Monday 9 July 2012

Bar Golf

This weekend I partook in the annual (my brother's birthday) tradition of bar golf! For those of you who don't know what bar golf is here is a description, thank goodness for Wikipedia: Pub Golf!

The bar golf group! Yes I was the only girl :P 
Bar or pub golf as Wiki referred to it lead us to many great pubs and bars downtown. I couldn't stay for the entire green but I managed to play at least seven holes before I had to leave. After bar golf I joined my lady friends for a girl's night! That lead us to a club in downtown Hamilton. All this bar hopping has lead me to make a list of my top 5 favourite bars in Hamstown!

5. The Whistling Walrus- Located on Upper James in Hamilton this British style pub has great food/pub grub served by friendly staff. They have live music and daily drink specials. I especially was a fan of Martini Night or Martini Mayhem as my friends and I used to call it. This is a great place for a low-key evening.

There is even a fun British phone booth!

4. The Lionshead/ Squires- Number 4 is a tie between The Lionshead and Ye Olde Squires. Squires is on Fennell and has a similar feel as The Lionshead only much, much bigger. Squires is probably my most frequented bar as my family likes to go there for dinner sometimes. The Lionshead is hidden on John Street right beside Mata Mata tattoo shop. The reason I had to include The Lionshead is because it is one of the first bars I ever went to and I'm sentimental like that. It's such a little nook of a pub. Not much seating but always good music (live) and great people (I'm gonna guess most clientele are Scottish...and that usually leads to a good time). Fairly sure they have the cheapest beer in town which is important to penny pinchers like myself.

Inside Ye Olde Squire's, my neighbourhood pub.


How you will be seeing when you leave here.

 3. Diavolo Nightclub- Hess Village has lots to offer to people of all ages during the day. Great patios and yummy food but come nightfall it is a college student mecca. Girls that can't really walk in their heels, super mini skirts and lots of boobs...literally and figuratively. You're a boob :P Hess is really not my scene anymore. I seem to have outgrown it. Yes I'm old, but I can still recall having MANY amazing nights at Diavolo's. They usually have pretty good drink deals as well.

Love the cave-like atmosphere

2. Club Absinthe & Absinthe Lounge- Although I have yet to visit the new Absinthe location I am assured it is just as much fun as the old one. Club absinthe is found on King William St and Absinthe Lounge is in Hess. I made them a couple because you'll probably have fun at both of them. Interesting people, amazing music and good times pretty much guaranteed. If you haven't been to Motown night at Club Absinthe you just haven't lived.

Club Absinthe's new location. This used to be The Pepper Jack Cafe.

1. Augusta (Street)- I could not choose one bar on Augusta that I have not had a good time at. The whole street is just low-key, good vibes. My friends and I frequent this street full of pubs all the time. Of course it is wonderful in the summer when all the patios are open but the interior of some of these pubs are just so picturesque and comfortable that Augusta is the place to go any time of year. Pubs on Augusta: Gallaghers, The Cat & Fiddle, The Pheasant Plucker, The Winking Judge, The Ship, Aout'N'About and The Augusta House. All great bars. Go to them. All of them.

A few bars on August. Aout'n'About, The Ship and The Winking Judge.

These are by no means "THE BEST" bars in Hamilton. These are just some of my favourites, my opinion. These are places I would suggest to people asking where to go for a fun night or for a round or two of bar golf! FORE!!

Monday 2 July 2012

Happy Birthday Canada

Happy Canada Day to all you Canucks out there! I hope you all celebrated your long weekend with style! Hammertown had almost too much to offer this weekend and I'm not going to lie I had a hard time deciding what to do.

My weekend started off with a celebration because I had an interview in Toronto to do PR for a fashion boutique. I was offered and accepted the position. It was very welcome and exciting news for me. When I got home I really wanted to celebrate. My friend and I went to the It's Your Festival that was going on at Gage Park. The Dinner Belles were playing (I swear I'm not stalking them) as well as many other great local and Canadian bands including David Wilcox.

Unreal.

Not my favourite Hamilton festival but still worth checking out.
Not only was there some great music happening down there but I FINALLY got to try Gorilla Cheese. Gorilla Cheese is one of the many food trucks in Hamilton to become popular in the past couple of years. Food trucks are a major craze right now and I can see/taste why. I ordered the lumberjack grilled cheese. It had cheese, bacon, granny apple and maple syrup on it and it was delicious. I thought paying $8 for a grilled cheese was a little extreme but they aren't lying when they say it is gourmet grilled cheese and I can say it was worth every penny.

Goal: Try them ALL!
After the festival I went to the movies and saw Magic Mike. Yes, it was magical. I don't need to go into details. The picture says it all.

umm...yaaaa.
 On Sunday I had friends over for a BBQ and we had a lovely day. After we ate we decided to go watch fireworks at the mountain brow. Fireworks were being offered in many parts of the city. Down by the bay, Dundas, Valley Park... tons of places had them but we really didn't want to deal with the crowds so we went to the brow. There were a lot of people there as well but it wasn't too difficult to find a spot. We picked the best viewing point that we could find and it was great because it was such a beautiful, clear night that we could see the firework shows that were being set off in different parts of the city and even in other cities from where we were. When the finale was over people were setting off their own fireworks at the brow so we stayed and watched those as well. It was perfect.



Today my friends and I were supposed to go check out Hamilton's Rib Fest but to be honest I think we all spent just a bit too much time in the sun yesterday and we were all pretty exhausted. That's okay because I know that Hamilton has lots to offer pretty much every weekend this summer and I look forward to attending most of those events.

All in all I had a wonderful Canada Day long weekend spent with great friends and family. I hope you did too!!