One of the many perks of visiting every state in the country is that sooner or later, you are going to have to visit Hawaii.   Chinatown, Honolulu, in the former red light district is where we found Smith’s Union Bar, aka Smitty’s.  It was established in 1934 by a man named Joe Holley and served whiskey and entertainment to the sailors of Pearl Harbor.  His son, Leroy Holley took the bar over and married the bartender Gail.  Leroy was a well-connected lobbyist, who preferred to be known as “just some local guy who could get things done.”  His role as the owner of Smith’s allowed him to get to know politicians, gangsters, sailors, and business tycoons.   He lobbied for the working man, and Tony Rutledge, president of labor union-related nonprofit Unity House, said Holley was a friend of working people. "He was always ready to listen and help. He helped resolve a lot of problems behind the scenes. He was just a friendly guy” ​

​Smith’s clearly hasn’t changed much over the years and the old navy pictures and cartoons that lined the narrow bar-room reminds one of the seedy sailor, feel of the bar.  Our bartender, Darryl however, maintained the friendly warmth of Holley, the former owner, and kept the tunes playing and everyone’s feet tapping.  While smiling and enjoying the classic rock tunes with cold, cheap beer, it was easy to make conversation with those around us.  We loved how welcoming the atmosphere was in spite of a diversity of age, gender, and race amongst the regulars.  Okay, so, full disclosure, the police were called before we left, but this time it wasn’t our fault (lol).   Evidently not all customers were as impressed with such a diverse crowd, but one apple didn’t spoil the crate, so to speak, and with a little encouragement from the police, the bad apple moved on.  By that time, our plan of stopping in for one beer had already become a four hour party, so instead of staying for karaoke, we said our good byes.  We had walked about a block towards our hotel, when one of our new friends caught up with us to give us his contact information to stay in touch.  We had made connections here that will leave the seedy old Navy bar a special place in our hearts!

Since T.P. Crockmiers is given credit as the oldest bar, we couldn’t leave Alabama without at least checking it out.  T.P. Crockmiers has moved several times since it was originally established and has now landed on Dauphin Street in Mobile.  The street reminded me of New Orleans' French and Italian style buildings which are ornately adorned with wrought iron railings.   We weren’t surprised to learn from our bartender that Mobile takes credit for the origination of Mardis Gras and even has its own Mardis Gras museum. One interesting note about Mobile, AL is that when it became evident that the prohibition law may pass, Mobile’s Mayor led a delegation to Montgomery to prevent the law and even the President of the Bank of Mobile wired legislators to let them know that if prohibition passes, Mobile was ready to secede from the state. 
The founder of Crockmiers was Thaddeus P. Crockmier, a professional gambler and son of a wealthy plantation owner who wanted to build the most unique restaurant in the south.  He started the restaurant on Peachtree Street in Atlanta in 1875 before it eventually moved to Alabama. I enjoyed one of their specialties, the Conecuh burger, in which the ground beef is mixed with Conecuh sausage.  T.P. Crockmiers had good food and a friendly atmosphere but the highlight was the delightful surprise of its charming location in the historic section of Mobile, Alabama.

After dinner Bruce, Glenn, and I stayed to have a drink in the corner bar to make sure we completed the oldest bar experience.  There are four separate bar areas in addition to the dining areas which were all ornately adorned and every area was full of people!  It was easy to see how Old Ebbitt Grill for several years was the restaurant that boasted the highest sales in the country.  We barely had room to enjoy our beer, but it was worth the squeeze to look around and enjoy all of the artifacts, antiques and artwork that made the atmosphere so unique.  The Saloon began in 1856 as a boarding house owned started by William E Ebbitt, and moved locations, changed owners, and accumulated a priceless collection of fixtures and furnishings.  The mounted Walrus head is said to have been shot by Teddy Roosevelt and the walls are covered with beautiful paintings, and everything you see looks beautiful, old, historic, and probably has a good story!  Unfortunately the place was far too busy to talk to anyone there about the history but it was an incredible environment for the three of us to enjoy some beer together!

