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Super-fun, laid back, easy going. No, not the Pedal Party (but, yeah, us too,) we’re talking about this month’s featured stop, the Washington Avenue Drinkery!
This is one of the most un-pretentious places on the west end of Washington Ave with super-friendly staff, lots of space, a giant patio and great tunes. You don’t have to be ‘on the list’ to get in and no one’s any better than anyone else once you’re inside.
Its a chock full of specials which vary from day-to-day (sometimes from hour-to-hour!) but, to show how much they love the Pedal Party, The Drinkery is sponsoring PP Specials this month JUST FOR US, including:
$3 Wells and Domestics
$4 Imports and Miller High Life Mimosas
$5 Calls and drop shots
$2 Kamikaze shots
$2 Lonestar
Miller High Life Mimosa? $2 Kamikaze? At these prices, you can’t afford to NOT do a Pedal Party to the Drinkery!
The Drinkery also has a full menu of (really good) pub food, so its a great mid-tour stop to carbo-load for the ride back.
This special is good through November, so make sure to tell your Captain that you want to stop there and get some good food, some cheap drinks and a great time!
The Washington Avenue Drinkery
4115 Washington Ave.
Houston, TX 77007
713-426-3617
www.washingtonavenuedrinkery.com
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Liberty Station is a super-cool, fairly new addition to the Washington Ave. landscape. Located on the east end of Washington (within a stone’s throw of the Pedal Party World HQ,) its quite different that a lot of the other bars in the area.
First, its setting: Mostly outdoors, Liberty is a converted filling station which still retains the roll-up doors, giving it a laid back, ‘ice house’ feel. Unlike your standard ice house, though, the interior is really well designed and kinda classy. Most of the action, however, is outside, either on the ample patio or on the Cornhole field which is almost always in lively use.
Keeping true to their motto: “No Crap on Tap,” Liberty eschews standard tap fare, opting for more specialty names. The awesome bar staff also has some pretty nifty cocktails up their sleeves, if you lean more towards the cocktail side.
Every singe time the Pedal Party has visited Liberty Station, we’ve received a rousing cheer form the onlooking crowd. Is it because we’re totally awesome or because we just came careening in like a bike out of hell? I like to believe the former.
This month, Liberty is sharing the love with PP riders by offeringmade-from-scratch Strawberry/Basil Ritas and ‘Very Berry’ Mojitos for $6! That’s worth doing a Pedal Party on its own! If you’re not into either of those, you’ll still enjoy 20% off something that suits you. Generous AND accommodating…who could ask for anything more?
Liberty Station
2101 Washington Ave.
Houston, TX 77007
713-640-5220
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On Houston’s Washington Avenue, no bar does as much business or is home to as much fun as Sawyer Park. Its casual atmosphere and super-fun vibe make Sawyer Park a great stop for pub crawling on the Pedal Party.
Physically, Sawyer Park is one of the larger clubs on the Washington Avenue route with both the main bar and deck downstairs and a knock-out, roof-top patio upstairs. There are about a billion TV’s in this fun bar and one can watch pretty much any event in Football, Baseball, Soccer and every other sport at the same time! They also have a private party room available if you need a space to watch the big game.
Sawyer Park’s staff is super-friendly and lends the place a very welcoming atmosphere. The crowd is a sexy mix of people having a great time. Everyone in the house goes nuts for the Pedal Party and we’ve always had a great time there.
Sawyer Park has an array of offerings for your non-Pedal Party play time as well. From Dodge Ball League to Gong Karaoke, there’s always something going on there. Recently, the Pedal Party staff checked out Bada Bingo on Tuesday night to see what all the talk is about. It was crazy with a smoking hot caller, excellent DJ and tons of free Jello shots! The Bada Bingo crowd was really diverse and totally rocking. You can win prizes including a $100 bar tab. It was a great night…we’ll the parts we can remember anyway, did I mention the free Jello shots?
Sawyer Park has a full menu of good stuff (Bleu Cheese Burger FTW!) that’s definitely worth checking out, whether you pedaled there or not!
Sawyer Park Bar
2412 Washington Ave.
Houston, TX 77007
713-398-8442
www.sawyerparkhouston.com
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By this point in corporate society, everyone knows that Team Building exercises have a positive effect on productivity. Team building can help build morale, building stronger bonds between team members and serve as creative catalysts for problems solving.
The problem is that, generally, team building activities can be REALLY BORING. Even when performed in a secluded lake-side camp site, trust falls and ice breakers can range from ‘less than genuine’ to ‘downright ridiculous’. Why can’t there be a way to get the benefits of a traditional team building exercise and also have a really fun and memorable experience in the process? Now, there is.
