A cold beer and a great story are two of life's greatest pleasures. A cool comfortable stool in front of a majestic mahogany bar with a frosty beer in the hand and friendly patrons sitting alongside is the best place to get both. When my husband, Bruce stumbled across the article, "Found: The oldest bar in every state. The history is even better than the booze!" by Matt Meltzer we were intrigued. The article has a picture and a short paragraph about the oldest bar in every state organized alphabetically. We scrolled through his article, checking out the states where we had each lived, and became increasingly interested. From the brutish, cut-throat, Pirate House in Savannah, GA to the Sophisticated Peacock Alley in Bismark, North Dakota where several Presidents have been served, their stories drew us in. The historic taverns of this country were where new settlers first came for refuge from their long journeys, exchanged ideas, traded farming techniques, met for fellowship, and even governed. What a great way to learn about our country's history through the authenticity of our nation's oldest taverns. We not only added it to our bucket list, we began enthusiastically charting different trips. It wasn't that we had loads of money or time to go on a long journey, but over the next months and years, we could explore them all, one by one.
Organizing our quest was a lot of fun. We printed out the article with one state for each page and placed them in a binder. Bruce ordered a large map of the United States and stick pins. We went through state by state and pinned the location of each of the oldest bars. This made it easy to see how close some of them were to each other where we can hit two or three states in one trip. It also showed us how remote some of the bars would be. I wonder how many people plan a vacation with a destination like Virginia City, Montana, with a population of 196, and don't even have any relatives there!
As we shared our excitement with our friends and family, we decided to document our trip with pictures and a blog so that we don't forget the adventures, stories, and good times we have along the way. Grab a beer, relax, and check out our stories. You might find yourself checking the map on your next trip and find yourself exploring some history!
Organizing our quest was a lot of fun. We printed out the article with one state for each page and placed them in a binder. Bruce ordered a large map of the United States and stick pins. We went through state by state and pinned the location of each of the oldest bars. This made it easy to see how close some of them were to each other where we can hit two or three states in one trip. It also showed us how remote some of the bars would be. I wonder how many people plan a vacation with a destination like Virginia City, Montana, with a population of 196, and don't even have any relatives there!
As we shared our excitement with our friends and family, we decided to document our trip with pictures and a blog so that we don't forget the adventures, stories, and good times we have along the way. Grab a beer, relax, and check out our stories. You might find yourself checking the map on your next trip and find yourself exploring some history!
