bakon vodka
A couple weeks ago I saw a few posts on Facebook from my friends about Bakon Vodka. I was intrigued, and knew my father would want to see this. I emailed him the link to their website and the response I received said "I think you should drive to Iowa and get me some of that." Something I didn't realize is that Bakon Vodka is only sold in select states right now, Iowa being the closest.
Daddy didn't know it, but after his email I decided to take a mini road trip last weekend to "get him some of that" for his birthday. I called up Lisa to see if she wanting to join in the adventure, and luckily she did so that I could have some company. What followed was definitely an adventure.
On Friday I started calling liquor stores, trying to find the closest one to the MN border that sold Bakon Vodka. All of the conversations went like this:
On Saturday, we left Lisa's place in Apple Valley at about 5:00pm. Did you know that Ames is halfway through Iowa?! Google said it would take about three hours to drive there. Of course, Google doesn't count bathroom breaks, dinner, oh and of course - the outlet mall!!
As we drove past the outlet malls in Medford, MN Lisa mentioned that she has wanted to go there. Why not? It's still early (about 6:00), let's do some shopping! The Medford outlets aren't that great though, Albertville is definitely better. We still spent almost an hour there, and I was getting nervous about not making it to the liquor store on time. Wouldn't that be great? Drive all the way down to Ames, IA and end up getting there minutes after the doors close!
So we get in the car ready to leave Medford and continue the journey. As I'm pulling out of the parking spot I hear HONK! immediately followed by a THUD! Great! I've just backed into the side of another car. All I can think about is how much will this cost me? I get out to asses the damage and the girl who was in the passenger side of the other car also gets out (that's the side I hit). She looks at the car door, which has a large obvious dent, then looks up and says "that was there before".
Uhhh... ok... She continues by saying that there isn't any new damage and maybe we should just exchange insurance information. I agree and go to get my information from the car. This whole time, Lisa is outside the car also examining my car (no damage there either). By the time I get back with my insurance card, the passenger is switching seats with the driver. As the driver (who was the passenger) is getting into the car she says "We cool!".
WHAT!? They drove off leaving Lisa and I STUNNED! How did we get off so easy? We are assuming that either they didn't have insurance or the girl who was driving didn't have a drivers license. Good enough for me :)
Alright, back on our way. The rest of the drive through Minnesota and a lot of Iowa was uneventful. Other than the fun inside the car of singing along with the stereo :). I didn't want to stop anywhere else that would take time because we were getting close to not making the store on time.
We get to Ames a little after 9:00 (the liquor store closes at 10:00). Neither Lisa or I are very good with directions, especially in the dark. I thought we drove too far, turn around, find a gas station, look at a map, see that we didn't drive far enough. Go back, find the right roads. We are ON the road that the liquor store is on and can not find it ANYWHERE! Ok, one reason is that Lisa said it was on the left side according to my directions, but the directions actually said it was on the right. Whatever, another small setback.
Cyclone Liquors is found! So excited, we go into the store and the clerk asks if he can help us find anything. "Yes, we are looking for Bakon Vodka." We follow him to the vodka section and he says "Oh, it looks like we're out."
WHAT? NOOOOO! YOU CAN'T BE OUT! WE JUST DROVE FROM MINNESOTA! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!?
Wait, I had asked for two bottles to be set aside for me, are they still here? The manager (or owner?) comes out and says he has two bottles reserved but there is no name on it. I told him it HAS to be for me, I called last night, reserved two bottles, and DROVE FROM MINNESOTA!
Phew! They sell us the two bottles, and were very interested in the fact that we were from Minnesota and started telling us about the vodka. It has a strange smell (more like bacon than vodka) but is really good in bloody marys with some hot sauce. Unfortunately since it was the only two they had I couldn't buy one for Joe (the BIL).
Proof that we went all the way to Iowa
Luckily there was a grocery store with a liquor store just across the parking lot. They also sold Bakon Vodka - THANK GOODNESS! Now we have three bottles of bacon flavored vodka sitting in my trunk.
