July 2018 - The Iowa Roadie

Bar & Grills July 31, 2018

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia… Destination: The Pub (Menomonie, WI)

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia… No, I’m not referring to the eldest Brady daughter, but (is it possible?!) someone even groovier. This Marcia is the 81-year-old owner and bartender at The Pub bar in Menomonie, Wisconsin, the site of our latest Iowa Roadie adventure. While the above reference may have you reliving all those Very Brady adventures…Remember when Mike escaped the collapsed mine because he followed the sound of his wife singing Christmas carols? Or how the aforementioned Marcia was dumped after her nose was hit with a football? How about when the Bradys went to Hawaii and encountered the cursed tiki idols? (Bigger question… How could a family of eight plus Alice AFFORD to go to Hawaii…or the Grand Canyon… or ANYWHERE?! Anyway…Brady memories aside, your next question should be…Menomonie? Where is that, and why would anyone go there? Well, like the Bradys, we are about saving some money…and therefore drove…

Bar & Grills July 16, 2018

Nobody puts Baby in the corner…Destination: The River Bar (Dows)

The movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is a modern holiday classic depicting Clark Griswald’s ambition to host a “fun, old-fashioned family Christmas.” The film has developed almost a cult following because who can’t relate to family dysfunction? We may not have a Cousin Eddie emptying his RV septic tank in our front yard, an Uncle Lewis setting himself on fire with his cigar or even an Aunt Bethany reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as the meal’s blessing. (OK, so maybe some of us DO have an Aunt Bethany.) “A Christmas Vacation” reaffirms that regardless of its quirkiness, a family accepts and loves its members unconditionally. And that is exactly how the Iowa Roadie felt at its latest stop…The River Bar in Dows. My husband and I visited the River Bar on a Friday night, and proceeded to fill the last two bar stools at the end of the counter. In…

Bar & Grills July 5, 2018

“Marge in Charge” & the March of the Lemmings (Destination: Cedar Rapids)

There is a practice known as “bar hopping” that refers to visiting more than one bar in a single evening. This nomadic lifestyle is most common in college students on spring break. As I am seasoned well beyond the ramen noodle & wet t-shirt years, I prescribe to the more sedentary “bar plopping,” which is the nightlife equivalent to nesting. I find a place I like, plop myself down and remain there all night. I honestly do not know how loyal patronage can be a bad thing. But evidently it labels me as “boring” and “lame.” SO on a recent trip to Cedar Rapids, I decided to forego my stationary habits and just go with the flow. (My anxiety level went up just writing that statement.) Now if you recall, a previous Iowa Roadie blog described an afternoon luau at “Just Coz Tavern” in Cedar Rapids. Remember…potluck by the pool…