#1811 - Town Pump, Mount Vernon, WA - 6/10/2012

 A neighborhood dive bar in a funky old gas station, with a castle-like exterior.

1903 South 3rd Street Mount Vernon, WA 98273 - (360) 336-9607
Est. 2005

yelp - citysearch

#1810 - Lyman Tavern, Lyman, WA - 6/10/2012

Lyman, Washington is a town of about 400 people, mostly retirees, just off the North Cascade Highway, some 30 miles or so from the Canadian border. The Lyman Tavern is a moderately large place, festooned with hunting trophies, including what I read somewhere as 177 pairs of  horns. The bar thus refers to itself as "the horniest tavern in the northwest (wink wink)." The theme is reinforced by a much photographed neon sign of mating elk.

Debra Heinzman has been the owner of the tavern since Jan 1, 2005. She is also the mayor of Lyman, stepping in when she heard that if no one ran, a mayor would be selected by county commissioners. Although Heinzman is vegetarian, the tavern specializes in steaks, and features a fairly standard sort of range of beers and liquors (bearing in mind that one can generally estimate your distance from the nearest large urban area by the portion of the liquor selection comprised of flavored vodkas). The Heinzmans appear to have upgraded the food options and added liquor, and the place is friendly and lively.

White people started settling in the Lyman era in the 1870s, with hunters followed by loggers and stump farmers.  I haven't been able to find the age of the orignal Lyman Tavern, but it appears to have been on the same location as the current one for many years before burning down on the morning of Feb. 9th, 1950.  This is one of the more enjoyable bar stops along the Cascade Loop.

8328 S Main St, Lyman, WA 98263 - (360) 826-4131
Est. 1950? (current building)

jeepspubtaverns - skagitvisitor

#1809 - Rockport Pub, Rockport, WA - 6/10/2012

Apparently in the Rockport Pub they don't much cotton to strangers who don't know exactly what they want as soon as they step. The big bartender glowered at Trista as she looked at the taps and considered the options. The bar is off the road a piece, and the only one in town, and it appears to be mostly locals and bikers who know it as a regular stop. It has minimal food (burgers, chips, hotdogs), and a small but decent beer selection on tap. There's a sizable patio out back with picnic tables and horseshoe pits. A tiny sign on a tall pole out front indicates that at one time it was the "Pleasant View Inn Tavern."

If you like dive bars, it's worth a swing off the road. But you might want to try and be quick on the drink selection.

52807 Railroad Avenue Rockport, WA 98283 - (360) 853-7043
Web site: facebook 
Reviews: yelp

#1808 - Twisp River Pub, Twisp, WA - 6/10/2012

Good beers, broad menu of good pub food, live music, and a patio on the Twisp River where you'll feel like staying all day.

201 N Highway 20 Twisp, WA 98856 - (509) 997-6822          
Est. 1998
methowbrewing.com - facebook
Reviews:  beeradvocate - yelp - urbanspoon - newyorktimes - tripadvisor 

#1807 - Antlers Saloon, Twisp, WA - 6/10/2012

Antlers Saloon, Twisp, Washington

Antlers is a classic, rustic diner and neighborhood tavern in the small town of Twisp, Washington. It's the sort of place that depends somewhat on tourists that come to hike and ski and bike and visit old west Winthrop up the highway. But it is still dominated by the locals, seasonal or year round, enough so that an old couple were manifestly miffed that they were served by a new gal, who didn't know the nuances of their order. I was told that in the winter it is so slow that the cooks will see regulars coming down the road and start cooking their meals before they arrive.

Antlers Saloon, Twisp, Washington

Antlers is quite old, and the menu tells a bit about its colorful past. I chatted with regular Jim, who told me his mother was a bartender during one incident mentioned on the menu which resulted in bullet holes that can still be seen in one of the many taxidermy deer heads on the wall. Both versions describe a regular who used to always come in packing his .38, and was a bit hooched up one particular night in the 1950s. Jim says that the menu version leaves out that the owner was well lubricated himself, and it was he that challenged the customer to a contest shooting at the deer in the mural across the room. Jim said his mother told him that the way bullets were ricocheting around the room it was a wonder none of the humans ended up sharing the fate of the former denizens of the surrounding hills whose heads now adorn the walls.

Bullet-riddled old mural in Antlers Saloon, Twisp, Wa

I'm do not know the exact age of Antlers, but there is a picture on the wall that is labeled as Antlers in 1914. This would not have been the current building, which was constructed after a fire burned down 23 of the 25 buildings in the Twisp business district in April 1924. The current structure appears to have been built shortly after that, the first one constructed after the fire, and one assumes that it returned to being a (legal) bar soon after prohibition ended, i.e. in late 1933 or early 1934.  A photograph of Antlers in 1936 makes it plain that if the current location is based on that same building, it has been fairly dramatically remodeled and expanded. The name was changed to "Antlers Cafe" in 1936, then "Antlers Tavern" in 1940, and "Antlers Saloon and Cafe" in 1996. Some of the trophies on the wall are over 100 years old.

Antlers Saloon, Twisp, Washington

The town was originally established in 1897 as "Gloversville," after mineral discoveries up the Twisp River Valley. Re. "Twisp," according to HistoryLink, "Despite persistent explanations of the meaning of the name -- that it is a Native American word for wasp or yellow jacket, or the sound made by a wasp -- the origin of the name Twisp is not known." Like most communities across the U.S., Twisp residents considered prohibition laws well before federal prohibition and Washington State prohibition (Jan 1, 1916).

Antlers Tavern, 1914 - From the current Antlers, Twisp, WA

"Twisp had two saloons in the summer of 1910 when local-option elections were held in Washington to determine whether towns would embrace Prohibition, which had been rejected in 1889 at the state level. Both saloons served free drinks all day and into the evening on election day. The Riverside Argus quoted a witness who said that all 88 qualified voters had attended one or both open houses that day, yet the vote was 56 wet, 32 dry. There was no explanation of why 32 people partook of the saloon keepers' generosity but voted against the sale of alcohol." (Ibid)

Antlers Saloon, Twisp, Washington

Thankfully those days are long gone and I could openly enjoy my gin and tonic as I we chatted with Jim and took in the horns and heads.

Antlers Saloon, Twisp, Washington

132 Glover Ln, Twisp, WA 98840 - (509) 997-5693
Bar Est. 1933? - Building constructed: 1924?
northwestcyclereport - yelp

#1806 - Carlos 1800, Winthrop, WA - 6/9/2012

We didn't have a chance to eat at this large Winthrop Mexican restaurant. But Alfonso was a very gracious bartender when we popped in as they were closing, and kept the cantina open to serve us some better than average margaritas.

149 Riverside Avenue Winthrop, WA 98862 - (509) 996-2245
Est. April 2010

Web site: carlos1800.com - facebook - blog
Reviews: methowvalleynews - tofuhunter - urbanspoon - yelp - tripadvisor

#1805 - Old Schoolhouse Brewery, Winthrop, WA - 6/9/2012

Old Schoolhouse brews some pretty good beers and serves them up in this small brewpub, adorned with the stained glass of owner Laura Ruud. Squeeze past the folks inside and out the back door and you'll find a sizable and entirely scenic back patio on the bank of the Chewuch River. They stop serving food at 10pm and it is a little tight inside for live music, but it's a particularly pleasant stop in the afternoon or early evening. 

155 Riverside Avenue Winthrop, Washington 98862 - (509) 996-3183
Web site: oldschoolhousebrewery.com - facebook - blog 
Reviews: washingtonbeer - beeradvocate - crawfordandjames - yelp - tripadvisor - ratebeer