Pedal Party is the perfect venue for those motivational exercises that’s both engaging and fun for all the participants. The Pedal Party can accommodate up to 16 people who must, in fact, WORK TOGETHER to get the bike moving towards a goal. Sure, that goal might be a bar, but we’re working in metaphors here, right?
Ice breakers, trivia games, and other motivational exercises can be performed either on the road while pedaling or at rest stops, allowing time for both ‘official’ interaction of team members as well as more casual bonding time.
Looking to get a little marketing bang from your event? Nothing says “We work for a cool company” like having your team members wearing company logos on the Pedal Party. Tons of pictures, videos and memorable sightings go down every time the Pedal Party goes out and you could have your company logo placed RIGHT THERE on everyone of your team member’s shirts! No lakeside cabin is going to give you that sort of ROI on your event.
Pedal Party is available from 10AM – 10PM Tuesday through Sunday with reduced rates Sunday – Thursday as well as for tours over 3 hours. So think ‘outside the box’ on your next event and Pedal your team to SUCESS by booking a Pedal Party today!
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On one of our loops around we got caught on video by midtownmagic1 on YouTube, check out his video:
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No bar on Washington sees the Pedal Party more than the Porch Swing Pub. Its casual atmosphere, great patio and super friendly staff make this a favorite place to take a break while touring the neighborhood.
They’ve got a full menu, cocktails and a large selection of beers on tap. A house favorite is the Frozen Screwdriver, a fresh twist on an old favorite. They start off with a frozen mix of vodka/orange juice yumminess (is that Cointreau I taste?) and float that in a pint glass of Blue Moon. An inspired pairing not to be missed.
Generally when the PP arrives at the Porch Swing, it is to the collective cheers of those assembled on the patio; a great outdoor space that gives patrons a great view of the bike as it wheels in. The Porch Swing is also dog-friendly (out doors, at least) so there’s generally a few barks coming from the crowd as well!
Porch Swing loves the Pedal Party so much, in fact, that they are offering a drink special for groups while they are on their tours:
$5 Frozen Screwdrivers
Just tell your friendly bartender that you’re with the Pedal Party…although, with the grand entrance we generally make, they’ll already know.
You don’t have to wait for your Pedal Party to check out this awesome place to hang with friends, drop in anytime!
Porch Swing Pub
69 Heights Boulevard
Houston, TX 77007-5817
(713) 880-8700
www.porchswingpub.com
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Cahill’s on Durham is one of the remaining, truly neighborhood bars on Washington Ave. Housed in an old Victorian mansion, it presents itself in a pretty straight forward way when you walk in the door: lots of wood, sports memorabilia, regular people drinking beer. What you see is what you get.
Leaning more towards a ‘dive’ or ‘pub’ rather than a ‘bar’ or ‘club’, Cahill’s on Durham is homey, relaxed and for real real. For the Pedal Party, that means no hassles with dress code, no one complaining about the 16 peeps that just rolled in and lots of good cheer from both the staff and the regulars.
Cahill’s has a really cool covered patio/porch on the back and a sunnier one out front, so all your outdoor needs are met and it is big and roomy on the inside so a Pedal Party group can grab some relief from the heat without causing a bar jam.
Super laid back and always PP friendly, Cahill’s on Durham is a great place to rest your legs on your next Pedal Party tour. Check out their page on Facebook and let them know if you ‘Like It’.
Cahill’s on Durham
903 Durham Dr
Houston, TX 77007
(713) 864-9400
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Last week, I got a chance to hang out with the peeps at Saint Arnold brewery in their brand new location just outside of Downtown Houston.
Saint Arnold’s new place is amazing, and has a giant beer hall where you can see the magic happen while you’re enjoying the fruits of their labors. And what fruits they are! We had the chance sample several of their beers and they were all excellent. Since I like super light beers, my favorites were the Texas Wheat and the Fancy Lawnmower; some friends on the tour who like fuller brews went NUTS over the Amber and Brown Ales. I think I’ll also go crazy for the Summer Pils, but that, of course, is only available in the summer.
While we were there, we got to meet a lot of the Saint Arnold’s family and all of them were really cool. Big Dave and Little Dave let us talk their ears off while we were sampling and Lennie was a super great host for the afternoon.
They give tours of the brewery (with TASTINGS!) every week day at 3:00 and on Saturdays at 11:00 and 2:00. I highly recommend it as it is a truly great experience.
Oh yeah, while you’re there, don’t forget to try the St. Arnold’s Root Beer, it is the best I have ever tasted!
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We had interview with both Channel 13 and Channel 39. You can view them both right here.
Channel 13:
Channel 39 story