Tips for the Biggest Bar Night of the Year
Make Sure You’re Thankful on Thursday
The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving is widely known as the biggest bar night of the year. Friends and family return from far-flung locales to gather at the local watering holes in their hometowns for an evening of celebrating and catching up. While this is widely known as a time to cut loose and make merry, many a Turkey Day have been ruined by the poor decisions made on Turkey Day eve. We’ve come up with a few tips to make sure you have no regrets or pending court cases as you dig into turkey and stuffing.
Get a Ride
This tip should go unsaid every night of the year, but on the biggest bar night on the calendar, it’s doubly dumb to put others at risk because you just have to show off how many Manhattans you can drink in front of your big brother. You won’t him impress him by binge drinking, and you certainly won’t impress him by wrapping your car around a tree.
Leave the Past in the Past
If your Thanksgiving Eve bar night is anything like Traverse City’s, it usually means that the local bars turn into something of an impromptu high school reunion. You’re likely to see past schoolmates you haven’t seen in years, since before you moved away, got a real job and had a few kids. If you have any unresolved “beef” with Becky, the girl that called you fat in front of Bart Karpowski in seventh grade when you totally had a crush on him, let it go. That event took place 15 years and twenty pounds ago- Becky has likely forgotten about the incident, and you should too. If you see her, say hi, ask how she’s doing, and play nice. Chances are you and Becky have far more in common now than ever. Heck, you might just get a free drink out of the deal.
Also, with all of your repressed high school memories flooding back to you, aided by two or three glasses of Pinot Gris, it’s important to keep those memories and feelings in the past. Sure, Grant Rosenberg, the former quarterback of the football team and total heartthrob is as magical looking as ever and has made it big in real estate. But he’s married now and has three kids. He’s unlikely to fall in love with you again. It’s been too long, and you’re very different people now. Take solace in knowing that you’ll always have that time under the bleachers at the JV basketball game.
Go Easy, Man
It’s nice to be able to reconnect with your high school and college friends. But it’s also important to remember you’re not the young man or woman you used to be. Sure, you used to be able to put back PBRs and Stroh’s like nobody’s business back in the day. But that was twenty-odd years and two Van Halen lead singers ago, and it’s likely your tolerance isn’t what it used to be during the Reagan administration. Plus, now that you have improved taste in beer, you’re drinking Michigan’s finest craft beers, which are likely twice the ABV of that Natty Ice you once were so fond of as an undergrad.
Our advice? Start the evening slow, and slow down as the night goes on. Getting hammered doesn’t (or shouldn’t?) impress your friends like it did when you were twenty. Also, it’s not fun to explain to your children why you’re wearing sunglasses while carving the bird the next day. Pace yourself, enjoy yourself, and live to fight and party another day.
So, what did we miss? Any other tips to make sure you enjoy your big night out? Be sure to let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or on Instagram. If you’re in TC for the holidays, be sure to look at our tour options to enjoy a family outing on Old Mission or Leelanau Peninsula. We also have tips for places to eat, places to stay and much more while in Traverse City!
Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Traverse City Wine and Beer Tours!