Living in the Scoot Utopia

As you may remember, 3 weekends ago B and I did a nice round of KCK barhopping. We had concentrated mainly on the outer areas of town and decided to save the inner area for a later visit. Well, this past weekend B's brother D was in town for his annual birthday visit an B suggested that the three of us go out on Saturday to tackle the next section of KCK.

Now, two weekends ago another fella (who I'll call FB) and I went out for some on-foot downtown KCMO barhopping. We were joined by B for about half of it and I even got in 4 new bars that day (Cafe Al Dente, Los Tules, Padddy O'Quigley's, and Madrigal). But somewhere along the way shots started coming into play and after only 16 bars I was trashed and spent most of the following day miserable. So I was a little hesitant at first, but I was anxious to meet B's brother. Plus, B and I both paid the price for those shots and learned our lesson, so I knew none would come into play (at least not for me).

We discovered on our last KCK barhopping trip that many of KCK's bars are registered as private clubs, a concept that seems to be unique to this portion of the metro area. In the outlying areas they all served us, but as we got closer to the core of KCK we found more and more places that would buzz us in but then refuse us service. Eventually our success rate dwindled to about 50-50. Only one place would even tell us how to become a member. "It's my first day, the owner hasn't told me how that works yet" was a common mantra recited by various bartenders at these places. Some of the friendlier bartenders at places that did serve us tried to explain to us the differences in regulations surrounding private clubs but everyone seemed to have a different theory.

So barhopping in KCK is both an adventure and an aggravation because it's a crapshoot and there's really no way of telling until after you have been buzzed in and pull up a stool if they're going to be willing to serve you or not. With the exception of one anecdote, the following is the tale of the places that did serve us this past Saturday.

Our day began shortly after 10:00 in the morning...

#1: Dad's Hole In The Wall
State Ave, Kansas City, KS [map]


This was a nice, tiny little spot. Bar seating for 9, with a total capacity of 32. Almost completely invisible from the main road, you have to be looking for it to find it.






We needed to kill some time before more bars would open so stopped by a McDonald's for breakfast. We then headed on down to Argentine to resume our journey.

#2: Reich's Club
Argentine, Kansas City, KS [map]


Despite the name this place had little to do with WW2 Germany. However it was a little bunker-like. After entering the front door you proceed down a long central corridor to another door towards the back where you are then buzzed in.


#3: Country Cabaret (CC Club)
Armourdale, Kansas City, KS [map]


This was like being in an entirely different world. The ultimate Mexican country-western bar experience. The bartender passing out free homemade tamales as the sounds of donkeys braying punctuate the music. The men's room was unusual too, facing the bar with only a partial saloon door offering any semblance of privacy.

Inside the men's room we noticed that evidently condom peddlers are patriotic and support right-wing conservative issues:






#4: Casino Bar
Armourdale, Kansas City, KS [map]


With an interior finish of the finest particle board, this place looked like it had the potential to get pretty rough. There were several interesting characters about, but most of the people were pretty pleasant. The bartender was particularly helpful as he tried to explain the concept of KCK's private clubs and why some serve us and others don't.


In an eerie moment, B brought up General Custer as a metaphor while I was driving around looking for a place to park near our next stop. I then rounded the corner and found that the next street was Custer Lane. Creepy.

#5: Alibi's
Armourdale, Kansas City, KS [map]


This almost went on the list of places that refused to serve us, but a customer "remembered" B and vouched for us to get us in. We of course reciprocated with a beer. And, B and D had actually been here before and never had a problem until now.


#6: Oasis: The Club
Armourdale, Kansas City, KS [map]


This was another rough looking place but we were comfortable enough to sit and play several rounds at the trivia box. The restroom however was one of the nastiest I've seen. The sink was grimey enough that B wouldn't use it, figuring it would make his hands dirtier. The toilet was clogged with cigarette butts, and the trash can had been put to use as a toilet. Naturally, i took a picture.




#7: Club Sparks
Armourdale, Kansas City, KS [map]


This was a bonus bar, we were actually heading next door to a place called Carol's Place that for whatever reason was not open.