Maryland has some controversy over which bar claims the title of the oldest.  Matt Meltzer’s Yahoo article on oldest bars credits Middleton Tavern as the oldest bar in Maryland, established in 1750, however just up the street we found a bar, Reynolds Tavern that claims they have 3 years on Middleton.  If we discount Reynolds because they had converted over the years to a private residence and to a bank, than we may have to discount Middleton anyway because “The Horse You came in on Saloon” established in 1775 claims to be the oldest continuously operating bar in MD.  “The horse” claims they are the only bar in Maryland that operated through prohibition.  In any case, we visited both Middleton and Reynolds in Annapolis and love Maryland enough to come back someday to visit “The Horse you came in on” at Fell’s Point in Baltimore.

Middleton Tavern is located right on the end of a really cool historic area surrounding a water inlet in almost a park-like setting.  The building itself is old, charming, and beautiful, but the highlight was probably the oysters Bruce enjoyed, including their famous Oyster shooters.  This is a shot glass filled with an oyster and cocktail sauce to be slurped and chased with another shot glass of beer.  Bruce found new love with that shot!  Though the bar itself was open to a two story ceiling and was quite ornate and beautiful, it maintained its local warmth.  Joining us at the bar were two regulars, one woman who makes Middleton a regular stop for lunch topped with an oyster shooter and another gentleman who happened to be from the chamber of commerce.  To me, when we meet friendly locals at these bars it makes the experience more authentic and says a lot about the character of the bar.​

Considering Nashville’s music notoriety and history of nightclubs, you’d think the oldest bar would be a swank, historic destination.  It is not swank.  The reviews we read on Yelp, in fact, called it “the divyest dive bar you’ll find.”  One review even said, “walked in, turned around and walked right back out.  I still smell like smoke”.   We went to Nashville prepared to clutch our wallets close and watch our backs for a knife fight.  We arrived in the early afternoon, under the protection of broad daylight, and took pictures of the near windowless, signless, painted shed like exterior.  Not deterred by the broken window in the front, determined to fulfill our mission of visiting the oldest bar in every state, we held our breath and walked in.

We were immediately greeted by Angel, a very friendly sweet bartender.  There was no one else in the bar yet, so we took a seat at the bar and looked around.  The atmosphere was definitely divey but with charm and character. They weren’t serving any food yet in the afternoon, but invited us to bring over barbecue from Hog Heaven next door which was so good we went back for more.  By the time we were on our second beer, there were 7 or 8 patrons who had strolled in, about half through the back door, who not only all seemed to know each other but were friendly enough to strike up conversations with us.  We learned this is the quintessential local bar where everybody knows each other and are warm and welcoming to strangers.



If you ask most people where they would think the oldest bar in Florida is, they might guess it to be St. Augustine. Founded in 1565, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously European occupied settlement in continental United States.  I'll admit being a little disappointed to learn that the oldest bar in the state only dates back to 1903 and is way up in Fernandina Beach, just North of Jacksonville.  When we started this quest of visiting the oldest bar in every state, I was looking for real colonial history dating back hundreds of years, and Florida should have it!  Once again though, I was happily surprised and thoroughly impressed with the beauty and history of The Palace Saloon!

Stepping through the wooden swinging doors and crossing the tile mosaic floor into this restored turn of the century gem quickly alleviated my skepticism.  The grand hand carved mahogany mirrored bar, underneath the molded red and gold tin ceiling and hand-painted murals on the walls gave the overall regal ambiance that must have impressed the regular patrons including the Rockefellers and Carnegies in her earlier years.  The original owner, Louis G. Hirth, wanted a gentleman’s club different from the town's seedy bars, and as a major seaport at the time, his Palace became the watering hole of the very wealthy.  It was even the first hard liquor establishment to serve Coca-Cola and was presented with a chin dispenser for the syrup by the company’s founder.  Hirth was a shrewd businessman. Anticipating the demand for liquor right before prohibition, he rented storehouses and stocked up on hard liquor bottles. People lined up by the busload to purchase liquor up until the very last minute before the law went into effect.