That's all we needed! Well, we did debate looking for a party in the college town since it was Saturday night. But alas, it was time to turn right back around and drive home! (Although I did stop to get an Iowa postcard for my dad as his birthday card) Again it was a fairly uneventful drive through Iowa (I mean, seriously, it's fields, in the dark)
Real close to the Iowa/Minnesota border is Diamond Jo Casino. When we got close it was time for a bathroom break anyway (and there was a rest stop next to the casino), so we made a stop. The rest stop was in a barn, actually so was the casino. When I turned into the parking lot for the rest stop I drove a few yards before I realized that I had turned onto the grass! OMG! I was headed straight for the flower path along the sidewalk. Oops, let's backup back onto the street :).
The casino is unique. It is very small, I could actually see from one end of the casino to the other. There was a Subway and a Burger King inside (it was set up so that underage people could go to the fast food but not the casino). They also had a really neat stage (we JUST missed the band for the night) which was behind the bar. If I can attempt to paint a picture for you: The bar counter is in a half circle with the bartenders right behind that (duh!), there is a counter behind them where the registers and liquor are kept, THEN the stage is behind this. Since you have to be able to see over the heads of the bartenders, the stage is actually raised about six feet above the ground. (Karen, they have banquet events, think we can tour them as a comp set? haha)
Ok, time to go home. I dropped Lisa off back at her place at 2:00 am (or 3:00 since it was daylight savings time). So the trip took 9 hours! All for a bottle of Bakon Vodka to make my daddy happy. :)
Yesterday was the birthday celebration for the paterfamilias. I was sure he would know exactly what was in the bag after seeing the postcard. But nope, he was entirely surprised! As a review: yes, the vodka smells EXACTLY like bacon, judging by the faces of the guys after sipping a shot it's not very good by itself, Joe made a bloody mary and it was good in that.
The happy birthday boy
Daddy didn't know it, but after his email I decided to take a mini road trip last weekend to "get him some of that" for his birthday. I called up Lisa to see if she wanting to join in the adventure, and luckily she did so that I could have some company. What followed was definitely an adventure.
On Friday I started calling liquor stores, trying to find the closest one to the MN border that sold Bakon Vodka. All of the conversations went like this:
Me: "Do you have Bakon Vodka?"Eight stores laughed at me, literally LAUGHED. They must have thought it was a joke and they were being pranked or something. Until I called Cyclone Liquors in Ames, Iowa. When I asked if they sold Bakon Vodka, the response was a simple, confident, "Yes". FINALLY!! I had them reserve two bottles for me (one for my dad and one for my brother-in-law).
Clerk (obviously confused): "Bacon??"
Me: "Yes, Bakon."
Clerk (giggling): "Uhhh.... No."
On Saturday, we left Lisa's place in Apple Valley at about 5:00pm. Did you know that Ames is halfway through Iowa?! Google said it would take about three hours to drive there. Of course, Google doesn't count bathroom breaks, dinner, oh and of course - the outlet mall!!
As we drove past the outlet malls in Medford, MN Lisa mentioned that she has wanted to go there. Why not? It's still early (about 6:00), let's do some shopping! The Medford outlets aren't that great though, Albertville is definitely better. We still spent almost an hour there, and I was getting nervous about not making it to the liquor store on time. Wouldn't that be great? Drive all the way down to Ames, IA and end up getting there minutes after the doors close!
So we get in the car ready to leave Medford and continue the journey. As I'm pulling out of the parking spot I hear HONK! immediately followed by a THUD! Great! I've just backed into the side of another car. All I can think about is how much will this cost me? I get out to asses the damage and the girl who was in the passenger side of the other car also gets out (that's the side I hit). She looks at the car door, which has a large obvious dent, then looks up and says "that was there before".
