselves hanging out here regularly if we lived in Nashville. It’s a great, honest dive with good food that doesn’t seem touristy.

It started out not too busy here, but there was a rush before the start of a football game that filled the place to capacity.

Food-wise, this place’s gimmick is to put fries on its sandwiches. The signature sandwich is the Piranha Sandwich, in which fries, slaw, and cheese are piled on your choice of meat. The fries are sliced right in front of you, they aren’t frozen.

But their gimmick sandwich is a monster, a 10-lb cheesesteak. Though they offer $100 to anyone who finishes one, it’s actually intended to be a group sandwich. Both Man vs. Food and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives have been in touch with Piranha’s, but neither will put the sandwich on their show since the challenge is more of a joke and isn’t intended to be possible.

As luck would have it, a large group seated behind us happened to order the 10-pounder while we were there. We stuck around to watch the creation of it, the videos and several of the pictures below document the preparation. On completion it was actually weighed, and when it didn’t quite come to 10 pounds they added more food to get the weight up.

The ingredients of the 10-pound cheesesteak, being presented to the group that ordered it…

We eventually reached Kentucky, and before long arrived at one of only a couple of towns along our route that was not dry…

#808: Hogs Head Bar
801 South Main Street
Hopkinsville, KY 42240
(270) 885-9800

[map] [web]

Attached to a place called The Beer Barrel, this is a very clean-spacious bar in an old building downtown.

This is apparently a new place, either that or it is recently renovated, as Google Street View shows the bar under construction.

We misunderstood the signage in the parking lot next door so parked a block further away than we needed to. Turns out only some of the spaces were reserved, not all of them.

Crossing the Ohio River…

Our first sight in Evansville, Indiana…

To be continued…

As we headed north out of Atlanta we decided to stop and find 1 bar in Marietta.   But we decided this one exit too late so we had to settle for Kennesaw instead…

#797: Bullfrogz

3655 Cherokee St NW
Kennesaw, GA 30144
(678) 331-8470

[map] [web]

We had intended to look for a bar in Marietta, but we wound up in Kennesaw by mistake. We asked the GPS to find us the closest bar and this is where she brought us.

This is a big tiki themed place with a U-shaped bar at one end. There’s a nonsmoking lounge area and a covered patio.

The bar was full so we grabbed our beers and headed to the back to play some Golden Tee.

When we left, I opened the driver’s side door of the SUV and climbed in. B did not get in, however, instead walking on up to the passenger side door of his van and climbing in. Holy crap, I was in the wrong vehicle!

I quietly slipped out and entered the correct vehicle, while B could only shake his head and laugh.

65 Outlet Center Dr
Calhoun, GA 30701
(706) 625-3100

[map] [web]

We wanted to make one last stop in northern Georgia. Calhoun appears to be a dry town, however Dawg Pound sits just barely outside the city limits.

The place was busy but not packed. Despite this, we could not get the attention of the bartender. After about 5 minutes we gave up at the bar and moved to a table.

It took another 5 minutes for a server to notice us. She was really nice, just didn’t notice us.

By then we decided to do just one quick shot and get the hell out. We asked for whatever was on special, which turned out to be some sort of black cherry shot.

Several minutes later they finally arrived. They tasted like cough medicine. We left our money on the table and got out of there.

334 Market St
Chattanooga, TN 37402
(423) 265-4615

[map] [web]

We’d pulled off in Chattanooga looking for one particular bar whose name intrigued us. We found that it no longer existed, so we decided to just drive around until we found something. Before long we found ourselves downtown and we parked int he first free lot we could find. Hair of the Dob Pub happened to be the closest bar to where we parked.

From the outside it looks new, but on the inside it appears to be well over 100 years old.

It was pretty crowded. I sat down at the bar while B went to use the restroom. I tried to order our drinks, but apparently in Chattanooga they can only sell one drink per person at a time. So I had to wait for B to return before I could complete the order.

