Love that Dive Bar

It's Friday so it's got me thinking .... If you asked me where my favorite dive bars on the planet are, I could come up with a pretty quick list: Dave’s Pub in Tetonia, Idaho, Paddy’s Raw Bar at St. George Island,Florida and Shenanigans in Sewanee, TN.  All are special in their own way and have a story to tell, but I have to say that old, old, old building up on the mountain in Tennessee has the most memories of all.
 
During college it was our go to place for a sandwich, pizza and a cold beer.  Margaret and I still love to go there because nothing has changed in these last 25 plus years and to us that's a good thing!  Sure, it has passed through several owners over the years, but they were smart if enough not to mess anything up.   Back in the day rumor has it if Shenanigans ever caught fire, the fire department was instructed to spray down and save the surrounding buildings and let Shennanigans go.  For years it leaned so far down the hill, they had to keep cutting down the front door so it wouldn’t stick and would open and you kind of walked at a slant.  These details have been fixed now and the building still has the same character and looks the same but the structure is sound and that is also a good thing.
 
Like most dives, we made friends with the locals and still enjoy seeing them when we go back to The Mountain.  Many Saturday afternoons were spent sitting next to Buck and watching the Vols play on the small color tv that sat amongst the Elvis shrine at the back of the bar. Whether it is watching the Sewanee fog roll in or enjoying one of those crisp cool clear Sewanee days, a beer on the porch is one of my favorite places to be sitting on a Friday afternoon.
 
Our son Will has been going up there with us over the years and we are so excited he will be a freshman at Sewanee the University of the South this coming Fall.   What a wonderful four years he has ahead of him and, truthfully, so do we.  When we go up to visit him in the coming years, you will find us at Shenanigans seeing old friends, meeting Wills new friends and generally “holding court” on the front porch.  See you there.

So what's your favorite dive bar?  Email us back and let us know.   We love checking out all the local favorites.   And whatever you do, go out and enjoy yourself this weekend.