Drinko de Mayo - 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 One - Basehor to Junction City
"You need a shirt..."
Basehor, KS
#1: Dodie's Roadhouse
10:06am
We both had Bud Light. 16 oz draws were $2.50 each.
The interior was decorated with marlins and had t-shirts stretched over several of the ceiling tiles.
Tonganoxie, KS
#2: Helen's Hilltop
10:46am
Brandon had a Bud Light, I had a Miller Lite. 16 oz draws were $2.25 each.
Lawrence, KS
#3: Slow Ride Roadhouse
11:28am
We both had Bud. 16 oz draws were $2.25 each.
Check out the cool ceiling fans they had throughout the place...
Perry, KS
#4: Perry Bar & Grill
12:02pm
We both had Bud Light. 12 oz draws were $1.25 each. There was a fish fry in progress while we were there, but we weren't hungry yet so skipped that.
We also found this place in Perry but they wouldn't serve us, it was a private club and we were not members.
North Topeka, KS
When we reached the Topeka area, we had a terrible time finding any of the bars we had plotted out. In the course of driving around in circles, we came across this place...
#5: Stinger's Lounge
12:48pm
We both had Bud Light. 14 oz draws were $1.75 each.
Our bartender, Norma, was very helpful and wrote down directions to several nearby bars on post-it notes for us. Unfortunately we still managed to get lost trying to follow them and wound up in an industrial area surrounded by railroad tracks, near what looked like a refurbished train station...
We continued on up this little strip and found several bars, but we only had time to stop at one.
#6: Twilighter Country Club
aka "No shirt, no shoes, no service."
1:15pm
We both had Bud. 12 oz draws were $1.25 each.
This place was exactly what we set out on these adventures hoping to find.
We took our seats to the left of man on oxygen who hacked up his lungs repeatedly throughout our visit. To his right, around the corner of the bar, were two women who sounded like they were in their young 20s but looked like they were in their mid 50s. Our heavily-pierced bartender seemed annoyed by our presence and frustrated that the requests of her customers were interrupting her lunch of onion rings, while swarms of insects attacked Brandon in the men's room.
As we were finishing our beers a completely dissheveled looking vagrant came stumbling in wearing only pants -- no shirt, no shoes, no socks.
"You have to have a shirt to come in here," the bartender told him.
The two of them began arguing, with the bum claiming the owner lets him in shirtless all the time and that he'll just go somewhere else. "You'll get the same answer anywhere else," she told him. They continued fighting and finally the bartender told him he was banned from ever coming back.
"I don't give a fat fuck!" shouted the shirtless guy.
"Good, now get the fuck out," yelled the bartender back at him.
Once he was gone, Brandon and I started laughing. "I'm so sorry about that, guys," the bartender said to us. "Oh no problem," we said, "that was great!"
Leaving the bar, we immediately spotted another shirtless guy who really should not have been. We tried to get a good picture but he kept looking our way so this was the best we could do...
Wagemo, KS
According to Google there was no place in Wamego to quench our thirsts. But the town seemed too big for that to be true, so we stopped in at this aptly-named liquor store to find out...
The directions we got from them led us to Wamego's very charming downtown area:
Directly across the street from that Emerald City Market we found a bar, but the door was locked. Inside the bartender hand-signaled "3:00". It was 2:46. Rats. So we decided to look around for another place and found...
#7: Rambler's
2:50pm
We both had Bud Light. 12 oz draws were $2.00 each. As we sipped our beer the bartender called around to bars that were ahead on our list to find out if they were going to be open.
After finishing up here we decided to get a move on down the road. We continued to St. George, where we found the town's sole watering hole to be closed. Here's a few pictures of the town...
Manhattan, KS
Our next destination was a place that based on its name I was certain would be a pretty rough and tumble gay bar, though Brandon disagreed. The fact that was on Stag Road bolstered my theory even more...
#8: Cock-n-Bull Tavern
4:00pm
We both had Bud Light. 10 oz draws were $1.50 each.
Turned out Brandon was right... the name of this place ended up stemming from the types of stories people tell in there as they get lit. Still, some of the patrons seemed a little rough so I did more of a hidden-camera interior shot.
Junction City, KS
We found a strip with numerous selections but time dictated we only visit a few. After cruising the area we selected three...
#9: The Corner Club
4:38pm
We both had Coors Light. 12 oz draws were $1.50 each.
This place was formerly a private club... the word "private" had since been scratched out on its sign. Inside free hot dogs and sausages simmered in a crock-pot in a small room packed with Coors memorabilia...
#10: Williams Cigar Store & JC Bar
4:54pm
Brandon had a Bud, I had a Bud Light. 12 oz draws were $1.50 each.
As we sat inside the woman sitting to Brandon's left would not stop talking to us about tornados. Meanwhile a delivery truck brought in a shipment of snacks just in time to allow Brandon to enjoy some 75-cent Chex Mix.
A couple of months ago I went on a barhopping scavenger hunt where one of the tasks was to find a place with a visible firearm behind the bar. I just hit paydirt...
#11: Uptown Lounge
5:20pm
We both had Bud Light. 12 oz draws were $2.00 each.
This was one of the more run-down places we went to. Damage near the front seemed to speak of a recent fight ending with a good body slam to the wall...
Our bartender was a pretty odd fellow too...
The Kentucky Derby seemed to be the main thing people wanted to watch at the bars in Junction City, and the bartender had a brief but friendly argument with a customer who wanted to see it. (The bartender was insisting it was over, but it wasn.t.)
Our drinking day was now half over but we still had a long way to go to reach Salina. How did it turn out? Find out tomorrow!
Part One - Basehor to Junction City
"You need a shirt..."