This place, open for only a few months now, was really nice and looking to be proving quite popular. It was very clean with a great smell (how often can you say that about a bar?) and they were serving up the Saturday taco special. Our bartender was the owner and was terrific. This may have been the most expensive bar of the day, as well as in this area, but it looks like it's going to do very well.


#8: Pam's Pizza & Pub
Park Drive, Kansas City, KS [map]


We were hoping this would be more pub than pizza place, and we were in luck. :) The bartender gave D a birthday shot.


#9: Gossip Inn
Park Drive, Kansas City, KS [map]


Had we realized how close this was to Pam's, we could have gotten here faster by walking. :) The pool table was free of charge today (quarters provided at the bar) so we played a couple of games.


#10: Dotlander's
Central, Kansas City, KS [map]


The bar was full so we had to sit at a nearby table.

A few barhopping trips I coined what I refer to as The K Axiom, which states that when B and I are out for drinks the topic of conversation will turn to a discussion of our mutual friend K after about 10 bars. So, to test the axiom, I had gone out of my way not to mention K at all today. But, like clockwork, D suddenly asked over our 10th beer, "By the way, what's K up to?" It still holds true! :)

As we left, we noticed my lousy parking job...




#11: Hideout Club
Central, Kansas City, KS [map]


I believe this was the bar where "The Perfect Storm" was playing on TV, and we discussed the futility of watching a 2-hour drama that's based on a true story where everyone dies at the end anyway.


Now our next stop, Dixie's Club, we had been warned probably wouldn't let us in. We decided to give it a try anyway. While circling around the block to park I was nearly clipped by a speeding car that passed me on a one-lane road. It happened in front of this house:





We entered Dixie's and immediately faced a grilling not only from the bartender but also from a customer at the end of the bar. "Check their membership cards! They don't belong here! Throw them out!" he kept shouting as the bartender nagged a Mexican family who also were not members. This wasn't necessary at all, we had respected the rules everywhere we have been, but this customer was being way too much of an asshole about it. So, noticing that he was reading the new Harry Potter book, B leaned in and told him how it ended as we were heading towards the door.

We stepped outside into the blistering heat and saw The Blue Rose across the street. D and I were tired of being tossed out of places (Dixie's had made about 5 today) so B went to go check it out. After a few minutes of standing in the heat without a peep from B, we decided to go see what was happening only to find B sitting comfortably in the A/C halfway through his frosty cold beer.


#12: Blue Rose
Central, Kansas City, KS [map]


The bartender gave us membership applications, the only private club we found that actually offered a way to become a member, and poured our beers.


#13: Johnnie's Sports Bar
Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, KS [map]


We'd tried to come here 3 weekends ago but that was on a Sunday and they were closed. Behind the bar sits a really cool little brick street neighborhood.


#14: Chicago's
Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, KS [map]


Another busy place, the 3 of us crowded around the far end of the bar. Chicago's is the buildding down on the corner, I forgot to get a picture until we were about to leave so had a lousy vantage point.


#15: Sammy's Tavern
Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, KS [map]


Once we arrived, B and D realized that they had actually been here before.


#16: Six-Ten Club
Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, KS [map]


B & D thought they had been here before as well.


#17: The View
Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, KS [map]
I forgot to take a picture of this place, located about halfway up the bluff. We played several rounds of trivia here. This may have been a gay-friendly bar based upon the rainbow-colored Bud Light clock and the colorful beer tap.


We came back to downtown KCMO and made three more stops, none of which were new for me but all of which were new for D (and one new for B).

#18: Zoo Bar We arrived just after closing but they were nice enough to let us come in anyway. (Another reason why this is one of my favorite bars!)

#19: Red Front Several more rounds of trivia were played here. As we left, D noticed another of my infamous lousy parking jobs:



#20: Comedy City Cari served us up the final beers of the night while an alchohol-induced funk settled over us.

Our final tally came to 20 beers over an 11 hour period. Not too bad. I fell asleep quickly on getting home and awoke the next day feeling great. Much better than two weekends ago! Beer good... shots bad!

