Last Saturday, my esteemed colleague Carly and I were fortunate enough to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the other patrons of booze on Center Street in Folly.  Here is a breakdown of what we liked, what we didn’t & how it influenced our questionable decision making:

Location: Center St.

Time Scheduled: 12pm-6pm

Actual Time Spent: 12pm-10pm (we’re committed)

Initial Reactions There is no order to which bars you’re supposed to go, there is no wristband station (which would have made it much easier instead of having to show ID every place we went), NO GREEN BEER (we were upset) & no merchandise like t-shirts or Irish insignia.  They did; however, lift the open container laws for all of Center St. which was great.  We read that you could win prizes for completing the pub crawl, but we had no idea where to enter or what we might win.  It was kind of thrown together.  This crawl also drew an age bracket of  30+ mainly, which I was surprised by since it was spring break for so many colleges.  We were a little disappointed with the disorganization, but this subsided as we drank more (as most things do).

First stop: Folly Brewing Company We really liked FBC.  None of us had ever been there before.  They had dark Irish Stout and their own Blue Moon-style beer called Orange Blossom on draft.  It was a very small place with just a few two-tops and a long bar.  The bartender was nice and didn’t get overwhelmed, mainly because you couldn’t fit many customers in the place at once.  Their bellinis weren’t bad either.

Second stop: Snapper Jack’s We had ulterior motives for going here: huge screen TV.  The Kentucky game was on (they won) and we crowded in there to watch with the other blue-bloods.  It was windy on Saturday and with the windows open and our sleeveless shirts on, we had to re-locate for the second half.

Third stop: Lazo’s No TVs. On to Taco Boy.

Fourth Stop: Taco Boy Now here is a personal favorite.  We only stayed here for halftime and part of the second half.  It was unbelievably crowded (not an empty table in sight) and loud since it was the perfect time for lunch.  We had a few lemon drop shots with delicious sugared lemons (but the Patron margaritas are always recommended) and headed onward.

Fifth Stop: Follywood This place looks like something out of one of Jimmy Buffett’s dreams.  The walls are bright blue, the bar is lined in grass skirts and they have Longboard beer on tap.  Minus the plastic palm trees being somewhat of an obstruction, it was a great place to watch the rest of the Kentucky game.  I stuck with a boring Mich Ultra here, in hopes of keeping my sanity for a few more hours.  We were serenaded by a bagpiper at the door of Follywood which was pretty awesome (see our video on Twitter).

Sixth Stop: Surf Bar This was a younger crowd – I’d say 21-27.  It was crowded, but we managed to grab a table.  The bartenders were slightly overwhelmed here.  It took 10 mins. to put in your drink orders.  But I’ll tell you – Painkillers are worth it.  No, I’m not recommending prescription drugs.  A painkiller is a local beverage unique to the Surf Bar.  It tastes like a less thick Piña Colada topped with some grated nutmeg.  As one girl at the bar put it, “they’re delicious and dangerous.”  We had about three rounds of these and they proved to live up to their reputation.

Seventh Stop: Woody’s We didn’t like it at all here.  It was completely dead, it smelled odd & they were out of jello shots, which was their specialty of the day.  We moved on after having a beer.

Eighth Stop: Rita’s At this point, it was 6 o’clock and we were in need of sustenance.  Carly and I bellied up to the bar for two Car Bombs (can’t have a St. Patrick’s celebration without one), but they were out of Guinness!  The bartender convinced us to take Irish Strong Man shots, which ended up being horrific.  I had to chase mine with a chip full of spinach artichoke dip, which was delicious.  We also shared quesadillas, which were also delightful.  It was just the thing we needed.

Ninth Stop: Blu’s This was a great place on the bottom floor of the Holiday Inn on the beach.  It has a well-lit, well-designed, stocked bar.  There weren’t too many people here at this point, but still a good crowd.  They had a guy playing his acoustic guitar, whose talent was questionable, but it was nice to have a little live music to dance to.  They also have a large deck and although it was chilly, a few people were out there- deep in discussion.

Last Stop: Sand Dollar We just learned that this is a member’s only place.  We just remembered nice bikers letting us in.  This was an eclectic place with some 1950s rock-n-roll memorabilia, a plethora of pool tables and cheap beer.  We made friends (see below) and left in a hurry.  It had been a long day and our DD was tired.

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