It was too crowded downstairs so we took our drinks up to the second level. It was crowded up there as well.

The standout feature of this bar is an opening in the middle of the second floor where an antique dumb waiter is used to carry food and drinks between the floors. There was a small bar ledge around this opening so that’s where we camped out.

423 Market St
Chattanooga, TN 37402
(423) 267-8226

[map] [web]

We were getting hungry, so for my 800th bar we decided to head over to a small regional chain called Taco Mac. The original location was a small taco shack, but the menu has expanded to become more wing oriented as the concept spread throughout this region. B had been to a location in Georgia before, but upon entering he said this had to be the biggest and nicest.

This place was packed, but we found two barstools right by the door.

There were literally hundreds of beers to choose from. I selected Highland Black Mocha Stout, while B chose Boulder Sweaty Betty. He went for a burrito, but fearful of getting too full I settled on just some cheese sticks.

1012 Market St
Chattanooga, TN 37402
(423) 266-1103
[map] [web]

As we were heading towards downtown I noticed a very cool looking building, so I wanted to check it our before we left. Fortunately B remembered exactly where I had seen it.

This is a wedge-shaped restaurant-bar at an angular intersection, tapering to just a few feet wide at the south end. We entered to find a very old interior and a good side crowd in a small space. The bar proper was to the left in a small back room but there was no room for us in there. However the booth at the “tip” of the place was open so that’s where we settled in.

The old wooden benches in the window both sloped and were lined with cracked and torn leather. Years of messages were written and carved into all the woodwork.

There was a rickety-looking spiral staircase that we didn’t check out. After we left, I looked up and saw that it led to a rooftop deck.

703 Hillsboro Blvd
Manchester, TN 37355
(931) 954-0707

[map]

When we arrived in Manchester we drove from one end of town to the other and decided to come back and make this our first stop.

Karaoke was underway, so B sang “You Never Even Call Me By My Name”. I shot video, but that’s just for us to see. :)

We were both amused by the Hanoi Jane urine targets placed in the urinal trough.

After this we headed to another bar a few blocks southeast, but they wanted a $5 cover so we passed.

2684 New Tullahoma Hwy
Manchester, TN 37355
(931) 728-3100

[map] [web]

We were having a terrible time finding another bar in this down. We had headed to downtown and found nothing. On a hunch we decided to head south on Hwy 55. But when nothing turned up, I decided to turn around. B stopped me though and encourage me to go just a bit further.

Then, there it was, ahead on the right — the blinking lights of Irma’s Place. A bonus bar… as none of our resources and indicated this would be here.

We arrived just after a failed wet t-shirt contest. Apparently it was a success in that it had drawn a lot of guys, but no girls showed up to participate. :) Karaoke was now underway instead.

817 Interstate Drive
Manchester, TN 37355
(931) 728-2500

[map] [web]

The bartender at Irma’s Place told us there were no other bars in town. We headed back to I-24, but crossed to the other side of the highway first to grab some snacks.

While inside, B asked a bystander if he knew of any other bars. “Sure, there’s one just around the corner!”

We followed the directions we were given and found ourselves at a gigantic place.

The Coconut Bay Cafe is a 2-story tropical themed building. The lower level is all restaurant/lounge and was virtually empty, but the hostess guided us to “the party room” upstairs.

Up the stairs we found a huge space with 2 bars, a band, and a good crowd of people. The band was doing covers of southern rock and was pretty impressive. We ended up hanging out here quite a while and probably would have stayed a lot longer if we weren’t so tired.

We woke up extra early and headed back over to Grandma’s house, for a breakfast of her famous sausage rolls.   I’d had them a few times before, but never in their pure form, directly from The Source.

After breakfast we said our goodbyes, then hit the road.  Our first destination of the day: Atlanta.

But we weren’t here to drink, we were here to do some early-morning shopping at IKEA.