Posted by ScooterJ at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This past Sunday B and I decided to head to Kansas City, KS to do a little barhopping. Since it was Sunday we didn't expect to find much open, we we ever in for a surprise!

We headed to the west end of the city and began working our way back towards downtown.

#1: Office Bar & Grill
Bethel, Kansas City, KS [map]


Our first stop was actually a bonus bar. We weren't expecting to find one here and were just flying by when B spotted it. Our bartender, who was watching women's softball on TV, was a wealth of information and filled us in on the concept of private clubs in KCK. She also told us about several others that would be open on a Sunday. This included two right next door on either side that we had completely failed to notice.


#2: Jerry's Neighborhood Sports Bar
Bethel, Kansas City, KS [map]


Because of the lack of neon we had driven right past this place without noticing it. The main bar was full, with everyone watching one of the Die Hard movies on TV, so we had to sit at the side bar.


#3: American Legion Post 199
Bethel, Kansas City, KS [map]
We entered through the patio out back to find a fairly full house. There was a fish fry going on that we were invited to join, but we weren't hungry yet so politely declined. I forgot to get a picture of this place.


#4: To The Hoop
State Ave, Kansas City, KS [map]


A pretty small sports bar in a commercial area. I had a Bud Select and quickly remembered why I don't get Bud Select. A patron to our right filled us in on a couple of nearby places to try, includuding The Sports Page plus a place further down the road that he had never worked up the courage to try. So naturally that's where we went next. :)


#5: 61st Street Pit Stop
State Ave, Kansas City, KS [map]


Your basic dive bar. I can't remember for sure but this might be the place where our 10oz draws were 75 cents. We had to chug, though, because several guys were about to try to squeeze a massive beer cooler through that small front door and we didn't want to get stuck waiting.


#6: The Sports Page
State Ave, Kansas City, KS [map]


We had a hard time finding this place which was why we had to do some backtracking. We paused for lunch at an Arby's and while we were there deduced that our next stop had to be located down the hill across the street.

The locals all touted this as the premier bar in the area and the best place to be. It was large and decent, but an older man to our left was being a little too pompous about this place and describing everything else as a shithole.


#7: Experience
Welborn, Kansas City, KS [map]


This was a bit of a surprise. This was the only bar whose web site we had checked out in advance. There was a major incongruity between what that web site presents and the converted former Rax restaurant we found ourselves in as the only white customers. No one seemed bothered by our presence, perhaps they were too distracted watching Village of the Damned on the TV at the bar, but a few newcomers did do double-takes when they saw us sitting in there.


#8: Bills 32 West
Muncie, Kansas City, KS [map]


This was our first stop at what we thought was a cluster of three bars. We were invited to partake of free nachos but were too full from our earlier Arby's stop.


#9: Roadhouse
Muncie, Kansas City, KS [map]


When we stepped inside here we found ourselves at a nearly-full bar shrouded in total silence. No music, no TV, no conversation. So B told the bar his "schnauzer" joke to break the ice.


#10: Frankie D's
Muncie, Kansas City, KS [map]


Part bar, part Mexican restuarant. I ate some beef jerky while B and I discussed Ken's taste in comedy.


#11: Jamie's Place
Turner, Kansas City, KS [map]


B and I continued our conversation from the previous place and then I noticed what I think may be a natural law... when B and I are drinking, after 10 bars the topic of Ken comes up. :)

The bartender here was a really cool guy and came over to chat with us a bit. He pointed out that we missed a bar back in Muncie so we had to head back and search for that next...


#12: Muddy Waters
Muncie, Kansas City, KS [map]


No wonder we didn't see it, this biker bar was in a strip mall, across from Wild Woody's, but hidden from highway view by another building.


