Last Call

March 2011 (6 months ago) was the last month that this blog had over 100 hits in a month. September was down to 34 — only slightly more than one per day.

This blog will be “killed” at the end of December 2011.

When to delete?

After moving along with an average of 75 views per month from March 2010 through January 2011, visits doubled in February to 2011.

The question for me remains, when to kill this blog?

At one point I said when traffic dropped below 100 per month. (And then I did not check for a while…)

I did notice on a recent visit to Eau Claire (which was under the radar for most people!), that there have been changes in the bar scene. Some old places are gone, some new ones are in. It seems that Volume One is doing a decent job of listing them (and often with photos). Their list is also organized. Is it time for this blog to die?

Use keeps moving

It has been a year since I left Eau Claire. I expected the visits to this blog to tail off, and they have. However, there are still almost 100 views per month, so I guess it stays for a while longer. There is a chance that I will show back up for a final visit sometime in the next six months. If so, there may be one more post.

The end is here

I have not been in EC since election day. It was my last visit to move my furniture to storage, and pack up my valuables to move on.

I am living in a new state, in a new region, and have a whole new life.

It was a great run while it lasted, but it is over.

I just checked the stats. I will leave this blog up as long as there are at least 50 hits per month. Once traffic drops below that, I will delete this effort.

Photos and links

Those who visit this site directly will note the new page in the top bar [sorry for the pun....not really]. I have started taking photos of the outside of EC bars and posting them to Flickr.

This first batch is those bars generally north of the Eau Claire River and east of the Chippewa River along with the bars which are north of Madison/Cameron Streets. Water Street will be a separate project, as will those on Hastings and in the south part of town.

I may or may not add out of town bar photos, depending on how the spirit moves me.

Griese’s 400 Club

This is one of several “downtown” Altoona bars. It has a classic interior which has been cleaned up. The bartender did not know how to make the favored drink, but took direction well.

I loved that there was a group of ladies sitting playing a card game in the late afternoon. It seems like a nice, friendly neighborhood place.

Waterfront Bar & Grill

I stopped in Menomonie last night. I was driving through town, and it was a pretty day, late in the afternoon. The sign for the Waterfront Bar & Grill caught my eye. I pulled into the municipal lot across Crescent Street, and walked it. The deck overlooking the lake was full, but there were seats at the bar. Most of those on the deck were eating, and they had what looked like a great special on the menu.

I sat down at the bar. After asking about the special (they were out), I ordered something else, which was just great. They have Leinie’s Honey Weiss (and a number of other beers) on tap. The bartender also makes a great Long Island (and bargain priced, too!)

I hung out for a bit. It was a very mixed crowd, and many came (at least at that hour) for the food. The waitress serving those on the deck was kept hopping. I got to chatting with a guy at the bar, who turned out to be the bartender’s father and part-owner. The other part-owner was the bartender! (And he was barely 30, would be my guess.) The bartender was very, very good. He heard the shouted orders from the waitress, and kept up. He clearly loves what he does. At slow moments, he did the usual “house-keeping” with help from his dad, brother, and others. You know, adding ice to the well, refilling the condiment server, etc.

It was a great place, and I highly recommend it!

Fox Run Tavern

Out in the Town of Seymour, on the way to Tower Ridge is a cute little bar. I drove by it last winter when I went snowshoeing out there, and decided to come back in better weather.

It is clearly a neighborhood bar. There was a crowd of regulars who were quite convivial and all seemed to know each other. It was a fairly homogeneous crowd, age-wise [Eau Claire is by definition homogeneous racially!]. Mostly 40+, and mostly couples.

The Long Islands were good, and reasonably priced. Only three tap beers, and the Leinie’s was the original (Red), not my favorite, Honey Weiss.

There is a great deck part of which is covered and part is not. It overlooks a softball field for the bar, plus horseshoe courts. There were signs up about a Tavern Horseshoe League. It is also clear that they do catering and events there. It would be a nice location for a party, or an informal wedding reception.

I’ll probably go back.

Wecome Matt

On Route 37, on the way out of town to Mondovi, it the Welcome Matt. (I assume that the two “T” has to do with the name of the owner.

It is clearly a Packers hang out, and the amount of promotional material is almost overwhelming. (In general people here go way overboard with the Packers. My brother the Packers fan, has a couple of items, a shirt, and the souvenir single share of stock hanging on the wall. It is tasteful.) Other than the Packers stuff, the inside is quite nice. There are very large beer glass-fronted coolers, into which the bartender regularly reached.

They have a couple of draft beers (Leine’s Red, but not Honey Weiss), and the drinks are reasonably priced.

Low Down Saloon

It sits on US-12 as you head towards Elk Mound, on the corner of a country road. It looks like a house plopped down at the edge of a field. I thought the name was interesting, and headed in the sheltered entrance. That was my first surprise, the stairs went down not up! Now the name made sense!

The bar is in the basement of the house. I actually looks like a rec room bar which has been expanded. The basement window sills are about 5 feet above the floor! There is a pool table which is in an addition to one side which has skylights to let in some natural light.

I was there after work on a weekday, and the crowd was clearly regulars. There is no draft beer, and even the set up behind the bar looks like an expanded “rec room.” At six o’clock, the bartender treated everyone to a drink. Very nice!

Reasonably priced drinks, and an interesting location.