At Champs and Kwik Trip and others, its as plain as Saturday.
“Boo! Spooky Month specials just flew in.” Using the cool wind of early autumn. Listed on the first Saturday, which is the first day period, of the month of October. To that convenience store near you, via their flyer, so maybe there’ll continue to be delivery by a witch or two until October ends, on a broom bearing brew in the form of hot coffee and boatloads of cool candy for the multitudes of minions? (Take it to the limit, and out back to the patio, and eat!) Apparently there were no supply or labor shortages or distribution hiccups. (Now that would be scary).
These and other important factors also play into the openness of the rooftop patios, tavern style, which at this time of year when they may offer heating as part of their nature, continue to pick up steam, and fill a niche left by other venues as their outdoors-loving-in-the-form-of-patios patrons, look for added attendance options. Some ground-level patios closed down as early as late August. And others do still cater to a few, sometimes hardcore patrons, like the back-to-back patios at Ziggy’s/Hop N Barrel and the both higher and lower leveled ones at the Smilin’ Moose.
— Want music too, as to quote Zeppelin, fall drives back the foot that’s slow since we come from the land of ice and snow, in the form of the recent snow? So in the vein of heated patios, don’t wait for the next frost, check out Picks of the Week for Apple Fest and more.
And then, check Notes From the Beat to check-in on how all the latest events drew. Weather permitting. —
But to go back up the roof, I asked the question on that Saturday, of a worker of the Champs in New Richmond, and was told that each year the rooftop bar closes on Oct. 1, so it was shutdown for the season just minutes before I queried. (So you have less spaces to order that occasional cool special of a $2 Captain Coke). With these Champions of the rooftop scene, and putting it in writing, you could say my timing was either very good or very bad. We’ll have to see if Santa has the same bad luck as all the creepy critters, on Oct. 31, with roof access, or if he will be acquired by the Easter Bunny in a merger that lets him again to have an entry point, dependent on the year’s timing of Easter. Or be thusly annexed, if serving a locale where there is no Siberia between their two workshops. (I always wondered how Santa got along when the children were asleep under a roof with no chimney).
Then on the lawn below, at various times during the sunning-summer past. A Teenie Weenie yellow polka dot bikini? That would imply two different colors, and when they instead have a singular tone, of either, and solely, pink or orange … Wearing two pastel tints? Thus two different swimsuits? Then you know someone is totally into their tanning.
Or do it on the ultimate deck, on rooftop. That would be a heated one. Enter Mallory’s, the northernmost bar and grill in Hudson. It has small lights all around, big cushy chairs and even a couch — and even a flag pointed southward. The attentiveness of the staff was, again, immediate, asking what I would like. No thanks, just taking it all in. And there is a lot, as they are tree-line high, offering a can’t beat it view of the fall colors. And see the St. Croix River, as a side benefit, with its own tints and tones. Then back down the exit staircase, also winding its way through several levels. A couple of gates to what’s below, partially open, by state law, but partially closed with one chain each.
But back at top, virtually every chair was filled, more than double the number of patrons in the patios, if they have them, of other bars as the cold crawls in. A marriage of both is at Mel’s Downtowner in River Falls, with their patio still open, and will be so, but as a worker pointed out, mostly for the smoking crowd. But a cool benefit, that the patio is only a go-through-the-door distance away, in case your carrying drinks, so you only have to go a few steps for a table. Most all of their bar peers have their version patios shut down at this point, or partly or totally enclosed, even if below roof level.
But some welcome the cold, such as local cooks who in the summer plied their trade in temps that were way above 100 degrees. Too much use of fans would cause the whole kitchen to shut down, (like a bad storm used to do at an old version of a creamery, meaning the guts of the driers would need to be thoroughly cleaned). This year’s heat didn’t even wait until late June to come around.
Wouldn’t we take that now?