Painstakenly remodeled in the fifties, the Palace retains its beauty, while offering a much more casual, almost “divey” atmosphere.  In fact, I even had to take a picture of the now antique but operational cigarette machine they had.  It must be twenty years since I’ve seen one of those!  I ordered the house specialty, a well-poured Pirate’s Punch.  While Bruce and I sipped our drinks and admired the antiques, a friendly couple sitting next us struck up a conversation.  Pam (Big Red) and Clyde were fascinating to talk to as Palace insiders.  Pam had her first drink at the Palace and even bartended there over the years.  I really enjoyed her ghost story of Charlie, a Palace fixture having bartended there for 50 years, whom still in his afterlife watches over the bar.  She recalled cleaning up after a long shift and being alone, coming back out to the bar to find two glasses of whiskey mysteriously waiting for her on the bar.  Apparently Charlie was rewarding her with a well-earned end of the night toast!

It is with George Washington's first tour of the southern states on horseback that we focused our visit.  We explored the trail of Washington by touring the Heyward-Washington house which he  rented for his eight day stay in Charleston.  We also explored the Old Exchange building where Washington attended a grand ball in his honor.  Washington remarked in his diary that the women were "elegantly dressed and handsome ladies".

My favorite story started in the Exchange.  After Washington's visit, the City Councilmen commissioned John Trumbull to paint a portrait of Washington to commemorate the visit.  Trumbull painted a seven-foot royal portrait of Washington but, much to the Councillors dismay, had Washington posed in front of the city of Trenton, NJ.   Councillors refused to pay Trumbull for the portrait, so Washington stood for a second portrait, this time featuring Charleston in the background.  Trumbull got his revenge on the Councillors, however, by inserting a laughing horse behind the President, with the horse's butt prominent and its tail strategically raised over the city and its council in direct line of fire!  We had to go to city hall to see the original of this caustic portrait.

The fragrant white flower vines, and Spanish moss covered tree lined neighborhoods of perfectly preserved colonial homes provided the perfect ambiance making us feel like we had strolled back through time where we found McCrady's tucked back on the brick lined Unity Alley.    As we stepped through the door under a quaint wrought iron gas lamp sign, McCrady's did not disappoint.  It is actually the outside of two buildings closed in with 3 large brick arches that were once open bays along the left,  housing a romantic booth in each.  On the right was a long elegant wooden bar with a wine cache above to be reached by a library style rolling ladder.  You could look up and see the once outside windows above in this cavernous room.  Sam, our bartender served  me the uniquely tasty Marcona time out, and Bruce sipped an equally interesting Incan affair.  These delicious drinks put us perfectly in the right frame of mind to absorb some history!

This building had originally been purchased by Edward McCrady in 1778, as a Tavern.  Two years later, when Charleston surrendered to the British, McCrady had been taken prisoner and sent to St. Augustine, FL where he was held for a year before his release.  Coincidentally, our visit marked the 235th anniversary the siege of Charleston, where Major General Benjamin Lincoln of the Continental army surrendered to the very day.  This didn't stop McCrady from eventually returning to his tavern and building on to it including an elegant long room on the second level where music, dancing, and shows were performed.  McCrady's was not the local dive pub of the old city, but the destination for the city's upper crust members.  George Washington himself was hosted at the Cincinnati Society dinner complete with music and dancing in the long room, where it is said they enjoyed a 30 course meal.  

Another interesting old bar we found while in Charleston was The Blind Tiger Pub.  This Charleston landmark was built in 1803 as a bank building and is right in the heart of the historic district. The bar had a 19th century colonial ambiance with a fun heritage.  The name came from the dispensary act put into effect in 1893 by governor Benjamin Tillman.  The act was an attempt to restore the dignity of the city by state control of all alcohol sales.  Charlestonians responded by paying for entrance to see a blind tiger where the alcohol was included in the fee.  The fictional blind tiger never appeared but patrons would leave "blind drunk".