The 2007 Pumpkin Beer Tour and Wallingford Oktoberfest began unexpectedly at 4:09pm Pacific Time with a phone call from legendary pumpkin pioneer Doug Hall. Tipsy after a few drinks with co-workers, our loyal Boston imbiber was in the midst of his own personal pumpkin beer tour enjoying a tasty Halloween Pumpkin Ale at The Cambridge Common when I got the call. Unable to join us in Seattle, Doug wanted to give his regards and tell us he'd be with us in spirit if sadly not in person. It was a gracious effort on Doug's part and one that we greatly appreciate; the perfect preface to a night of potential pumpkin passion fulfillment.

Following the phone call, it was down to business. Alexis and I rendezvoued with Lone Star superstar, Karen at Tangletown on 55th in Wallingford. Having nabbed a table nearly an hour before our arrival, Karen fought off the advances of fellow patrons and maintained an excellent starting base for the night's activities. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Karen, birthday girl Meghan had already been present at Tangletown herself enjoying some fun with a gaggle of her buddies a mere two tables away. Once we noticed the disconnect a reunion was made, Amy, Anna, and Matt arrived to join the scene, and it was pumpkin go time!

On the heels of their own Pumpkin Beer Festival the previous weekend, Tangletown had a plethora of pumpkin beers on tap and ready to enjoy. Night Owl Pumpkin Ale and Hansel and Gretel were the night's big winners with thumbs up all around. For the majority of us though it was one and done and on to the next bar with these two champions setting us up for our big move to 45th street.

Our first stop on 45th was the homey Kate's Pub. A neat little neighborhood bar with a friendly feel it was there where Alexis and I broke out the birthday cake we had made for Meghan that afternoon. The candles lit and our pipes ready for some raucous singing we noticed one little problem: everyone was present except the birthday girl! A moment later, however Meghan busted through the door (with Greg and Laura unknowingly right behind her) and the singing commenced. A puff of the candles later and a bar patron was immediately on the scene and glowing with happiness. Another woman with a November 2nd birthday... a small world, indeed! One Hale's Cream Ale and numerous nibbles of cake later, we packed up the remainder of our dessert and hit the road for stop #3: Al's Tavern.

Al's is a cool lounge type bar featuring long leather booths, two pool tables in back, and a colorful drawing of two Australian cattledogs hanging from the taps. When I questioned the bar tender on the ownership of said Australians, which of course I could not resist, the pour meister merely stated that the dogs occassionaly hang out in the back but they weren't there this evening. This strange conversation now history, I grabbed a mason jar of Rainier, handed the fella 4 bucks (it's only $2.50 he proclaimed, keep the change I responded), and worked a groove in the carpeting crusing from the front of the bar (where Alexis was enjoying a Dick's delux burger) to the pool table area in back. Meghan's lady friends meanwhile had muscled their way onto the pool tables and were dominating all who crossed them leaving a trail of foiled fellas and broken bank shot dreams in their wake. Our beer jars soon emptied it was time to mosey out to Goldie's, a sports bar in which I promised "at least 15 pool tables" to the excitement of our cue stick cuties.

Stop #4 was a bustling affair though not completely satisfying. All four pool tables were packed, the six or so plastic dartboards occupied, and nary a parlor game in sight was available for our amusement. The solution: some talk about steroids and a few finger food orders! Suddenly, to our surprise Dave, Elizabeth, Jayson, and Jessica joined our parade just in time for some black and white photos in the picture booth. Amazingly, the four had been out earlier that night eating pizza in celebration of Jessica's birthday, another November 2nd birthday, who would've thunk it? Birthday or not, one Rainier down the hatch and it was time for Changes.

Venue #5 happened so quickly I missed the entire thing. Trailing behing the rest of the party by the time I arrived at Changes I noticed the caravan was already out of the bar and up the street. "What did I miss?" I sadly questioned when I reunited with the crew, "what was the problem?" "Well, Changes wasn't exactly a fun, cool gay bar scene," came the raised eyebrow reply, "we're talking lecherous old men sitting in a well-lit environment preying on the scags of The UW looking for a sugardaddy to finance them through college." "Hrumph," I retored, "Well, I could use a sugardaddy..."

Next on the docket was Murphy's across the street. Darts were flyin', the Boddingtin's was flowin', and our troops settled as a few broken up groups scattered throughout the bar. Bent on discussing Tom Brady's offensive line, the art or catastrophe of the marriage proposal, and exactly what the bartender's reply to "are you single," which was "kinda, sorta, but not really" actually meant good times were had by all. Forty or so minutes later, however Laura was offended by the expression "drain the monster," Meghan and her crew had mysteriously vanished, and I was finally seeing a light at the end of our near-pumpkinless tour: Moon Temple chinese food! So with but a rising to my feet the tour came to a close... almost.

Alexis and I decided to pay tribute to Boston and the great Hong Kong Restaurant in Harvard Square with a taste of chinese Seattle-style. Stop #7 on The Tour was the infamous Moon Temple lounge. Perfectly fitting nearly every cliche of the chinese lounge that occupied dozens of movies of the 1970s, Moon Temple was simply awesome. Devoid of pumpkin beer (and tap beer of any sort for that matter) the last remaining duo of The Tour settled for a pair of Coors Lights, an order of crab wontons (Seattle-speak for crab rangoon), and a nice bit of the old kung pao beef. Nestled in a table off to the side of the bar the food arrived in minutes and Alexis and I chowed down on what was surpringly some very decent chinese food, especially for post 1am viddles. Even Alexis, who often snubs her nose at beef of any sort, was want to pick and pick and pick her way through my kung pao. Delicious it was, indeed!

After Moon Temple we finally called it quits but not before one final stop at Dick's for a vanilla shake and a Dick's special. Still wanting of pumpkin brew we nevertheless assured ourselves of one thing we wouldn't be craving: food. And alas, when all was said and done we didn't go home hungry, that's for damn sure, and in the morning looked upon the world with pumpkin tinted glasses and nary a headache in sight. So even though the pumpkin beer didn't flow as well as we had hoped the evening was still a glowing success and more fun than a barrel of monkeys playing with a barrel of pumpkins picked for the sake of pumpkin brewing. Or something like that.

Tonight’s Final Statistics:

6 Beers consumed (Elysian Night Owl Pumpkin Ale, Hale's Cream Ale, Rainier, Rainier, Boddington's, Coors Light)
2 matching maroon shoes worn by Amy and Alexis
3 November 2nd birthday ladies all celebrating on 45th street
Song of the Night: Lita Ford– Kiss Me Deadly