Read on at your own risk.  I didn’t reveal the location, or, if I did, I’ll have to kill you.  You’ve been warned.

Avdi and I actually finally got to go on our “Mom date”, and it was worth waiting for.

First we checked out Mac’s Local Eats, a beer and burger joint, which was excellent.  We ended up talking to Mac, the owner, who told us about meeting Anthony Bourdain while shooting episodes of his show, only a month or so before AB left this world.  That story alone was worth the visit.

Next Avdi showed me The City Foundry, a reinvention of the historic district, with outdoor and indoor upscale eateries of all kinds.  Just the architecture alone is fascinating, but we weren’t there to eat.  Have I said too much?

Somewhere tucked inconspicuously between other watering holes is a plain door with a red light.  You wander down through a spooky cavelike corridor that ends up at a scary metal vault door.  Someone’s head pops out of a panel and checks you out first.  Then they let you into a classy dark speakeasy with all the trappings!  If you want a drink other than the house handcrafted cocktails and classics, the bartender will make one to order, which I did.  Our drinks were excellent and unique.

If our date (or my life, or my drinking) had ended there, I’d die happy, but we eventually finished out the evening at The Handlebar in the Grove, up on the breezy roof under a cloudy sky.  I couldn’t even finish that drink, being way over my limit, but like I said, worth it.  It’s always a learning adventure.