#13: Coyote Blue Cantina
Argentine, Kansas City, KS [map]


The photo is actually of the building we went in by mistake first. Coyote Blue is the next building to the left, the gray building. We were invited to join in on a nacho bar and also to have some free tripe but we were too scared to try it. As the only non-hispanics in the place, while I was in the restroom B was accused of being an undercover cop from the vice squad. B did neither confirmed nor denied this allegation. ;)


We tried to hit up one final bar at 7th & Central in downtown KCK, but after the bartender had already poured our beers he asked if we were members. "Yes," said B. "Ok, I need to see your membership cards," said the bartender. "Ah, I said, we assumed this was one of those 'say yes and wink' situations," I said. But he told us the owner was cracking down and not allowing him to do that, so we had to leave beerless.

Apart from that minor setback it ended up being a surprisingly good round of barhopping, with more than twice as many stops as we reasonably expected to find open. And we missed a lot of places, so another KCK trip will be in order soon.

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Spotted yesterday at the northwest corner of 75th & Nall while I was on my walk.

Posted by ScooterJ at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night I downloaded some PhotoMosaic software (MacOSaiX) and started playing around with it. My first two attempts didn't work out but my third turned out rather nicely I think.

Here is the result, a cool refreshing mug of beer...

...made entirely out of photos I took on all my various barhopping trips.

Here's a full-size version where you can make out the individual pictures: View image

Enjoy!

Posted by ScooterJ at 08:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Part 2 of last weekend's road trip. (See also part 1.)

On Saturday (June 16) B and I continued our road trip with one final Iowa stop before spending the remainder of the day barhopping in Northeast Missouri. We ended up hitting 21 bars that day and learned about a pyromaniacal mayor, met a guy who can remove his skivvies while keeping his pants on, and sang at the most poorly-organized karaoke night I've ever seen.

Follow the link below to see the travelogue, complete with pictures and beer notes. Enjoy!

• DrinkingNEMO.leapbeer.com

Posted by ScooterJ at 06:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

My boss got a surprise visitor on the window ledge in her office...

>

Posted by ScooterJ at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A few weeks back my friend "B" and I broke our previous barhopping record (21) when we managed to have a drink at 23 bars in a single day on Cinco de Mayo. This got us wondering just how far we could go if we planned it out really well.

This past weekend we may have found the answer. Heading out on the road towards rural north-central Missouri and southeastern Iowa last Friday morning, the journey and our destination of Ottumwa, Iowa (where we then set out on foot) ended up taking us to a grand total of THIRTY (30) bars on the first day of our trip! Other than a few places being closed that should have been open the whole thing went off without a hitch and we had a really great time. You can see it in our drunken faces at the moment we realized we'd just had our 30th bar drink:

Along the way I also passed the 300 mark in my own personal bar tally and got to make a connection with an ancestor at just about the same time.

You can read all about it at the link below:

• 30 bars in a day!

Hope you enjoy it! And, this was just day ONE of our weekend, Saturday's report will be posted in a few days. :)

Posted by ScooterJ at 02:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The most delicious blimp ever just floated past my office window. Mmmmmmmm.....

Posted by ScooterJ at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I went to the City Market this morning expecting to meet about 12 to 15 people for my first-ever KC TourWalk. Imagine my surprise to instead find a crowd of 22! (23 once you add in me.)

We began with a winding 6-mile walk from the City Market to the Country Club Plaza, and everyone in the group did a fantastic job of holding up a good pace so the group never stretched out longer than a block. We took breaks at Union Station, Liberty Memorial, and at the Westport Sunfresh before taking a final break at the Plaza. Among the sights we saw: River Market, Garment District, Case Park, Quality Hill, Convention District, Crossroads, Union Station, Liberty Memorial, Penn Valley, Valentine, Westport, St. Luke's, the Plaza, and Brush Creek.

At the Plaza half of the group elected for the one-way version and either went on their own way or took the MAX back to the City Market. The other half of the group took a faster-paced 7-mile walk back to the City Market, with rest stops at Kauffman Memorial Gardens and at Hyde Park. Among the sights we saw: Kauffman Gardens, Nelson Art Gallery, Gilham Park, Hyde Park, Union Hill, Hospital Hill, Children's Mercy Park, the Crossroads, and the Sprint Center and Power & Light District construction sites.

