The summer’s less than a month away from being over, and today is a really nice day outside, so I thought that we should take advantage of this nice weather while it’s still here and do a little day-drinking today. A new bar opened in East Peoria this year and it’s called The Eastport Deck Bar & Grill and that sounds like the perfect destination for today’s day-drinking adventure. One question is hanging in the air like so much summer wheat though...how will we get there? Well, scroll down a bit and you’ll find the answer right in front of your nose...
Amber’s going to drive! And here she is behind the wheel looking pretty as always. Since Amber’s driving, she’s going to limit her cocktail intake and I have to be today’s designated drinker. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it! Onwards we go!
I wish you could see what’s going on in this car next to us. Amber noticed it first. This woman is driving with her bare foot behind the steering wheel and it’s resting on her dashboard! It’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen and I really wanted to meet her and maybe give her a foot massage, but she sped away and zoomed down Sterling Avenue leaving us with just a wonderful memory of her and her foot. It makes me think of The Shaggs!
Okay, we are headed in an Easterly fashion to the Peoria on the other side of the river.
And here we are at the Eastport Deck Bar & Grill. Welcome aboard!
They have a really nice deck out here and we decided we’d eat lunch out here...
But before that happens, time for a pre-lunch beer or two inside of the bar.
I like the bar in here, it’s got kind of tiki bar feel to it.
This is the view of the back of the bar from where we’re seated.
Here’s Gerri, the pretty and friendly bartender serving up an ice-cold bottle of Red Stripe! A perfect start for today! Gerri’s a great bartender and was a lot of fun to talk to.
We were curious about this sign on the bar next to where we were seated, it says: “Jim Bar Chair.” Seconds later it all made sense as...
Jim sat down in this bar chair! Jim said he’s been a regular since the place opened last year. He posed for a photo and then was curious about the MBIP blog, as he had never heard about it...
So Amber showed it to him on her phone. Then we placed our lunch order. They have a menu with items that Gerri cooks up in the kitchen, or you can get something from the outside grill. We decided to go with something from the grill.
And here’s the grillmaster, Curt, preparing our lunch outside on the deck.
We’ve officially moved from the bar to the deck and this is the view from out here. Pretty spectacular, huh?
Curt’s getting some assistance from Gerri at the grill and it looks like lunch is about to be served!
I got a hot dog with onions and melted cheese and topped it off with a healthy dollop of mustard.
Amber got a cheeseburger and it was all that and a bag of chips! Lunch was delicious!
The deck is three stories and here we are enjoying the view from the top of the deck.
We met Rhonda up here and it turns out she’s Curt’s girlfriend and she helped design the bar! Here we are taking dueling pictures of each other. Fotorama fun!
And now it’s time to walk down the stairs and head off...
To our next destination...
The Silver Bullet in East Peoria! The last time I was in here was for a Cheeseburger Saturday Night on September 9th in 2013. I met my friend Tori and her friends, Heidi and Jamie. You can see that post by clicking here. I can’t believe that was almost two years ago! Time for a return visit and it’s inside we go!
They’ve got a decent crowd in here, but I spy two seats at the bar, so that’s where we’re headed!
And here we are settled in at the bar. Now we just need to get the bartender’s attention...
Well now, that was easy! Jaime’s the pretty bartender on duty and here she is serving up a Stella with a smile. I love it!
Margie was seated at the end of the bar looking absolutely gorgeous, so I just had to take her picture. We had a really nice chat and she said that she’s been a regular here since she moved back to the Peoria area two years ago. Great to meet you, Margie!
And now for the last stop of the afternoon, The Variety Club. This is another place I did a blog post on back on January 10th, 2014. I’d say we’re overdue for a return visit and so it’s inside we go!
We decided to sit down at the end of the bar...
And here’s the owner Erin who we met on our first trip here along with Bill who’s the bartender of the day. Great to see Erin again and to meet Bill!
Free popcorn alert!
Bill’s son write’s for the Morton Courier. I forgot to write his name down, so if Bill sees this or anyone out here knows his name, leave it below in the comments section. This is going to drive me crazy all fucking day. I hate it when I forget to write something down. Hate it, hate it...HATE IT! Okay, let’s just move along and pretend I’m not having a meltdown. **UPDATE: AS I was putting the post together I texted Amber and she found his byline on their website, his name is Tim Shelley! Thank you, Amber, you're a genius as always and my meltdown is officially over!
Amber challenged me to a game of shuffleboard. I haven’t played shuffleboard in years, but no way am I backing down from this challenge! Although a gambling man should bet on Amber, she always kicks my ass in any sort of challenge, maybe it’s because I’m always the designated drinker when we go out!
And the shuffleboard game has begun!
I’m leaning into it and years ago I probably would’ve attempted to snort that white powder up my nose, but happily, those days are over!
Amber has an expert grip on the pucks and gets ready for another throw.
Thanks to Amber for driving and hanging out with me, it was a blast! And thanks to everyone at all the bars that we met and were so friendly to us on this East Peoria day-drinking adventure! Have a wonderful Friday and we’ll see you all tomorrow...and hey, let’s be careful out there!
The Eastport Deck Bar & Grill
701 Mariners Way
East Peoria
309-839-2505
The Silver Bullet
135 N. Main St
East Peoria
309-694-0568
The Variety Club
123 E. Washington Street
East Peoria
309-694-9023