Nearing the End - November

All my followers ~ (ha, ha) I bet you've wondered where I've been.  Here, there & everywhere.  November was a busy month. The two drinks we traveled high and low for were:  White Heat - gin, triple sec, dry vermouth & pineapple juice and XYZ: rum, triple sec & lemon juice.  My computer was on the fritz and the pictures were lost. 

Sorry for this short & boring blurb. I'll try to do better for the swan song of December as we close out the year.

Optimistic October



ULANDA



Good Grief - October already!  Why, you might ask, is this month's blog entitled Optimistic October.  Well, went to a meetup group get together and was "optimistic" that a fair time might finally be had and it was unexpectedly good in fact.  Really enjoyed the people and had our first Oct. drink - the Ulanda @ Buffalo Wild Wings on Eastwood.  Not sure why the drink is called the Ulanda- ingredients are: I can't remember and Pernod.  For those unfamiliar with Pernod - it's licorice tasting so since the establishment did not have Pernod, we substituted Sambuca. It was quite a good sipping drink.  ULANDA - kinda sounds like a victory call!  ULANDA - finally got through a night without crying!  ULANDA - life really does go on!  ULANDA - You landa on your feet ... eventually!


Vampire


Next stop - Halloween....Dressed as Vampires (our costumes were really pretty good for homemade), we set out into the eerie Halloween night.  Having Hurricane Sandy pass through made the night all the more perfect! Of course, we had already chosen our "V" drink, appropriately named "Vampire" and ended up at Wild Wings mingling with the ghouls, the goblins and the just plain weird that only surface during the wee hours of such a night. The Vampire drink: vodka, raspberry liqueur & cranberry juice just didn't cut it without the added eyeball that I just happened to have with me!  Now that made the drink good and spooky.  So we only have two months left (4 drinks) for this blogging adventure and we are beginning to consider what next year's challenge might be!  Have any suggestions?

Sassy September





Mateo & Sex on the Beach

  

Ah, September - well this will be short & sweet as my computer hasn't been working since the last post and I've got tons of follow up to do.  We hadn't planned it, but our first drink for the month was had in Italy.  We took a wonderful tour of Umbria & Tuscany and here is Mateo with Sex on the Beach in both hands overlooking the Tuscan hillside just outside San Giamango.  While far from the beach, this was most definitely a molte benne place to be.



So, back home again, thinking of Mateo & our hunky tour bus driver Pietro, we chose our 2nd Sept. drink: Tie Me to the Bedpost.  A little cougar mentality goes a long way - like from italy to the USA!  Unfortunately, my camera was still on movie mode when I took pictures of this drink - citrus vodka, coconut rum, melon liquer & sour mix - so I can't get the picture to post.  But so what when you've got these guys to look at! 

So, here's a replacement picture - Pietro - I hope you're not too disappointed - we weren't (tee, hee).



Pietro - Italian Stallion



Abnormal August

Abnormal August - you wonder??? Well, we had a Q drink for the first drink of August and damn - the book's selection was not so good - drink wise or laughter wise.  So, what did we do?  Well, all you devoted followers of the Not So Merry Widows (what are you, 6?) we improvised - a little abnormal, but then so are we!  Ha. 

Qcumber Gimlet

If you recall, I blogged back in May that we went to Cameo 1900 and they had some drinks we really wanted to try, but stuck to the task at hand.  So, back we went with Ann's visiting daughter in tow, and taking poetic license we ordered a Qcumber Gimlet (get it?  Q drink?).  Healthy, refreshing and well worth the deceit!!! Try it, I bet you'll like it. 

Am I blue?  No, I'm Rhett Butler and frankly my dear, I don't give a damn  - that I'm the color blue.