Since this went over so well, I'm planning another one on a different (likely shorter) route in about 6 to 8 weeks.

Here's a few more pictures...

Garment District...



Case Park...



Quality Hill...



Heading into Union Station...



Approaching Liberty Memorial...



The Valentine neighborhood...



Kauffman Memorial Gardens...



Kauffman Memorial Gardens...



Kauffman Memorial Gardens...



Hyde Park...



Hyde Park...



Here's an overview of the route we walked. Blue is the one-way half-course walked by 23 people, red is the return course walked by 11 members of the group. The orange dots represent a construction detour we followed, so we did not walk through the West Side today as originally planned.

Posted by ScooterJ at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

[See also: Part One]

This past weekend my friend Brandon and I spent Cinco de Mayo traveling west along back highways through Kansas visiting various local bars along the way. Our adventure began with a deluge of 16oz beers and closed bars, and ended with a deluge of another sort that made this one of our most memorable barhopping journeys yet.

Part Two - Chapman to Salina
"Bum Feast"


Chapman, KS

The second half of our jorney began in the home town of astronaut Joe Engle...



As well as the home of ripped off logos... :)



#12: Lumberyard
5:50pm
Brandon had a 12 oz. Coors Light for $1.50, I had a 12 oz. Killian's for $2.00


Needing to make a pit stop I proceeded to the logical part of the bar area but was quickly stopped by a handful of regulars and was told I was going the wrong way. It turned out the men's room was by the front door. While I was inside a young guy sat down at the bar and the owner (or manager), seated nearby, told the bartender to check his ID.

"Do I need to card those their IDs too?" she asked, referring to us.

"No need," said the manager, "I've served them before, they've been in here a few times."

Hmm, if that's true, then I guess I can't count this as a new bar. Drats. ;)




We then headed across the street to an Irish Pub, where we were promptly intercepted by a waitress. When Brandon mentioned that we were looking for a beer, she herded us out the door and pointed us back to where we just from. "But where's the Irish pub?" Brandon asked. "There isn't one," she said. "But what about that sign?" I said, pointing to the large green sign that said "Irish Pub". "Oh, we haven't been an Irish pub in years," she said, shooing us away.




As we headed down the highway to the next town I missed a photo opportunity that I'm still kicking myself for not circling back around to get: a herd of cows grazing at the base of a McDonald's billboard.

Abilene, KS

#13: Down South
5:50pm
We both had Bud. $1.50 for a 12 oz. draw.


Inside we were seated next to a guy who told us about the four bars in town, about a place that he sometimes described as a liquor store and then other times described as a bar, and which streets we needed to avoid so that we didn't get pulled over and arrested for DUI. He also wanted to talk a lot about Westport.


After a while Brandon grew tired of conversation so we chugged our beer and headed across the street.

#14: Brownie's Bar
6:45pm
Brandon had Bud Light, I had Coors Light. $1.50 for a 12 oz. draw.


This place had a pretty impressive stock of canned and bottled beers. The bartender gave us a detailed overview of how Kansas's liquour laws worked and all the different types of establishments you could be. She also reminded us that we were drinking 3.2 beer, which almost made it feel like we were cheating.


It was about an hour from the start of karaoke but we didn't have time to stick around. We were going to have to skip any remaining towns if we were ever going to make it to Salina.


Salina, KS

We finally arrived in Salina. While heading towards the main part of town I noticed a strange beeping sound that lasted about 3 seconds. I assumed it was a radio station alert sound and ignored it. We checked in at the Budget King motel near the north end of town. The manager, Sam, told us to be careful and warned us that Salina is the DUI capital of the world.

We dropped off our stuff and then headed out to find a few more places. We started out with a place near our motel...

#15: Knuckleheads Tavern
7:40pm
We both had Bud Light. $1.00 for a 10oz. draw.


This place was pretty small and pretty brightly lit on the inside. We chatted with the guy next to us about Westport. It seems that any time you tell someone in a bar you're from KC, Westport is the part of town they know.

"Be careful, fellas, Salina is the DUI capital of the world," the bartender warned us.