I had never been in an IKEA before and never understood why so many people want to shop at one.  After a couple of hours of browsing, I get it now.

We decided we couldn’t leave Atlanta without visiting at least one bar, so we looked for something near the IKEA store.   We found a few that looked really nasty/promising, but they were not open yet.  So we set up the GPS to direct us to a bar we had identified a few weeks earlier after doing a Google search for “worst bar in Atlanta”.  :)

After we fought through heavy traffic due to a Georgia Tech football game starting up, we managed to get back on the highway.  The GPS took us several miles north-northeast of downtown, to a particularly upscale area that didn’t seem at all like the kind of area our dive bar would be in.

We finally arrived at our destination, an upscale shopping center with no bar in sight.   We checked the address on Google, and found that the GPS had taken us several miles off from the actual location.    We made the decision to backtrack and find our bar.

We ended up in Buckhead.   There was some sort of event that involved lots of people in suits and people directing traffic and paying for parking, but we drove right on in and parked in the lot of The Pool Hall.

We had planned to visit only one bar in Atlanta (Five Paces Inn) and then hit the road, but when we entered Five Paces Inn we found they didn’t open for another 90 minutes. They directed us a couple of doors over to a little BBQ shack with a small bar inside.

#790: One Star Ranch
25 Irby Ave NW
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 233-7644

[map] [web]

Small bar is right, I believe it had 5 barstools. A kind older man who I believe worked there gave up his seat so the two of us could sit down. We ordered Lone Star bottles and talked about BBQ and barhopping with a guy in surgical scrubs and his girlfriend.

56 E Andrews Dr NW, #16
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 869-1151

[map] [web]

After circling around a few blocks failing to find an open bar, Google Maps on my phone indicated a possible bar on East Andrews. We found ourselves at what appeared to be a new strip mall, but we walked from one and to the other and found nothing obvious or open.

However, there were banners in the parking lot advertising an Irish sports pub, so we went inside to have a look. All we found in the rotunda was a wine bar that did not appear to be open yet.

“Maybe it’s in the back?” I wondered.

B was about ready to give up, but I walked around the outside of the building regardless. Jackpot! A bar that was not only open, but also reasonably busy.

Stout Irish Sports Bar has a huge covered outdoor seating area. The inside is decorated with stonework and murals surrounding the L-shaped bar.

As we chatted with a guy whose accent we were trying to figure out, our bartender thought we were from Oklahoma. This was in part due to our own accents, but more because we pronounce the word “draught” as draw, whereas in this part of the country it’s pronounced draft. We had been “corrected” several times already on this trip, but we were having trouble adapting to the change.

One other interesting things to note here is that the men’s room uses waterless no-flush urinals. This is the first time I have ever seen them used anywhere other than remotely-located parks and roadside rests.

Panorama of the bar. Use the slider below the photo to view.

3167 Roswell Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 869-0522

[map] [web]

We can made a complete circle around the neighborhood and found nothing else open. Back at the van, we needed to decide whether to to wait another 45 minutes for the other bars to open or hit the road.

“Let me check one thing,” I said. “Wait here, I’m going to check something.”

I walked a block back up the hill and stood on the corner to survey my surroundings. My hunch paid off, I saw that two places that were dark when we walked by them earlier now had the lights on. I texted B to join me at the stop sign.

A few moments later he met me and we quickly made a decision to cross the busy street visit Kramer’s first.

Kramer’s had looked promising when we passed it earlier. It looks like a dive, and being attached to a placed called “Lollipop Adult Treats” certainly added to the appeal.

The bartender and a friend of his were the only other people in the bar. We got a couple of bottles of High Life and headed over to the Golden Tee machine.

As we played, we started to notice that the sticky floor was littered with broken glass and…… rubber bands. ??? We can only imagine what must have gone on there the night before. :)

Panorama of the bar. Use the slider below the photo to view.