Rhett Butler


Rhett Butler was the man of the evening and a good man is hard to find.  We found Rhett @ the Browncoat Pub & Theater.  Only $5 for a man in blue - Southern Comfort, curacao, lime juice & lemonade (they didn't have lemon juice so we improvised) and it was good.  Three drinks in the picture again 'cause we were joined by our good pal and had not trouble convincing her to have a taste of the south!  This was our first trip to the Browncoat and we saw a 2 hour comedy show for $10 - not bad.  Overall we enjoyed the show, all but one skit which was kind of abnormal - we'll leave at that, but the kids were all pretty talented and funny.  Surely we were the oldest in the small crowd, but the staff was very accommodating to us oldies but goodies.  We'll definitely visit them again.

Just July



"O" Martini



One very, very, very (and I do mean "very") hot & humid Wilmington afternoon, we headed downtown to Elijah's to have the first of our July drinks on the riverfront.  With the Henrietta rolling past, we manned (or should I say, womanned) up and ordered our libation of the day, "O" Martini - vodka (of course), coconut rum & banana liqueur.  "O" MG - it was so hot outside that we literally stuck to our chairs & when we finished & rose - "O"MG, we were drenched.  Actually hoping that no one would notice, we scurried out with our wet behinds making a mad dash to the car.  "O" Martini was oh so good as was the ambiance of the riverfront, but the sweltering heat gave us no desire to go into our reason for being there and yet - again - not a funny name. Finding "funny" is becoming quite challenging. 

Simply put - the next drink "Pink Floyd" STUNK - so much so that it didn't even warrant a picture (a frozen concoction of vodka, sloe gin & fresh pineapple).  Having decided to take to the beach & celebrate what would have been my 20th wedding anniversary, we chose the Blockade Runner.  While the outside ambiance is lovely and the guitarist/singer was quite enjoyable, as Pink Floyd's song, Run Like Hell says - "run, run, run, run, run all day and run all night".  So, here's the reason for this CC (crappy critique) - the outside bar was being serviced (using that term loosely) by 2 female bartenders (using loosely again) and they had a staggering one customer upon our arrival.  For an extraordinarily unacceptable time, we were totally ignored - no, "be right with you", no phony smile - nothing.  As usual, we handed over our recipe eliciting nary a shred of interest from the other side of the bar.  As we were already ticked off, we merely waited but had to correct her during preparation.  She was drowning it with juice & ice - omitting the fresh pineapple and did she even add the liquor?  Oh, it gets worse - the colorless slush was dumped into a Styrofoam cup ( so esthetically pleasing, right?) and being informed that they ran out of regular straws (really, a resort hotel has no straws?) she stuck 3 small stirrers in each up, plopped it on the bar - no napkins.  And for this - guess what they charged - $16.00.  When we asked if this price was a mistake, they shoved the menu in our face and plain as day - frozen drinks $16.  It must cost them a pretty penny to run the blender and use that much ice that they have to pass it on to the customer.  But, if that drink had been fantastic, we would have sucked it up as well as the $16.00.  But no - it was flat & tasteless, ugly and thoroughly disappointing.  We tried to find a manager to lodge a complaint but there was none to be had.  Stay away - stay far, far away unless you stick stick with a beer - how could they possibly ruin that?  Well, I guess you're bound to encounter a dud once in a while so we'll chalk it up to just that and move on to August!  Stay cool and remember, drink in moderation.

Too Soon June



Melon Martini

 I can hardly believe that half the year is behind us!  June came too soon but we were on it like peanut butter on a cracker.  Ann was supposed to be away for most of the month so we decided to attend our very first Cape Fear Singles Meetup Group at the Bluewater Grill.  I know, we already went there, but every Sunday they have a band, you're out on the deck enjoying the fresh air, so we decided to kill 2 birds with one stone.  It was a beautiful day, the band was good albeit LOUD (hmm, guess that's showing our age!) and the drink was quite nice - Melon Martini with vodka, melon liquer, dash of lime juice with a cherry in the bottom!  Delish - I recommend it for Christmas - it's so festive looking.  Actually, when we gave the recipe to the bartender she commented that it might be against NC law to add that much vodka  - 3 1/2 oz.  Really?  What's a little law breaking amongst widows?!  Did Ann make a mistake in transcribing the ingredients (on purpose?).  No, the book clearly states 3 1/2 oz. of vodka, but we had to abide by the "possible law" of 1 1/2 but I expect one could get a serious buzz off the misprint - tee, hee.  Guess we'll have to try it and see!


