After going to 58 bars you could worry that the mystery is gone in
my relationship with every bar in Lakewood. Have I seen it all or is
this simply going to be some mix or version of bars that I've been
to? A bigger question I had going in was, how do I know nothing
about this bar. Bar #59 is Iggy's Bar and it's the bar I knew the
least about going in.
I approached an unnamed building with a couple beer signs on the
front. This would lead to confusion throughout the night. There
were 3 doors on the front of the building. I tried the farthest
first, thinking the entrance would be marked. I was wrong and ended
up having to use the first door I passed and the last possible
option.
Upon entering Iggy's Bar you are first hit by COLOR. The wall
behind the liquor bottles is lit up and then your eye is drawn to a
crazy mural at the back of the bar. The second thing I noticed was a
man yelling “This is why guys kill their wives!” It seems he was
getting a divorce or his live in girlfriend left him. The only other
person at the bar was a stereotypical Grateful Dead fan (actually a
member of a Grateful Dead tribute band) that was trying to talk down
his rage that night. Unfortunately, Kelly and Lynn had disappeared
on the way to the bar; so I was sitting alone.
I ordered a Magic Hat #9. It's a lighter beer with a bit of fruit
taste but only if your looking for it. It's also a bit bitter. I
enjoy drinking it but it's a better representative of itself than of
any genre of beer. Example being, it's not what you're looking for
if looking for a fruity beer. It should be brought up that the
bartender was quick to give extra beer options beyond what was on
tap. He was my favorite combination of bartender characteristics,
being laid back, helpful, and knows his product.
Throughout the evening, I had friends show up. Every arrival
began with a confused text about where the bar was. Along with Kelly
(wife), Andrea, and Lynn, Johnny made his first Every Bar appearance
in months, and Missy of Lakewood's own All Dogs Heaven special needs
dog rescue, who has been talking about making it to one of these
since the beginning, finally made it with one bar to spare.
I'm currently reading Game of Thrones, actually I'm on the 5
th
book of the series that begins with a book of that name. This lead
me to decide to leave the land of beer and try a rum by the name of
Kraken. I had never heard of it but others had. I don't like drinks
mixed with coke so we figured out mixed drink. It wasn't called
squid but something like it and tasted like vacation. I quickly had
two, which helped one game I played later and humiliated me on the
other.
They have bar bowling and much fun was had with it. I won, which
always helps make things more fun. You would think you'd hear about
more people being horribly injured by angry, drunk people throwing
those heavyish wooden balls at people's heads. One point for
humanity not being awful I suppose.
Iggy's Bar also has more pool tables than any bar in Lakewood.
After taking random pictures around the bar I saw that Andrea's
painted toes were crazy reflected on the chrome of the bar. While
taking a picture (seen below) the angry single man mentioned, a bit
loudly, that she had some nice looking feet. I haven't written much
about him since the beginning because once the women started arriving
he went off to hide in the other room.
Lynn sometimes is referred to as angry. Usually not but she is
more likely to be loud, tell you what's up angry than quietly
brooding. Johnny, decided that he needed to quantify her rage on the
punching bag machine. Johnny tried to incite her rage but only made
her laugh. This is the force behind her laughter. Johnny followed
beating the current high score.
Then it was my turn, but I decided that if I took a picture on a
stool it would look like I was flying. The picture was at the wrong
angle but regardless I was mistaken. During that one minute
distraction the karaoke host piled all his equipment under the
punching bag. So, we got him to move it. Now that all eyes were on
me things went from bad to worse as whiffed on the first punch. So,
we decided that I needed to give it another go. As I felt my foot
slide on the floor under the bag, I knew that my fate of being mocked
was sealed.
At this point, obviously, karaoke was coming so we were going. We
had a damn good night, even if it did end at 10pm. When you have to
work at 7am your day begins and ends at unfortunate hours.
I really liked Iggy's Bar. The service and selection were better
than good. The atmosphere was cheery. The bar patrons were...well,
they weren't there yet. I had a surprisingly good time and want to
return to Bar # 59, Iggy's Bar. However, put up a damn sign!
Epilogue: Johnny went to the open mic the following night. He
said the music was good and diverse. He also said it was hard to get
much play as it favors the regulars over the newbies. The rest of
this paragraph has been deleted prepublication for being too
specific. Instead I'll leave you with a lesson: If we've never had
a conversation, then we aren't friends and you shouldn't “friend”
me on Facebook because you will be denied.
13403 Madison Ave