Uhhh... ok... She continues by saying that there isn't any new damage and maybe we should just exchange insurance information. I agree and go to get my information from the car. This whole time, Lisa is outside the car also examining my car (no damage there either). By the time I get back with my insurance card, the passenger is switching seats with the driver. As the driver (who was the passenger) is getting into the car she says "We cool!".
WHAT!? They drove off leaving Lisa and I STUNNED! How did we get off so easy? We are assuming that either they didn't have insurance or the girl who was driving didn't have a drivers license. Good enough for me :)
Alright, back on our way. The rest of the drive through Minnesota and a lot of Iowa was uneventful. Other than the fun inside the car of singing along with the stereo :). I didn't want to stop anywhere else that would take time because we were getting close to not making the store on time.
We get to Ames a little after 9:00 (the liquor store closes at 10:00). Neither Lisa or I are very good with directions, especially in the dark. I thought we drove too far, turn around, find a gas station, look at a map, see that we didn't drive far enough. Go back, find the right roads. We are ON the road that the liquor store is on and can not find it ANYWHERE! Ok, one reason is that Lisa said it was on the left side according to my directions, but the directions actually said it was on the right. Whatever, another small setback.
Cyclone Liquors is found! So excited, we go into the store and the clerk asks if he can help us find anything. "Yes, we are looking for Bakon Vodka." We follow him to the vodka section and he says "Oh, it looks like we're out."
WHAT? NOOOOO! YOU CAN'T BE OUT! WE JUST DROVE FROM MINNESOTA! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!?
Wait, I had asked for two bottles to be set aside for me, are they still here? The manager (or owner?) comes out and says he has two bottles reserved but there is no name on it. I told him it HAS to be for me, I called last night, reserved two bottles, and DROVE FROM MINNESOTA!
Phew! They sell us the two bottles, and were very interested in the fact that we were from Minnesota and started telling us about the vodka. It has a strange smell (more like bacon than vodka) but is really good in bloody marys with some hot sauce. Unfortunately since it was the only two they had I couldn't buy one for Joe (the BIL).
Proof that we went all the way to Iowa
Luckily there was a grocery store with a liquor store just across the parking lot. They also sold Bakon Vodka - THANK GOODNESS! Now we have three bottles of bacon flavored vodka sitting in my trunk.
Real close to the Iowa/Minnesota border is Diamond Jo Casino. When we got close it was time for a bathroom break anyway (and there was a rest stop next to the casino), so we made a stop. The rest stop was in a barn, actually so was the casino. When I turned into the parking lot for the rest stop I drove a few yards before I realized that I had turned onto the grass! OMG! I was headed straight for the flower path along the sidewalk. Oops, let's backup back onto the street :).
The casino is unique. It is very small, I could actually see from one end of the casino to the other. There was a Subway and a Burger King inside (it was set up so that underage people could go to the fast food but not the casino). They also had a really neat stage (we JUST missed the band for the night) which was behind the bar. If I can attempt to paint a picture for you: The bar counter is in a half circle with the bartenders right behind that (duh!), there is a counter behind them where the registers and liquor are kept, THEN the stage is behind this. Since you have to be able to see over the heads of the bartenders, the stage is actually raised about six feet above the ground. (Karen, they have banquet events, think we can tour them as a comp set? haha)
Ok, time to go home. I dropped Lisa off back at her place at 2:00 am (or 3:00 since it was daylight savings time). So the trip took 9 hours! All for a bottle of Bakon Vodka to make my daddy happy. :)
Yesterday was the birthday celebration for the paterfamilias. I was sure he would know exactly what was in the bag after seeing the postcard. But nope, he was entirely surprised! As a review: yes, the vodka smells EXACTLY like bacon, judging by the faces of the guys after sipping a shot it's not very good by itself, Joe made a bloody mary and it was good in that.
The happy birthday boy
Labels: travel
posted by Amanda at
4:45 PM
1 Comments:
I don't get it. I thought one of the two reserved was for your brother-in-law. But then you said when you got there, they only had two so you couldn't get one for Joe, your brother-in-law. Please explain.
But, yea, I was mentioned in your blog?
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