Dive Bars of North Minneapolis Bicycle Tour Tomorrow

Just in time for spring to arrive the rain to depart, I'll be leading a bike tour of some of North Minneapolis' "dive bars" tomorrow evening. I'm the completing the last legs of my grand dive bar tour, and I have felt increasingly beckoned by the last 3.2 bar in Minneapolis... the mythical T-Shoppe bar up by the city's northern border.

We'll head up there, and along the way stop at a few North Minneapolis bar history hot spots, including the site where the Zombie Bar was finally killed for good (?), Cliff and Norms (formerly Halek's), Tootie's, and Lee's.

I'll share what I've learned about the history of booze Over North, and we'll see what's to be seen at some of these interesting spots. Like South Minneapolis, North had rather strict limits on where alcohol could be sold and consumed. For that reason, the dive landscape is very uneven, and tended to cluster around the edges of the city's old "liquor patrol limits." Everything else in North else was watered down...

It'll be a biking tour, at a leisurely pace, around 11 miles in length. See you then!

[Facebook invite here.]

"Well actually, little known fact, the history of dive bars in North Minneapolis all goes back to a series of Swiss refugees fleeing Canada and their predilection for a particular kind of cheese, that they could only get from certain 19th century wholesale goods traders that just happened to be located on the West side of the river..."

What: guided tour of five (5) past and present historical "dive" bars of North Minneapolis, Minnesota

Who: Free of charge, but tips or beers gladly accepted

When: Tomorrow, Thursday 5/18, leaving 6:30

Where: Meet at Lee's Liquor Lounge

Why: Because it's there

How: On bicycles, in a group

[Map is here.]

[The T-Shoppe, the last pure 3.2 in the city.]