As we were driving away I heard that strange beep again.


#16: Bootlegger Saloon
8:01pm
We both had Bud Light. $1.25 for a 10oz. draw.


Brandon got carded, as he often does due to his youthful appearance. A nearby patron in his 50s estimated Brandon's age as young 20s. At 36 years of age he was pleased with that assessment.



We noticed jugs of corn squeezins behind the bar and asked the bartender about them. She told us that the guy who mis-estimated Brandon's age was drinking some.

"By the way, be careful tonight," she said. "Salina is the DUI capital of the world. And I don't mean per capita either, I mean literally more arrests than anywhere else, period."

"Why is that?" we asked.

"Well," she said, "some years back the police chief lost a child to a drunk driver so he made it a personal campaign. It was so successful that now it's something the city takes pride in so please do watch yourselves tonight."

As we were leaving, that same customer that had earlier questioned Brandon's age grabbed Brandon by the arm and yanked him over, demanding to see his ID. He studied it carefully by the glow of his lighter before letting him go. "I was getting close to decking that guy," Brandon told me later.

We stepped outside and noticed another place a block away, so walked on over.


#17: Sharkey's
8:16pm
I forgot to write this place down so I don't remember what we had here.


We drank our beers quickly while watching the blurry guy seen in the photo below do some pretty impressive shooting.


The bartender here told us about some of the places we wanted to check out in town. We mentioned that one place in particular we wnated to see was The Blind Pig, solely because of its name. We got directions and walked back to my car. Except we started to enter a nearly-identical car parkd 3 spaces down. Only the discovery of a cooler in the back seat kept us from getting all the way in.

We found the correct car and started heading to the south end of town. Within moments we heard that strange beeping sound again. "Maybe its a signal that if you call in to this radio station now you can win something," Brandon speculated.

#18: Blind Pig
8:35pm
We both had Bud Light. 10 oz draws were $1.25.


We asked the bartender here about non-chain eating options and after running through a few ideas she hit upon a place called Scheme that makes a good local pizza. We got directions from her before we headed out the door.

By now we had managed to get enough beers close enough together that I was starting to get a buzz for the first time today, so it was time to ditch the car. We called Sam, the manager at Budget King, and asked him to get us a cab while we returned to the motel to park the car. About halfway back we heard that strange beeping sound again.

We got back to the motel in short order and still needed to wait several minutes for the cab, so we chatted with Sam for a bit. Turned out he had previously managed motels in Kansas City and Atlanta. He seemed like a pretty good guy who cared a lot about his family.

Our cab finally arrived and we climbed into a van driven by Lee of Sunflower Taxi who took us out to get something to eat.

#19: The Scheme
9:29pm
Brandon had a Bud Light, I had a Miller Lite. Bottles, I believe they were $2 each. Brandon's was an insulated aluminum bottle.

(Exterior picture stolen from their web site since I forgot to take one.)



We arrived just as they were about to close but they were kind enough to let us put an order in. Rushed, we blurted out "large peppperoni" then nursed our beers while waiting for our pizza.


Before long, the deliciousness arrived. Flavorful, hot, and very cheesey....



We were only able to eat half of it so decided to take the rest of it with us since we usually end up getting the munchies after a full day of drinking. We got a box and thanked the cook (who turned out to be the owner) for making such a good pizza. I got my camera back out to take a few more pictures and that's when the mystery of the beeping sound was solved. It was my camera warning me that my batteries were about to die.

The owner of Scheme was nice enough to give a new pair of batteries. Thank you!!! So I took a picture of him and our bartender...




They then gave us the grand tour of the place, showing us all of the art and memorabilia hanging on the walls and telling us the story behind them. Much of the art contained hidden images or was an optical illusion, such as this piece that when viewed in person seems to be pointing at you regardless of your vantage point...




Some of the other pieeces told the story of Salina's history and of the history of the owner's family. Such as the little girl who wrote to Abe Lincoln and told him more people might vote for him if he grew a beard. Or of an old family friend named Wild Bill Hickok. Other pieces were simply art for art's sake.









