Next time you miss the Bremerton-bound ferry from Seattle, don’t go with the same-o lame-o and retire under the viaduct to shiver in the frigid June air with an ice cold can of Steel Reserve.
Instead you could get a $2 discount off a beer made from organic ferns at the Bookstore Bar at the Alexis Hotel, a drinking establishment that is crafting it’s latest marketing scheme around ferry riders.
(By the way, they don’t sell Steel Reserve in the downtown area. And microbrews just taste like they are made from ferns.)
The watering hole has observed an increase in ferry passengers – because of preposterous gasoline prices, they opined – and they have also taken note of the increase of people missing the ferry. Maybe because they are drunk?
The bar is one block up at 1009 First Avenue. Show your ferry pass or ticket and get $2 off the first drink.
“This is the perfect spot for ferry riders who don’t want to wait at the terminal, but don’t have time to wander very far,” said a PR representative in an e-mail to the Sun.
It might be a good location – especially considering there are many bars within walking distance of the ferry terminal, which could also be “perfect spots” – but $2 off one drink might not be the deal it sounds like. (Especially since you can buy a whole can of Steel Reserve for about that much, and if you drink it under the viaduct, you can smoke cigarettes and not be beaten to death. But you might still get beaten.)
A call to the Bookstore found that a glass of beer costs about $5-$6. A mixed drink runs about $8-$9. There’s no High Life or Rainier on tap. The cheapest possible drink is Bud or Bud Light in a bottle, for about $4.75.
So, theoretically, you could buy a single 12 ounce bottle of Bud for $2.75, not including tip. That’s a better deal than you’ll get in the ferry’s galley, which has taken a page from the Safeco Field/Qwest Field play book and shows no shame in trying to remove every last cent from the pockets of the thirsty masses. Let the good times roll.
(By the way, has anybody noticed the breadth of cheap, fortified wine selection available at the 7-11 on Park Avenue and Sixth Street? They have them all, Boone’s, Night Train, Thunderbird, Wild Irish Rose, Cisco, Mad Dog, that isn’t to mention the malt liquor offerings, including Steel Reserve and off-brand 40s. That’s quite a selection.)
‘…there are many bars within walking distance of the ferry terminal, which could also be “perfect spots”…”
The old days are over and the bars should move on…they are hardly an attraction for families.
If anything all the bars are a negative smear to the new Bremerton…IF Bremerton wants children and families rather than the drinkers.
What -other than the new park – is downtown to attract the children? They are too young for the bar scene.
Why not replace a bar with a innovative children and regular book store offering story times or real animal show and tell? B & N is usually packed.
Offer businesses – something to the family and healthy type folks other than booze – or not.
Sharon O’Hara
Oh whoopee.
What does Bremerton offer to the kids and families other than a vast range of bars?
Nothing it seems. The bars offer cultural stimulation to the adults who need them…but what about the rest of us?
Maybe the drinking age can be lowered to twelve.
Sharon O’Hara
You may want to re-read the article. The bars mentioned are all on the Seattle side.
You may be reminiscing about The Wheelhouse–the bar that used to serve PSNS workers who “missed” the ferry to Port Orchard…
The beer selection at the belgain fries place by the ferry terminal is awesome.
There is an ice cream shop, Navy museum and a fountain park right next to the ferry terminal for kids that are waiting for the next boat. There are also two coffee places that serve a mean hot-chocolate.
This is my kind of post. It appeals to the drinker, the procrastinator, AND the miser in me!
They’re crazy, however, if they think I’ll stick around after the initial discounted beer…that 7-11 is calling my name with the sweet, slightly raspy voice of Black Label malt liquor in a 40 oz. bottle.
And as to Bremerton’s bar situation and “THE CHILDREN! WON’T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!” I don’t believe that replacing some of the dives out there with disease spreading petting zoos would be much help in the long run. I mean, they’re the same thing, right?
Book stores and edutainment nickelodeons aren’t going to set the children of Bremerton straight. Required parenting education courses, a ban on smoking with children in the car, and perhaps a swift kick to the gluteus assimus of offending parents might help them more than a skinny guy with his shirt half tucked in making funny voices and playing with his socks in public. But that’s just the drunken 12 year old in me talking. The drunken 12 year old who thinks that hanging out in downtown Seattle after 1250am is a perfectly reasonable thing to be doing.
Seriously, I’m all for families in bremerton, I’m just very much against most of the people in Bremerton breeding. And I hate puppet shows.
Thanks…I did misunderstand the correct city of bars.
Luckily we have the bar (how many?) right across from the Bremerton ferry for the parents to visit while their children wait outside for them. Maybe the bar/s will provide benches for the kids.
The fountain park is spectacular – a great place for children and adults. Good to know of the coffee shops and hot chocolate..
Sharon O’Hara