Tuesday Jan 20,
Rock Hill Tavern, 1680 Long Lane, Millersville. This visit was quite random. I really thought I was going to stay in for the evening, sit down, and goof out on the internet watching educational videos and enjoying a cocktail. Then, my friend Jess sends a text message looking for someone to have dinner with. Well, normally I'm steadfast in my laziness but I got Pearl-Harbored with Pete Kryptonite Trifecta: Women, Booze, and Food. So... I got up and went for a drive to the Millersville Suburbs and the Rock Hill. Rock Hill is under new ownership but they still have their famous Roast Beef sandwiches, so I had to scarf one down along with a Miller Lite. For dessert I had a Seven Gates, which is brewed just down the road.

Wednesday Jan 21,
The Red Rose, www.redroselancaster.com 101 E. King St., Lancaster PA. The Red Rose was our scheduled Happy Hour for this week. I popped in right at 5:05 to find Brian sitting at the bar. Brian used to live with me at the legendary Club Bigglesworth (and previously at 14-D Brookwood back "in the day"), and you may remember moved to Texas about 9 months ago. Apparently he had a Texas speeding ticket he was avoiding, and one day he went out for a pack of smokes and returned to PA. The rest of the crowd started trickling in and we the night ended up around 9pm. The Red Rose has great dinner specials, great Greek food, and has Star manning the bar. Good stuff.

Annie Bailey's Irish Pub, E. King St., Lancaster PA. www.anniebaileysirishpub.com  9pm was too early to go home, so about 12 of us migrated 1 block West to Annie's. Annie's is a BIG BAR that recently added a BIG DECK. But as it was too cold for Deck Season we just stayed inside. Tara is an amazing bartender always. Annie's is the site of the biggest 505 Happy Hour ever a few years ago - about 70 people, but for some reason doesn't want to work with us. So this'll probably be our only visit in 2009.

The Fulton Bar, 639. N Plum St., Lancaster PA. For years the Fulton Bar was by far my favorite bar in Lancaster. It was right next to our home, Club Bigglesworth and they had the right combination of good food, great crowd, cheap drinks, great bartenders, kitchen open late, and just plain old fun. Well..... so much for the past. This place has gone downhill faster than my liver cell count. A door has been installed separating the bar area from the little mafia room and bathrooms in order to circumvent the smoking rule. So, the bar area is really smoky and the back room is smoke free. At 11pm the kitchen was closed and the crowd was a bit sketchy, so it was one and done and off to Brendee's for a late night dinner with Flavin' (I can't count it here because we went there on day 1).

Thursday Jan 22,
T.G.I.Friday's, Park City Mall., Lancaster PA. First off - I hate chain bars. But, when you are scheduled to work 12n-830p and you have a mandatory meeting at 930, you might as well walk over and have dinner at Fridays. My bartender Brad was prompt and friendly but was way over the top, chain-bar cheesy calling every female at the bar "Sweetheart" and every guy "Boss". "What can I get for you Boss?" Annoying. But the beer was cold, the food was hot, the fake megatouch worked, and the service was good so... I'll be BOSS... but I just won't be back in 2009.

Friday Jan 22,
david & steve's Fireside Tavern, Strasburg, PA. Mama Ruggieri and Brother Fish were in town to drop off my Xmas presents since I was sick on Xmas. We met in the Ruby Tuesday parking lot on Rts. 30/896 but after last night's chain bar experience I didn't want to take a chance, so we decided to eat somewhere where we knew it would be awesome. Walking in at 11:30 I was thinking we were going to be the first patrons, but the place was already filling up. By noon the primary dining room was full and co-owner Steve was jumping in to help out. I had an amazing burger, one of the best ever. Can't wait for our happy hour here.

Doc Holliday's, Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster PA. www.dhollidays.com. Met up with Roxanne and Brian at Doc's and they were very busy. John was bartending and doing a great job. I decided to mooch and eat the free popcoorn chicken and pierogies that hey had out for happy hour. We love Doc's an hope that we can get them on board again as a client as we have had 4 successful happy hour there and 3 Fantasy Football parties.

Gibralter, Harrisburg Pike,. Lancaster PA. After one at Doc's we went next door to another Keares restaurant, Gibralter. Gibralter is fine dining - but they still let riff-raff like us into the bar. I decided to drink a Winter Warmer from Lancaster Brewing Company and it hit the spot. There was lots of fake conversation going on around us so we needed to move on - too early and too sober to listen to yuppie ramblings.

John J. Jefferies (Lancaster Arts Hotel), Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster. www.johnjjeffries.com JJJ features hands down the best cocktails in Lancaster. Sure, Art and Gordon are great bartenders, but it goes deeper than that - the recipies. They make everything by hand including their own sour mix, made from fresh squeezed lemons and raw sugar. I had my standby, a "Broom Street" which includes Jameson, Sour Mix, and a raw egg shaken silly into a yummy frothy creamy mix.

Rosa-Rosa (the fancy one), Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster. Since we were so close... we decided to pop in. Michelle was bartending, they had piano/guitar combo playing, and it was a nice atmosphere. We didn't do anything fancy here, just had one beer and left but this is a place to revisit over the summer. www.rosarosaristoranteitaliano.com

Roxanne's House, Near Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster. Sure, not an official bar and it won't be included in the standings, but I drank here so I'm mentioning it. After a couple of cocktails we picked up two more soldiers for our quest and moved on.

Q's Duke on Liberty, Duke & Liberty Streets, Lancaster. Packed. Yup, you heard me - Packed. They have the teeniest of parking lots so you didn't know what to expect, but once inside it was wall-to-wall people. I didn't catch her name but the bartender was doing a fine job keeping up with everyone. The crowd was very multi-cultural. The highlight of the evening for me was when I had a few shots with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Oh, this is also a smoking bar. By that I mean... I think EVERYONE smokes. I think the game plan from the Commonwealth of PA was to herd up all of the smokers into certain bars so they can smoke each other out. I don't mind smoking bars. (Hey, you know my saying, "If they smoke, they poke") but c'mon, empty the ashtray once an hour at least.

The Jukebox, New Holland Ave & Eden Road, www.jukeboxnightclub.com For some reason, the Jukebox always is at the end of a strange journey. I think you get in such a weird state of mind from bar-hopping that someone will suggest it and out of morbid curiosity you just HAVE TO GO. God love this place. It is one of a kind. From a business stand point the place is genius. They work 2 nights per week and run a tight ship. Everything is clean, neat and orderly. Me? I tend to find the place a little bit sterile and boring - but that is the genius of the place. 95% of Lancaster County is sterile and boring and that is the demographic they are looking for and that they get. Every time I've ever been to the Jukebox people are having a blast and the place is full. Anywhoo... after seeing a woman with a blonde wig and some sort of lingerie thingie covered in some sort of dress thingie... I knew it was time to put this week to bed.