We thanked them for their hospitality, grabbed our precious cargo of pizza, and headed back outside.


We were in downtown Salina, but we did not have our bearings and did not know where to go. We spotted a couple approaching from a parking lot and decided to follow them. They went in the back door of a building across the alley and up some stairs to the third floor. Which led us to...

#20: Big Nose Kate's
10:58pm
We both had Bud Light. 16 oz. draws were $2.00.


This was a large area with 2 main rooms and an outdoor concrete deck overlooking the street. However, sorry, but this is one Big Nose that blows. It just wasn't the type of bar we like to go to. Pretentious and filled with an assortment of hipsters, fratties, and trendy people.

We drank 3/4 of our 16 oz beers, decided that 12 ounces was good enough to count, and got the hell out.

When we got back downstairs we found it raining and stood under the awning trying to figure out where to go next. We asked a guy with several piercings where all the bars were. "There's only three," he insisted. We knew he was wrong but pretty much everyone around here insisted that Big Nose Kate's, Martini's (the bar downstairs from Kate's), and Groove (a bar across the street) were the only bars around. He gave us tickets to Groove (it had a cover charge otherwise) and showed us how to cut through Martini's to get out the front door (since we had entered via the alley).

Martini's looked much the same as Big Nose Kate's so we didn't bother to stop. We ran across the streeet in the rain to Groove, peered in the windows, and reached the same conclusion. We decided to ditch this block.

We knew we were on the main drag but didn't know where on it we were. We started walking south as lightning began to strike with increasing closeness. After a few blocks and no sign of a bar, Brandon approached a car sitting at a Sonic and asked for directions.

It turned out we were at the sound end of the strip and neeeded to go back and walk the other way. As i lightly rained we headedd back north, our beloved pizza still in tow.

Well, what do you know? Only 1 block past the area we had just come from, we found a cluster of good dive bars! (Damn trendy people and their not-knowin' of things that exist outside their trendy little world.)



#21: Paramount Bar
11:40pm?
We both had Bud 10 oz. draws were $2.00.



Now, this place was crowded and did have a band, but there was no cover charge and the music was not too loud. We were able to get a table with ease.



Remember how I mentioned earlier about forgeting to write down our visit to #17 for the day, Sharkey's? Well, because of that, my count for whhere we were in the day was one lower than reality. Anyway, beer fatigue was really starting to set in, so I encourage Brandon by pointing out that we only needed twwo more bars in order to break our previous record of 21 bars in a single day (set on June 17, 2006 and then tied on August 9, 2006). We wondered aloud why that number seemed to me such an impenetrable barrier to us, unaware that we had in reality already just tied it again.

We decided to push on to at least "tie" the record, so we stepped out under the awning to scope out our situation. It was raining heavily and the next bar was up the street. As we made our plan, Brandon felt something shift and heard a heartbreaking "sploosh" sound.

Weakened by several exposures to the rain, the side of the pizza box had popped open and our entire 1/2 large pepperoni pizza had just dropped face-down onto the wet sidewalk.

In what must have looked like a well-choreographed scene, we looked in horror at the mess on the sidewalk, then at each other, then at the pizza, then at each other, and at the pizza again, and bck at each other.

Brandon was at a loss for words. He knelt down and somberly started putting the slices of wet pizza back in the box. "Well maybe it might still be salvageable," I offered.

He looked at it, frowned, and set it behind a bench. "There's no point," he said, before cursing himself repeatedly.

Devastated by our loss, we ran up-and-across the street to the next place we saw...


#22: The Spot
12:00am?
Kamikaze shots... $1 each.



A wedding party was in its death throes as we entered this place. Soaking wet, we decided not to cross the dance floor where some bridesmaids were dancing and instead cut through a narrow area where the groomsmen were hanging out. One of them was yapping on his cell phone and wouldn't step out of the way, and Brandon accidently knocked him down. He helped him right himself and apoligized and he walked back to the bar.