Nervous Breakdown

 Ann had a little mishap a few days into her vacation (not to worry, she's safe & sound), but was back home in a week and out we went for a Nervous Breakdown.  Not the 19th Nervous Breakdown that Mick Jagger & Keith Richards of the Stones fame penned & performed in 1965 - we're not spoiled and we do appreciate life's gifts.  The drink consisted of Vodka (surprise), raspberry liquer with a splash of cranberry juice & a lime.  We stopped in at the Towne Tap & Grille right before heading to see "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" which we absolutely adored.  The bar was empty but that meant we had all the attention of our young Aussie bartender! Again, we appreicate life's gifts :).  One of the lines in the movie aptly describes our ups & downs and that is, "Everything will be alright in the end and if it is not alright, it is not the end"!!!!  So as C.S. Lewis cited, "Onward and Upward! To Narnia and the North!"  Until next time - live well, love much and laugh often.  AND, drink - in moderation, except at home when you have Nervous Breakdown with 3 1/2 oz. of vodka!

MERRY MONTH OF MAY



May is one of the months we had to get in 3 drinks - 2 for our standard month & the extra one to toast the memory of Ann's husband on his birthday.  Being the strangely busy widows that we are, A-Z through the bartender's book in 2012  was a challenge this month.  But as my 2 year old grandson would say - we dood it!

JUKM



First on the agenda - Gloria's Italian restaurant where a wonderful Frank Sinatra style singer is there on most Wed. nights. As they were only serving beer & wine - we had wine and then went for our drink "Jump Up & Kiss Me" - rum, bitters, lime juice, pineapple & garnish with pineapple & lime @ 1900 Cameo, a Tapas restaurant.  The drink was nothing special and as it was rather early and fairly quiet at the bar, nothing of note to write about.  However, they do have a nice drink menu and I really must get back for their Cucumber Gimlet and a Chocolate Pretzel.  Sounds good, right?



Lemon Drops



Calamari



Next in order should have been a "K" drink, but L & K were switched so we could toast Ann's husband on his birthday with the drink he would have ordered - a Lemon Drop.  Luckily the alphabet police didn't catch up with us as we hid between our Lemon Drops & a very delicious dish of Calamari at Marcs on Market.  Highly recommend Marcs, Lemon Drops & Calamari, but again too early for any action.  Maybe we need to take an afternoon nap so we go out later in the evening!  Somebody slap me up side the head if I start eating dinner at 4 o'clock!



Lastly, and by this I mean the very last day of May, we met  for a Kiss.  No, not the kind of kiss of days gone by, but a hearty kiss of vodka (1 1/2 oz), chocolate liquer, cherry liquer, a little cream shaken & strained into a chilled martini glass.  Yummy.  It was again an early start - right after work- so not much going on at that hour although  only 2 bar stools were available at the Kornerstone Bistro.  Must have been that 4 o'clock dinner crowd - one of which was a woman with big yellow hair and green fingernails eating a big steak. Does anyone find that funny?  And this isn't funny either, but as I personally have been experiencing a series of unfortunate events, it has caused me to ponder...just what is God thinking?  It is said he only puts on your plate what you can handle.  Hmmm - Hey God, I got some news for you - I'm not at a buffet table, ok?  Enough.  Come on June - let er rip!  And remember, please drink - in moderation of course! 



Kiss under a picture of Portofino, Italy



Almost Missed April

Seriously, how did we become such busy widows?  We almost missed our April libations!  Had to squeeze it in on the very last Saturday of the month. 

