This past week the wife and I spent 7 lovely days in the rustic state of Maine. We learned many things. There’s a crap load of nature out there, Maine pumps our some great beer and probably most importantly that its natives love shots more than anything else in the world.
We spent most of the trip in the town of Bar Harbor and on most of those days we ended up in a bar for a couple drinks. Alright to be honest it was usually multiple bars for multiple drinks. Most of the bars served the same local beers for the most part and at just about every one we saw people doing shots. On our first day we stopped into The Thirsty Whale for what we learned was probably the best lobster roll in town and a couple beers for lunch. It was just before noon which might sound a little early to be knocking a couple back but keep in mind another couple came in, ordered two shots of whiskey and then went on their way. I should also mention during the trip I learned that a shot in Bar Harbor usually means a high ball glass filled about 2/3rds full. A hefty shot by anyone standards.
That night we stopped at McKays Public House for some beers and we were probably there for about 5 minutes before the bartender offered to do shots with us on him. Meaning he wasn’t going to charge us, he wasn’t asking us to do body shots off him or anything. That would have been kind of weird.
Probably the most amazing sight came on our second to last night in Bar Harbor. We hit a couple spots and then ended up at The Dog and Pony Tavern. One of the few spots that is open past 10 in the town. Because of this fact we quickly learned it’s where a lot of the locals who work at the other restaurants go to grab a few after they get off work. I’ve honestly never seen so many people doing shots in my life. Within a minute of being at the bar a guy came up and ordered 5 shots of some sort of awful concoctions. He was quickly reminded by his tiny little friend that he should get 6. A few minutes later another guy came up and ordered another 4. At one point a guy came up alone and ordered 1 shot. The bartender looked at him for about 5 seconds before the the guy chuckled and said “alright yeah make it 2”. I think doing only 1 shot is a sign of weakness or something. It was unreal. Everyone was wasted beyond explanation. There was a guy who looked to be in his 70’s that everyone called Uncle Ronnie. At one point when I was in the men’s room my wife overheard him say to another guy, “there sure is a lot of pussy here… I’m going to fart now.” That might be the greatest thing I’ve ever heard.
By no means am I saying Maine or the town of Bar Harbor is full of drunks. Everyone was super nice to us all week. The gang at The Dog and Pony might have been the friendliest group of drunks I’ve ever run into. Normally when you’re sober and mixed with a group of guys who are seconds away from passing out it’s a big annoying mess but these guys couldn’t have been more fun. I’m just saying that every place we went the people we met had an unreal ability to down shots. I for one couldn’t have been more impressed.