#793: Red Door Tavern
3180 Roswell Road NW
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 846-6525

[map] [web]

A good old fashioned sports dive. The bar consists of 3 rooms, though we spent all our visit in the main room. It appears that it has recently taken over a neighboring auto parts store.

As soon as we ordered our beers, an old Asian man tried to see me his watch for “five dollar”. When I declined, he then tried to sell me his shoes for the same price. I declined that offer as well, and he became upset.

The bartender told him to leave me alone, and he went outside to stand on the deck. Later he left altogether, only to return with a golf club. He did not try to sell that to me, however.

The man who tried to sell me the watch and shoes…

The bottom poster is a photo of one of the bartenders. As a prank he painted his roommate’s bedroom pink but got caught in the act, as revenge the roommate printed up these signs to display at bars around town.

#794: Five Paces Inn
41 Irby Ave NW
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 365-0777

[map] [web]

Finally… the one bar we had come to Atlanta to see was now open!

We had picked this place weeks in advance of this trip after B googled “worst bar in Atlanta” and this bar came up. However we suspected that it means this was just an honest-to-goodness dive and that pretentious reviewers don’t like that sort of thing. That hunch was correct, this is a good bar.

There’s 3 rooms to the bar, plus a deck in the back.

We plopped down into wobbly barstools, where B chatted college sports with a guy from Liverpool who had moved here just for a change of scenery.

I popped in to use the men’s room and found that the toilet had no tank lid. This was a precursor to me then noticing there was also no soap or paper towels.

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#795: Churchill’s British Pub
3223 Cains Hill Place NW
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 233-5633

[map] [web]

We had already tried and failed twice at finding this bar open, but I was really curious about it so we decided to give it one more try. Third time was the charm!

We ended up ordering Yuengling’s Ale… a beer that’s extremely common in this part of the country, but virtually unheard of back home.

The layout consists of several distinct areas all wrapping around a central bar. There’s so much to see here, so I’ll just let the pictures do the talking…

Panorama of the bar. Use the slider below the photo to view.

Another panorama of the bar. Use the slider below the photo to view.

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#796: The Pool Hall
30 Irby Ave NW
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 841-8989

[map] [web]

We REALLY needed to get on the road, but when we got back to the van we noticed that The Pool Hall was open. We decided that since we’d been parked in their lot for the past 2-1/2 hours, we really ought to give them some business.

While trying to decide what to gt to drink, B spied some miniature beer cans. They looked so ridiculous we just had to order them.

B dove into some peanuts and kept getting up to throw away the shells. This finally got on the bartender’s nerves, who told him to stop and just throw the shells on the floor “like everyone else will later tonight.”

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With these bars all under our belts, we realized it was getting quite late and we needed to hurry if we were going to make it into Tennessee before nightfall.

To be continued…

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On Friday morning we woke up early for what we knew would be a long day.   We had mis-estimated the distance from Clarksville to Macon and found we had about 2 more hours of driving ahead of us than we planned, and we knew there would be a lot of traffic and a lot of work for us to do once we reached Macon.

The first thing we notice was that the air was hazy and smelled of smoke.   It was like this much of the way from Clarksville to Nashville, and we never found out why.

When we reached the edge of Nashville, we hit extremely heavy traffic.   Far beyond anything I ever expected.   Thankfully we had brought a paper map, we were able to use that to find a way to escape and work our way around the city.

As we detoured around the city we saw a bus catch fire.  Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough with the camera on that one.  :(

After Nashville came a very scenic drive through the Great Smokey Mountains…

When we reached Chattanooga, this view from the interstate led me to believe it was a dying industrial town.   In about 34 hours I would discover that I was wrong.

In northern Georgia we encountered what we should would be a repeat of the bus fire we saw in Nashville when this truck started spewing thick smoke.   It turned out, though, that it was just burning a lot of oil when climbing hills.

Atlanta!   We were relieved to see that that it had in fact not been overrun by zombies.

