Saturday Night

Well, one more city slicker saw the greatness of Effingham on Saturday night. Rick stopped by the booming metropolis of Effingham at about 8 on Saturday night. (Click on Rick's picture for the full effect!) After a bit of griping about the drive, we were off for the second running of The Effingham Bar Crawl. I had selected 10 Effingham bars that would give him a good example of the wide variety of Effingham. We were going to hit all 10 within one night and within 5 hours. We came close. We got to 7.
Things started out at The Midway. This is a sleeveless, trucker hat (because you ARE a trucker) kind of bar. Peanuts were on the floor and the sound of a local band was in the air. This caused the budget breaking $2 cover when we entered. The stamp on our hand was a raccoon paw. (Gettin' a good picture?) The raccoon paw might of had something to do with the band which was called "Koonskyner." Creative spelling, huh?
Our next stop was The Orchard. This was a biker bar. The kind of place where the last time I was in there, I got my life threatened by a 4' 10" 30 year old biker chick. And the first time I ventured in there with my old boss, the bar tender was a 40 year old woman who was so worn she looked 436. She had long greasy black hair and was going one for one with one of the patrons. It wasn't beer - it was boiler makers. They were on 7 when we walked in. (This was noon... on a Sunday.)
We then went to Scrubbies. This is a down-town bar. Rick dug the atmosphere at this one. It was small, but ornate in it's decorations. And the deer on the wall had a Miller Light bottle in it's mouth. That always helps.
With each bar, we advanced in quality. And when I say quality, I mean quality in all categories. Atmosphere, clientele, drink choices and everything else you can think of. I also must note that I didn't drink so that I could usher Effingham's tourist around.
The next place we went to is a relatively new bar called "The Whiskey Wild Saloon." Here a great cover band named "Super Deluxe" was playing. I know the owner and several of the waitresses here, so I introduced Rick and then got charged full-price for everything. But, this bar is my favorite in town. It is done up like a saloon, but they focus on rock music instead of country. The crowd that it attracts is usually of high caliber and I have yet to hear of a fight at this place.
We then met up with a girl that I had talked to on MySpace, Marisa and her friend Dannie, at Sneaky Petes. (Marisa is the blonde on the right, Dannie, the brunette on the left.) This is the bar that many of you have been at, if you've visited me in Effingham. It is a pretty spacious bar and done quite well. It was The Whiskey Wild Saloon before The Whiskey was built. It is starting to loose some of it's character and patrons. Marisa and Dannie wanted to stay at Petes, but we had to be off if we were going to get anywhere else that evening.
Our next stop was The White Goose. This place was just re-modeled and it was looking good. Soon after we sat down, Rick spotted a table of girls across the bar from us. I suggested we go say "hi." But, we waited a little bit to see what we could see. Rick submitted his request to sing "Wild Thing" by Tone Loc for kareoke. (Interesting choice for Effingham, but I don't think Rick cared at this point. And I was going to enjoy the show.) I turned to the ladies across the bar from us and saw them smiling and waving, so I waved back. They giggled to themselves. It would be difficult for them to give us any better signs than that! But, we stayed at our table and waited for 100% Rick to be called to sing his early 90's hit. It was then that I felt a tap on my shoulder. An old chick (must have been like 30 or something) asked me if I had a girlfriend. I recognized her from the group that was waving at me a short while ago. "No, I don't" I replied, figuring I'll humor her. "Great, because my friend has been watching you since you came in and thinks your hot, but she's too shy to ask you to dance." "Aw. Bring her to me." So in a few moments I was dancing with a 21 year old blonde named Jenna. She was from the Southside of Chicago and is going to EIU for teaching. After the song was over, I thanked her and then met her at her table. Rick hit on her other friend who introduced us. Forgot her name. Then again, Rick probably did too. Got Jenna's phone number and Rick made a new friend.
We left there shortly after we accomplished our mission(s) and went to what would have to be the last stop on our tour - The Downtown Lounge. This is one of the biggest hole-in-the-wall bars in Effingham. It is the culmination of some of the strangest and scariest members of our town. A fight breaks out to close the night each time the ugly lights come on. Well, whenever you walk in, you assume that they are already on. Of course a fight broke out while we were there. Last call was called and we went where every bar crawl in the history of man ends up - Denny's.
Rick left the next morning after attempting to digest all that is Effingham in just 5 hours. Hope that he enjoyed himself, I know I did. And we'll see about this Jenna girl later. More on her as things progress. I'm also talking with a girl named Samantha. But, more on both of them later. And I know that they are aware of this blog, so behave yourself, ladies - because you could be documented as well! But, like I said, more details in a different posting.
(Oh, and if you were counting, we made it to 7 bars. Just 3 short of our goal. Guess there's always next time. Contact me to be a part of the third running!)