Tear ducts...

One of the first weekends I spent in Tallahassee, a couple of friends of mine dragged me along to a place called Waterworks. It's the only tiki-bar in Tallahassee and has both an eclectic drink menu as well as an appetizing sandwich menu. A few years ago they used to have live bands several nights of the week, as well as a DJ spinning pop and 80's nights on Fridays and Saturdays, but they've since moved on to a more minimalist methods of crowd control.

The inside is dressed up with rattan and bamboo, and there are hula-girl mugs and stuffed pufferfish behind the bar. The windows that face the street have a constant cascade of water flowing down them (hence the bar's name) and the parking lot is lined with coconut palms. The bartenders are knowledgeable enough that you can ask them to, "make me something fruity..." and they'll both happily oblige and surprise you every time (one of the bartenders is even from New Orleans and will make you the best Pim's Cup you've ever had). Fridays and Saturdays they have a DJ throwing down tracks and it gets busy enough in there that you'll have to either get friendly with everyone between you and the bathroom, or bring along a big, big friend to make you a path through the crowd.



Waterworks has changed in recent years, no two ways about it, but I don't think it's for the worse. They went smokeless this year, which is a very welcome change, and they hired new bartenders. The area around Waterworks, what might be called the Downtown Meridian Corridor (though it's technically on Thomasville Road), has blown up in the past year or so - enough that if you get bored at Waterworks you now have your choice of egress to either a wine bar, a Coffee Pub, and Irish pub, a French bistro/bar, a techno bar/club, a socialite wine bar, a Decent Pizza shop, a sushi restaurant/bar, a frat/biker bar or Whataburger. All good choices for whatever mood you're in.

But Waterworks has a charm all it's own - charm enough to make all the other nearby choices seem lackluster by comparison. It's the local hipster hang-out (hipsters who drink, anyway), but it's also a popular spot for grad students and professors from FSU. You might think that a place like that sounds pretty pretentious, but Waterworks has an endearing way of diffusing all that intellectual ego and transmogrifying it into a wonderful opportunity for conversation.



Aside from the charm, location and kick-ass menus, Waterworks has been the sight of more than a few firsts for me. Waterworks was the place I first went out dancing when I got to Tallahassee; I met the first girl I seriously dated in Tallahassee there; I 'discovered' several bands I now love at Waterworks; I picked up my first ever one-night-stand in Waterworks; Waterworks is the only place I've ever gone out to publicly dance wearing a diaper (post costume party dancing - pictures may be forthcoming). It's a unique place, and attracts unique people and opportunities.

Personal firsts and bests aside, I'd like to give a shout-out to Don 'Q', the owner of Waterworks. I don't know where he came from (nobody knows, I think. I get the impression that he just sort of appeared here one day, as if by magic), but I can tell you that he's managed to conjure up two of the best places in Tallahassee out of shear vision and willpower (Waterworks, of course, and Cicada market. More on the market later on). He's a gracious and endearing host who has made an indelible impression on the local culture of Tallahassee, as well as loaning me his canoe at least twice (though I'm not sure if he's aware of the latter. Thanks Don!). I will surely miss Don and his watering hole quite a lot, and hope that they are here for many years to come.