Despite the very heavy traffic, we actually made it completely across Atlanta in only 20 minutes.   B has made this drive many times and said it was the quickest by far he’s ever gotten through here.

On our way out of Macon we spotted the same smoking truck from earlier.  (It had gotten ahead of us during a gas stop in Dalton.)

Before long we finally reached Macon.   Because we got through Atlanta so quickly, we actually reached Macon an hour earlier than our revised ETA.   B was having an upset stomach so we stopped at a drug store to get some antacid, then headed to his Grandma-in-Law’s house.  (Henceforth she’ll be referred to just as ‘Grandma’ for the sake of brevity.)   The GPS sure came in useful, she had recently moved and the streets in Macon are full of crazy twists and turns with generally little to know discernible grid.

After a short visit with Grandma, it was time to get to work.  The first order of business was for us to move an extremely heavy kiln from one end of a large patio to another.   Then it was time to load the furniture we had come to collect, which turned out to be at Grandma’s old house.

The furniture was in the garage, along with a bin of Christmas decorations, a bag of clothes, and a teddy bear.   All of these were loaded into the van for transport back to Kansas City.

We returned to Grandma’s house, where we were put to work moving some furniture within the house and putting items in the attic.   Once that was finished we were informed we forgot something when we were at the old house– B’s golf clubs that he had left behind on a prior visit.    B doesn’t golf and insisted the clubs we not his, but Grandma needed them out and was adamant they were his.   So we returned to the old house and found the clubs in the attic, and under B’s protest we loaded them into the van as well.

The MacGuffin for this entire trip, loading into the back of the van…

When we returned to Grandma’s house again, it was time for dinner.   Grandma had whipped up a full spread of a home-cooked southern meal   We ate… and ate… and ate.  Included in the meal was a huge bowl of steaming, delicious ears of corn.  “We don’t usually do corn here,” she said, “but I wanted to make sure you boys had something from your part of the country in the meal.”

Then came dessert, in the form of homemade peach ice cream.  This put me in a tight spot, because I do not like ice cream and I cannot stand peaches.   But I also have a rule that whenever I visit a different region, I eat whatever is served to me regardless of what it is.   I dug in like a champ and ate my way through it, but about halfway through my bowl Grandma noticed I was struggling and laughed at me for trying to please her when I could have just said “No, thank you.”   :)

Earlier that morning a delivery of freshly-picked cotton had arrived in Grandma’s front yard for an art project.    This was the first time in my life I had ever seen actual, raw cotton:

Macon also presented me with my first kudzu sighting…

[map] [web]

We started out at The Rookery, as we had heard repeatedly it’s one of the most popular spots downtown.

The Rookery is more of a restaurant, but there’s a rectangular bar island in the back. We settled in back there and had some Guinness.

[map] [web]

Because of the name, we expected more of a trendy night club. Instead we found what seemed to be a pretty normal, relaxing beer/cocktail bar. There was a pool table and a juke box. There were several people at the bar, so we got a couple of bottles of beer ($1.75) and sat at a nearby table.

Sitting near us at the bar was a woman who kept falling out of her sweater. B and I kept watching her and quietly joking about it.

Suddenly, from the back, a guy resembling Lafayette from True Blood came sashaying in and bounced from lap to lap of several of the guys at the bar. As we watched his antics we soon noticed that “he” had breasts.

Looking around the room, we noticed that another woman had an adams apple. Then we noticed that some of the women kinda looked like men.

I noticed B furiously pressing keys on his phone, then he turned it and held the screen in front of my face to show me his search results. “Macon’s premier crossdressing night club”, “Hottest gay bar”, “Great alternative lifestyle scene”…

We didn’t realize it at the time, but what we saw turned out to be only a small part of the overall place. We had no idea there was a bigger room that is more of a night club format, or that there’s an outdoor bar as well.

We realized that our best bet at this point would be to go check into a motel so B could rest for a bit and try to get feeling better. The closest cheap motel was an Econo Lodge that I wish we’d read the reviews of before choosing.

