Ballentine VFW Post 246 – Minneapolis, MN

A group of randoms and I have been going to the VFW every Sunday morning for what’s called “Eyeopeners” – basically a happy hour from 11-1. They have $2.50 bloody marys and screwdrivers – where’s the bad in that?!?! Most days we show up and watch the Vikings game or whatever else is on the TV or play darts and rock out the juke box with annoying music. Afterwards, we usually walk somewhere (since we’re firm believers of “safety first”) and grab a bite to eat, since the VFW doesn’t have food there. The best/scariest part is the bartenders know all our names and all about us, so we get harassed every time we go there. It’s got a nice “Cheers” feel to it.

Well, this Sunday, things got real.

There was a Hot Dish contest being held at 1:30. (For those of you outside of Minnesota, Hot Dish just means casserole or crock pot.) The VFW regulars apparently got to smack-talkin and of course the only way to sufficiently settle such an argument is to have a cook-off. We didn’t know about this until the day of the event, so we didn’t have an entry. However, we did have $5 which was the cost of unlimited Hot Dish eating. We were told who the contest winners were, and I feel the judging was pretty accurate. I don’t know who Hot Dish #7 was, but it had an amazing flavor and had chow mein noodles in it – it was clearly the winner.

We all lined up with our plates and plasticware and tried every one of the contest entries. And some of us… meaning me… tried three portions of the entries. . . And then finished off a couple people’s plates at our table who wussed out and left portions of #7 on their plates. That’s just rude.

Additionally, HotGirlsBrother and TheDoctor love to drink what is called a “Dockworker’s Breakfast.” This consists of a shot of bourbon, and then you drink a beer with a raw egg in it. Yeah, really. It's from the television show "The Wire". Occasionally HotGirlsBrother will bring a carton with a couple of eggs in it for them to drink. And every once in a while, HotGirlsBrother will offer the dockworker's breakfast to random strangers who then turn into stalkers. Yeah, it happens.

This was probably the best day ever at the VFW. But there is hope that it might get better. They said, they periodically have these contests – with Chili and other various food items. I’m sooooooo looking forward to this.