The Scariest Halloween Tale You'll Ever Read

Quiet now, Gentle Reader, and I'll tell you the tale of the scariest Halloween ever.  Consider yourself warned.   

It was Halloween 2010, and it was dark & stormy night in Seattle.  While usually this is a quiet night amongst ghouls and goblins (they consider it "amateur hour"), this year was a little different.  This year, the wickedness in all of them couldn't be contained.  And so, the witches & the warlocks, the ghoulies and the ghosts, and one Pilot and his Stewardess, in search of tricks and treats and mini-bottles of alcohol, stormed the streets of Ballard wreaking havoc on the bars and restaurants, but mostly on themselves. Please ensure that your seatbelts are fastened for takeoff.  Smoking is allowed on this flight.

Like so many fallen horror film friends before them, this Pilot and his Stewardess went ahead and broke every rule out there.  Everything from the Bad Idea In Order To Survive Playbook was put into action.  Every mistake was made.  Everyone knew danger was lurking, but no one listened. Instead, they drank, smoked, had unprotected sex Just This One Time, and drank and smoked some more.  They basically called out to the unknown monsters awaiting them, "Here we are! Come and get us!  We can't do anything to stop you!"

(Cue distant scream from an undisclosed location.)  They looked around, wondering who was crying out.  Seeing nothing, they went back to their wicked ways, unaware of the danger that was just on the horizon.

And then....9 months later....they finally realized where that scream was coming from.  And there were no Emergency Exits in sight. 

BOO!

Be safe out there, kids.  There is no turning back. 

Happy Halloween!

NO Minors Tonight!

Sometimes you just can't bring your baby to the bar.  I mean, you love your baby and all, and of course, you want to spend every single second of every day just snuggling him nonstop until you both want to scream.  But you can't. 

No.

And so, to keep from losing your new-parent-mind, you MUST recruit a good friend or two to look after your child for a few hours - he will be fine - and get yourself out a good old American No Minors Bar.  Seriously, do it now.

After realizing that we, in fact, were quite close to refering to each other exclusively as "Mommy and Daddy" even when talking to each other, we knew that we had to get out of this house STAT.  I slapped on some lip gloss and heels(!), dropped off the little Bean with some friends, and headed to South Lake Union to one of Tom Douglas' newest creations, Brave Horse Tavern.

Tom pretty much owns Seattle at this point.  Every experience we've had at his places has been amazing, and Brave Horse was no different.  The atmosphere was exactly what I was looking for - raucous and loud.  It's a huge bar with communal tables, TVs everywhere, and a big fat bar.  The brick walls definitely add to the noisy-ness.  If you are looking for an intimate date night, skip this joint. 

Tim and me, not looking for romance, but just a place to get our drink on, cozied up to the bar.  Bartender was super friendly and changed the nearest TV to the Tigers game for us.  Their beer selection was great (not Naked City fabulous, but great), and we both ordered pint that were served in super cold frosty 20oz pint glasses.  We both loved the menu, and although the sandwiches sounded great, we decided to share some apps so we could try more stuff.  Especially because the first thing we saw on the menu was...

Fried Cheese Curds!

Um, yes please!  And holy shit (see, you can swear when you don't bring your baby to the bar), they were amazing.  Hot and gooey, deep-fried and greasy.  Amazing.  And you get a ton of them too.  We followed these up with a hot pretzel and the "cannibal" crostini.  Okay, so yes, the pretzel is something that Brave Horse is known for, and it was totally good.  They serve it with 3 types of mustard, and they also have several choices of dipping sauces you can add.  We (stupidly) did not order any dipping sauces, and we would not make that mistake again.  I think it woudl have elevated the pretzel to the next level.  The cannibal crostini was topped with beef tartare, pickled onions and some sort of amazing sauce.  Beef tartare was a new experience for both of us, and one we are definitely inclined to repeat.  This dish was incredible. 

Tom Douglas, once again, you did not let us down.  Thank you for a bar that does not allow our baby.

P.S.  In other news, if you think you're going to hit up Dante's Inferno Dogs at 10pm on a Saturday night because that's the time you have to head home from the bar because you have a baby at home, think again.