Friday Legends Happy Hour Crawl - Old Town Fairfax Windwalkers

It's been quite a while since the last Happy Hour Crawl but the Legends are back in business. Half of Fairfax was out of power and the wind was blowing over trees and people, but that didn't stop us. With 6 bars on the schedule and a few new spots, Friday night was a big success. After all, it ended with singing Styx at full volume into a microphone, so how could it not be!



The first stop on the tour was the semi-new French Quarter Brasserie, a New Orleans themed bar that occupies the cursed building where businesses go to die. Their $1 oyster happy hour sounded really intriguing so I was really excited to check it out.

I had a half dozen Chincoteague oysters (they were just ok) and a $4 Abita Bad Mother Shucker Oyster Stout. The total was just $10, which is a pretty good deal. The bar area is nice and it would have been cool to stay but come on, this is a Legends crawl!

The wind was blowing like a mug, so we wanted to take the long hike up the hill and down into the worst shopping center in the world to hit up the often forgotten Coyote Grille.  The wind was pounding the plastic covered patio, but it was nice and warm inside, the perfect setting for margaritas and chips & salsa. The house marg is $5 during happy hour, so I grabbed one of those to mix with my chips. Turns out it was the bartenders birthday...or so she claimed...

Next up was the Old Firestation for some $2.50 Bud Light and some Megatouch bar games. For some reason it smells like feet at the entrance where we were sitting, so we had our beers and moved along...but this wouldn't be the last we saw of the Old Firestation (foreshadowing).

After some margy margs it was time to hit up the Auld Shebeen. It was PACKED. People in town were out of power and were looking for things to do. We sidled up to the bar, grabbed a few seats and I ordered a happy hour Smithwicks ($5). Some ladies came in, so i was a gentleman and gave up my seat. They wanted to buy me a drink, but I had to survive the night...no time for free drinks!

The next stop on the crawl was Hard Times Cafe. A smoke filled bar that people refuse to go to due to the smoke. That didn''t stop the Legends.  It was nice to see they actually switched the lame side to the smoking section, but the whole place still smells horrible...butttt...a free nacho bar awaited with delicious Hard Times chili so how can you say no to that.

Nachos, beers and shooters were flowing and everything was going pretty great...until...FIRE ALARM. Thats right, we had to go outside in the FREEZING cold and wait for the fire department to arrive. It was collllld. At least they let us bring our beers out there (because its a patio).

Luckily the fire department is literally 3 doors down (like kryptonite) and just before my bladder exploded we were back inside and warm...may as well stick around for another beer.

Soon enough 7pm came and went and with it all the fun happy hours in old town...but the party was just getting started.

The next location was a new Craft Beer Bar called High Side. They don't even have a happy hour at this point so we didn't miss anything showing up late. This place is located in a tiny little house and everyone was packed like sardines. The place was standing room only with a very young crowd. It was an interesting contrast to the rest of the area.

While we were standing the owner of the bar approached us and had a little chat about his business. He was super friendly and treated us like VIPs. After several people told us the bar was too pricey, I was pleasantly surprised that it was $7-$8 for a beer, but the atmosphere and selection of local craft beers from DC, MD and VA were on point.

The night was winding down...OR WAS IT!  It was time for a surprise return to the Old Firestation for Karaoke night! The crowd was awesome, there was a solid rotation of singers and it was a pretty memorable yet fuzzy time. And just when we thought all the fun was over, the bartender from Coyote Grille showed up, and it really was her birthday!

Eventually the lights came back on in the bar and the Pink Floyd died down, but what a return for the Friday Night Legend's Happy Hour Bar Crawl!