Hawaiian Cocktail

So first to the Port Land Grille - oh what a lovely restaurant, very nice staff, wonderful food.  Brian served us our request - Hawaiian Cocktail.  BORING.  It was a poor selection on our part: white wine w/a dash each of pineapple & grapefruit juice.  Not sure why we chose it - it's not even funny and we're all about funny this year. Of course we drank it anyway - we widows don't waste!  Our server, Brian, fancied it up for the picture but it was still boring. Definitely go to the Port Land Grille - great food & they have really neat cocktails like Choc Work Orange - I need one of those! We did get a chuckle on the way to the car though - a 70's party theme was happening next door and we chatted with two guys with big 70's hair & 70's Super Bad outfits - doing their Disco dance.  Funny.



Itchy Bitchy Smelly Nelly



Bluewater is just across the bridge in Wrightsville Beach - busy, noisy and the perfect place for the next drink - Itchy Bitchy Smelly Nelly - now we're talkin' funny! coconut rum, melon liqueur, sour mix, OJ & topped off w/lemon-lime soda.  Jennifer is the best bartender EVER!  A couple of ladies sitting next to us inquired as to what we were drinking & one ordered the same.  Now there were 3 smelly bitches with an itch (tee hee)  No - no bitches, no itches and definitely not smelly - just 3 happy ladies with a good drink!  Try it  but remember, please drink in moderation.

See ya next month!



March Madness

So here we are in March - armed with our next two drinks of the month (F & G) - a 44 Magnum  & Get Laid.  .44 magnum was supposed to be next up in alphabetical order, but we stopped @ the Holiday Inn SunSpree first and the G drink seemed to call to us - Get Laid.  So we did! (vodka, raspberry liqueur, dash of cranberry juice & filled with pineapple juice).  Overlooking the ocean is lovely, but the bartender was so so and so was the drink.  I even forgot to take a picture as it was so unimpressive.  Guess when you "Get Laid" is doesn't always live up to expectations!  Definitely go to the Holiday Inn SunSpree for drinks overlooking the ocean - it is really lovely.

44 Magnum

We then headed over to 22 North with the .44 magnum in our sights.  They opened @ 5pm on Sat. & not a second earlier.  Much better drink (vodka, light & dark rum, triple sec, dash of sour mix & a dash of pineapple juice filled with lemon line soda), much better bartender.  This is very much a local place and as it was early in the day we were the only ones at the bar. Clearly, we set out too early! We shared an appetizer which was ok - but not good enough to remember what it was!

It's been kind of busy for us with work, and travel but next month we'll be drinking H & I drinks TBD. 

So far, the fav drink is still the Empire State Slammer. 

Remember:  Please drink in moderation

 

Fortuitous February



Crazy Broad



Duck Fart



The 2nd Not so Merry Widows Express departed late afternoon on Sat. Feb. 18th to Lumina Station. We set out to poke around the shops first & how fortuitous it was. I stumbled upon a great pair of boots - I really needed them too - no really I did!  $80 boots for $20 - how could I refuse?  But I digress.

It was early - just around 6:30pm - only 1 bar patron seated as we entered the Brasserie du Soleil.  After ordering up the next in our alphabetical list of libations - Crazy Broad - the lone gentleman at the bar commented that he knew the name of just about every drink you could think of but never heard of a Crazy Broad.  Well, he was about to see two of them and further his education! The friendly bartender Molly needed our recipe to produce a Crazy Broad - vodka (we do like our vodka!), Amaretto, Southern Comfort, cranberry juice & ginger ale.  This is our unanimous favorite so far - but we've got 10 months to go and 22 more drinks! The bar was great & ladies - - they have hooks underneath for the purses!  Molly was thoroughly into our mission & took our blog address.  Along with the drink, she gave us some nice crusty bread & an olive tray.  We ordered mussels in white wine with shallots & Ooh La La - These Crazy Broads were in heaven.  Great bar, bar food, bartender & atmosphere - go there.