Basehor, KS
#1: Dodie's Roadhouse
10:06am
We both had Bud Light. 16 oz draws were $2.50 each.
The interior was decorated with marlins and had t-shirts stretched over several of the ceiling tiles.
Tonganoxie, KS
#2: Helen's Hilltop
10:46am
Brandon had a Bud Light, I had a Miller Lite. 16 oz draws were $2.25 each.
Lawrence, KS
#3: Slow Ride Roadhouse
11:28am
We both had Bud. 16 oz draws were $2.25 each.
Check out the cool ceiling fans they had throughout the place...
Perry, KS
#4: Perry Bar & Grill
12:02pm
We both had Bud Light. 12 oz draws were $1.25 each. There was a fish fry in progress while we were there, but we weren't hungry yet so skipped that.
We also found this place in Perry but they wouldn't serve us, it was a private club and we were not members.
North Topeka, KS
When we reached the Topeka area, we had a terrible time finding any of the bars we had plotted out. In the course of driving around in circles, we came across this place...
#5: Stinger's Lounge
12:48pm
We both had Bud Light. 14 oz draws were $1.75 each.
Our bartender, Norma, was very helpful and wrote down directions to several nearby bars on post-it notes for us. Unfortunately we still managed to get lost trying to follow them and wound up in an industrial area surrounded by railroad tracks, near what looked like a refurbished train station...
We continued on up this little strip and found several bars, but we only had time to stop at one.
#6: Twilighter Country Club
aka "No shirt, no shoes, no service."
1:15pm
We both had Bud. 12 oz draws were $1.25 each.
This place was exactly what we set out on these adventures hoping to find.
We took our seats to the left of man on oxygen who hacked up his lungs repeatedly throughout our visit. To his right, around the corner of the bar, were two women who sounded like they were in their young 20s but looked like they were in their mid 50s. Our heavily-pierced bartender seemed annoyed by our presence and frustrated that the requests of her customers were interrupting her lunch of onion rings, while swarms of insects attacked Brandon in the men's room.
As we were finishing our beers a completely dissheveled looking vagrant came stumbling in wearing only pants -- no shirt, no shoes, no socks.
"You have to have a shirt to come in here," the bartender told him.
The two of them began arguing, with the bum claiming the owner lets him in shirtless all the time and that he'll just go somewhere else. "You'll get the same answer anywhere else," she told him. They continued fighting and finally the bartender told him he was banned from ever coming back.
"I don't give a fat fuck!" shouted the shirtless guy.
"Good, now get the fuck out," yelled the bartender back at him.
Once he was gone, Brandon and I started laughing. "I'm so sorry about that, guys," the bartender said to us. "Oh no problem," we said, "that was great!"
Leaving the bar, we immediately spotted another shirtless guy who really should not have been. We tried to get a good picture but he kept looking our way so this was the best we could do...
Wagemo, KS
According to Google there was no place in Wamego to quench our thirsts. But the town seemed too big for that to be true, so we stopped in at this aptly-named liquor store to find out...
The directions we got from them led us to Wamego's very charming downtown area:
Directly across the street from that Emerald City Market we found a bar, but the door was locked. Inside the bartender hand-signaled "3:00". It was 2:46. Rats. So we decided to look around for another place and found...
#7: Rambler's
2:50pm
We both had Bud Light. 12 oz draws were $2.00 each. As we sipped our beer the bartender called around to bars that were ahead on our list to find out if they were going to be open.
After finishing up here we decided to get a move on down the road. We continued to St. George, where we found the town's sole watering hole to be closed. Here's a few pictures of the town...
Manhattan, KS
Our next destination was a place that based on its name I was certain would be a pretty rough and tumble gay bar, though Brandon disagreed. The fact that was on Stag Road bolstered my theory even more...
#8: Cock-n-Bull Tavern
4:00pm
We both had Bud Light. 10 oz draws were $1.50 each.
Turned out Brandon was right... the name of this place ended up stemming from the types of stories people tell in there as they get lit. Still, some of the patrons seemed a little rough so I did more of a hidden-camera interior shot.
Junction City, KS
We found a strip with numerous selections but time dictated we only visit a few. After cruising the area we selected three...
#9: The Corner Club
4:38pm
We both had Coors Light. 12 oz draws were $1.50 each.
This place was formerly a private club... the word "private" had since been scratched out on its sign. Inside free hot dogs and sausages simmered in a crock-pot in a small room packed with Coors memorabilia...
#10: Williams Cigar Store & JC Bar
4:54pm
Brandon had a Bud, I had a Bud Light. 12 oz draws were $1.50 each.
As we sat inside the woman sitting to Brandon's left would not stop talking to us about tornados. Meanwhile a delivery truck brought in a shipment of snacks just in time to allow Brandon to enjoy some 75-cent Chex Mix.
A couple of months ago I went on a barhopping scavenger hunt where one of the tasks was to find a place with a visible firearm behind the bar. I just hit paydirt...
#11: Uptown Lounge
5:20pm
We both had Bud Light. 12 oz draws were $2.00 each.
This was one of the more run-down places we went to. Damage near the front seemed to speak of a recent fight ending with a good body slam to the wall...
Our bartender was a pretty odd fellow too...
The Kentucky Derby seemed to be the main thing people wanted to watch at the bars in Junction City, and the bartender had a brief but friendly argument with a customer who wanted to see it. (The bartender was insisting it was over, but it wasn.t.)
Our drinking day was now half over but we still had a long way to go to reach Salina. How did it turn out? Find out tomorrow!
It was a cold day and I really didn't feel like going outside as I've been battling a cold of my own the last week. But I needed the exercise, so I headed out on a walk that was almost too short to be worth mentioning.