We got checked in and after we got all unpacked and settled in, we discovered that our toilet was clogged. I walked down to the office to report it, the woman at the desk said it would get taken care of.

We rested up for a bit, then decided we needed to go ahead and give going out on the town another try…

[map] [web]

B wasn’t feeling so hot after eating too much at his grandma-in-law’s house earlier, so we took a break at our motel for a little while. Eventually he got to feeling a little better so we went back out to explore some more of the town.

We started out at the Back Porch Lounge, which turned out to be attached to the motel that was our second choice on our list of places to stay.

The front room with the bar is very small and intimate. There was no place to sit, so we took our drinks into the adjoining front room.

This room was completely dark, except for a giant screen where a group of people were playing Rock Band. We sat in a booth in the back and watched them play through several songs.

As our eyes adjusted we saw that this was a relaxing lounge room, with a lot of stonework and a large fireplace. A stripper pole in the corner seemed a little out of place in this room.

Behind the bar was another room, brightly lit, that was an elegant-looking billiard room.

Before we left we noticed that a grizzly old man who was lurking in the corner was air-drumming wildly to the Rock Band songs.

Unfortunately, B’s illness returned, so we had to call it a night after this bar. We held out hope that he’d feel better tomorrow so we could resume our mission.

But no one came.

Frustrated, we looked for something we could use to try to unclog it ourselves. The only think we found that might work was the control rod for the blinds — it was long and flexible. We took it down and set to work trying to snake the line… only for it to get jammed and break off.

I knew I needed to do something… so I took a deep breath, plunged my arm into the toilet water, and shoved my hand down the drain to retrive the broken rod.

After disinfecting myself and disposing of the evidence I returned to the office once again. This time I was told that nobody was working and she had no idea when it might get fixed. She then handed me a plunger from her bathroom.

I took it back to our room and plunged away, fixing the toilet in short order. I took the plunger back to the office where new guests were being checked in. I sent the dripping wet device down on the floor next to the counter and went back to the room.

This motel sucks.

To be continued…

“Why don’t you ride with me to go get it?” he asked.   “We can spend 2 days driving down there, then 4 days driving back doing what we love to do.”

Hmmm…  a six-day-long barhopping adventure?   How could I possibly say ‘no’ to that?!?

We set out on Veteran’s Day — November 11, 2010, for a six-day journey that would include our first-ever frisking by a bouncer, learning what it takes to make a woman feel like an eclair, discovering a ten pound beefsteak sandwich, and being accused of being both cops and robbers within a 10-minute span of time.

Though we didn’t make it to as many bars as we normally might (the two Georgia-centered days slowed us down considerably), we covered a great deal of territory by drinking our way across 5 states during our journey.   And many of the bars we found will be etched in our memories for the rest of our lives.

We began around 7am on a dreary, rainy Thursday morning.    B picked me up at my downtown Kansas City apartment in his wife’s minivan, and we set out across the state.

The rain as we headed across Missouri sucked, and at a couple of points in Saline and Cooper counties it was downright brutal.   But, finally, as we approached St. Louis the weather began to clear and we’d end up with great weather for the entire duration of the trip.

This is probably the least traffic I have ever seen passing through downtown St. Louis…

Crossing the Mississippi…

With our arrival into Illinois, it was time for our adventure to begin.  Continue at the links below to read about our journey…

• Day 1: Illinois & Kentucky
• Day 1: Clarksville, Tennessee
• Day 2: Macon, Georgia
• Day 3: Atlanta, Georgia
• Day 3: Northern Georgia and South-Central Tennessee
• Day 4: Nashville, Tennessee and Hopkinsville, Kentucky
• Day 4: An Evening In Diana
• Day 5: Crossing Illinois
• Day 5: Quincy, IL: A Dive Bar Mecca
• Day 6: Epilogue