Then on to the Port City Chop House (chop, chop, tee hee) for a Duck Fart.  Coffee liqueur on the bottom, Irish Cream poured over the back of a spoon & whiskey on top!  Well, it was iffy - could we get through this one? Once past the pure whiskey on top - it grew on us though - kind of like when a seagull poops on you - it's good luck!  The bar with it's low lighting is quite nice, but I guess Jeff the bartender was too busy to pay much attention to us widows.  The patrons, however, were really into us & our mission. This unsolicited enthusiasm makes the endeavor even more fun for us. Scratch the ducks fart though - too pricey and too much endurance required to get to the sweet spot.

Empire State Slammer

Two extra drinks over the year to cover all 26 letters of the alphabet are being selected on our husband's birthdays.  Today - 2/26 - was mine (Jane) so we selected a drink made with hubby's favorite-Jack Daniels. The Empire State Slammer - perfect name for a NY born & bred boy made with Jack Daniels, sloe gin, banana liqueur & OJ.  We stopped in at Boca Bay around 5pm after our line dancing class, gave the bartender Ryan our recipe & ordered calamari to round out the birthday celebration.  The calamari was perfect & the bar menu is only $5 daily between 5 - 7pm.  This one hit it out of the ballpark on many levels. Here's to you honey - Happy Birthday - I love & miss you.



Not So Merry Widows Juice it up in January

As the guitar player serenaded the dwindling brunch set, we sidled up to the Deluxe bar in anticipation of our first an Alien Orgasm - sweet & tropical - one was all we could handle (Amareto, melon liquor, peach schnapps, OJ & pineapple juice).  The friendly & engaging bartenders Kelsey & Danny were unfamiliar with Alien Orgasm's, but were intrigued.  Our mission was a hit and pretty soon we were shaking hands, giving out our blog address & assuring the patron next to us that we did not plan to drink our way through the entire book, just one per letter and no, we didn't counseling, but thanks for caring! 

Next stop, The George for Banging the Captain 3 Ways on the Comforter (spiced rum, Southern Comfort, OJ, pineapple & cranberry juice).  What?? No Southern Comfort at The George?  They ran out!  We had to pass, but will give them another try just because the bartender Chris was really disappointed he wasn't able to accommodate the Banging.  Guess it happens to the best of them.

So, where to go?  We ended up @ Mixto, right across from the River & information stand.  Sitting outside we watched downtown Wilmington go by ~ a man on a unicycle, a couple of vintage cars, and guess who came in - Kelsey from Deluxe! This drink, wasn't as sweet and came in a nice BIG glass! It was goooood.  Try it with a sandwich - you'll like it.

Next month - we'll go out for a Crazy Broad & a Duck Fart.

Remember: Please drink in moderation


Banging the Captain 3 Ways on The Comforter



Alien Orgasm

2012 - The Not So Merry Widows working their way through the Bartenders Black Book from A-Z

Jane & Ann, 62 & 75 respectively, recently widowed, are looking to work through their grief together by embarking on a light hearted adventure to which our husbands would surely say - live, laugh & enjoy! Our goal - laughter.  And so, beginning this month, we set out to challenge local bartenders @ various establishments in our community - Wilmington, NC.  We'll order drinks from the Bartenders Black Book A-Z.  The only criteria for selecting the drink (always in alphabetical order) is that the names have to make us laugh.  We'll rate the bartender's knowledge & expertise, their likeability factor, the establishment's ambiance & of course, the drink itself.  Perhaps along with the laughter we may meet some cool, colorful and interesting people and we'll share our views and adventure.  We'll get an appetizer too, just so we don't get snockered!

So, we head to Historic downtown on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 8th.  First stop, the Deluxe Cafe to order the first selection ~ an Alien Orgasm. Once satisfied, we'll mosey on over to The George for Banging the Captain 3 ways on the Comforter.  Cheers!