Still thinking this was the bar that would only tie our record, we hit a new kind of barrier. Sheer stomach volume. There simply wasn't room in there to squeeze in any more beer. Luckily they had $1 shot specials. Problem solved!

When we left Brandon cut across the dance floor to avoid tipping over any more groomsmen.

We continued another block up the street.


#23: Rendezvous
12:15am?
We both had Old Style. 12 oz. draws for $1.25 each.



As we drank our beer we congratulated each other on breaking our record... unaware we had already done so at the previous bar. :)

Before long we once again began lamenting the loss of of our pizza. "At least it will be a good meal for a bum," I said. Brandon's face lit up and he started chuckling.

"I have a phrase that just popped into my head," he said. "Check this..... 'Bum Feast'. That's exactly what that pizza is."

I started cracking up.

"I'd make a good name for a band," he added.

"I can see the debut album now," I said. "Bum Feast: Pizza On The Sidewalk."

And the cover art could have been the photo I should have taken of us moping over spilled sidewalk pizza.

Believe it or not, we began to get a second wind here and decided to keep going. So we stepped outside to head down to the next bar. We were stunned to find that what had been rain when we arrived at Rendezvous had since turned into a sky-wide waterfall. A river was running down the street with the water level already up to the chassis of the cars parked in front. We decided to call a cab instead. We dialed the number for Sunflower Taxi and got Lee again.

"It's going to be at least half an hour because the streets are all flooded," he said.

We went back inside and played Golden Tee until he arrived. Brandon heckled me for using my thumbs instead of my palm when putting.

Lee arrived, and the two of us plus a third guy who had also called ran out in the pouring rain with him. We were surprised to find an already-full cab waiting for us. Somehow the three of us + Lee managed to squeeze in. We asked him to take us to any bar that was still open, but the places he named we had already been to. Not wanting to delay anyone else, we asked to just go back to the Budget King so that we could figure out a new strategy from there.

By now all of the streets were under 1 to 1-1/2 feet of water (I later learned that Salina got 5.3 inches of rain in 90 minutes that night!) and Lee looked nervous as all hell trying to get us to our destinations. He did a great job though so our hats definitely go off to him.

It was a little after 1:00am when we returned to our room. With nature behaving the way it was and less than an hour before Kansas law mandated that the bars closed, we decided thet prudent thing to do would be to call it a night.


Epilogue

On Sunday morning we awoke with only mild hangovers and began the drive back to Kansas City. Along the way we saw several lakes and ponds that has not existed the previous day. At one spot near Junction City I-70 was almost completely under water and traffic was diverted onto the shoulder while crews tried to pump out the water. In the median the roof and side windows of a submerged vehicle could be seen.

Our next adventure will be coming soon. We haven't decided where to go just yet but we definitely like the small towns. Finding daytime beer in Kansas proved far harder than it did when we were in Iowa last August so we may try out another part of Iowa next time.

Here's the overview of this trip...

1. Dodie's Roadhouse (Basehor, KS)
2. Helen's Hilltop (Tonganoxie, KS)
3. Slow Ride Roadhouse (Lawrence, KS)
4. Perry Bar & Grill (Perry, KS)
5. Stinger's Lounge (North Topeka, KS)
6. Twilighter Country Club (North Topeka, KS)
7. Rambler's (Wamego, KS)
8. Cock-n-Bull Tavern (Manhattan, KS)
9. Corner Club (Junction City, KS)
10. JC Bar (Junction City, KS)
11. Uptown Lounge (Junction City, KS)
12. Lumberyard (Chapman, KS)
13. Down South (Abilene, KS)
14. Brownie's Bar (Abilene, KS)
15. Knuckleheads Tavern (Salina, KS)
16. Bootlegger Saloon (Salina, KS)
17. Sharkey's (Salina, KS)
18. Blind Pig (Salina, KS)
19. Scheme (Salina, KS)
20. Big Nose Kate's (Salina, KS)
21. Paramount Bar (Salina, KS)
22. The Spot (Salina, KS)
23. Rendezvous (Salina, KS)

Posted by ScooterJ at 01:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)