Season 3, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 054 | Nashville, Part 2 – House of Cards

There is one thing the girls love almost as much as a great drink – and each other – MAGIC! ✨ Did you know there is a underground, super exclusive speakeasy/house of magic in downtown Nashville? Tune in to hear all about House of Cards, the hidden gem underneath the Johnny Cash Museum – but don’t worry…no spoilers. You have to experience the magic for yourself!

The DOE for this episode is rum and ginger beer – a Boozy Blondes favorite!

So again, House of Cards is an exclusive speakeasy-esque bar/restaurant/house of magic in downtown Nashville. It’s located UNDER the Johnny Cash museum around 3rd and Broadway. Once you arrive at the museum, there is a doorman who will direct you to the private entrance to House of Cards. You go down a secret tunnel and enter into a whole other world. There’s an amazing hand-crafted bar that offers one of the largest liquor selections in the region, there’s a multimillion dollar collection of art, European antiques, and ancient magical artifacts. There are no windows, tons of red velvet curtains draped all around, old magic show advertisement posters and tall columns throughout the space.

Once we checked in we were greeted and offered a tour of the dining room. Our guide showed us where the main magic show was held, where the floating magicians would be performing, he pointed out artifacts and pointed us in the direction of the courtyard which features a 19-foot waterfall.

They will take a group photo for you inside since photography is not allowed – except in the bathroom and in the courtyard.

Reservations are highly recommended, and the dress code is strictly enforced. At the time of this recording, you can book your table no sooner than two weeks in advance. So set your alarms and calendar reminders because tables fill fast. Dress code is dress to impress and if you don’t abide by it, they will not grant you access:

MEN: Sports coat or dinner jacket and button up dress shirt is mandatory. Dress pants suggested, dress shoes required. No light or torn jeans.

LADIES: Cocktail or formal dresses, elegant skirt and blouse, dressy rompers or dressy tunic (hip-length) and slacks combinations, and pant-suits (matching blazer and pants) with dress shoes is required. No denim of any kind, nor casual wear.

The food is phenomenal. Menu selections include octopus, beer tartare, foie gras, steaks, elk, lamb, porkshops, sea bass, etc, etc. Complimentary tickets to the main magic act are included with an entree order, but you cannot purchase tickets separately to this show. Then there are rotating magicians on the floor which you can go see at any time. We waited until after dinner to do all the magic, but you can go see the magicians on the floor while you wait for your dinner to be prepared.

House of Cards is 21 and over, except during Sunday brunch when all ages are welcome.

The girls include some tips for visiting House of Cards:

  • Set a reminder to make your reservations. This place is extremely popular, so 14 days out, secure your spot. They do accept walk-ins, but you’re taking a chance there will be availability.
  • If you don’t get a reservation, you can try to get in to enjoy cocktails on the patio or at the bar. You’ll be able to see the roaming magicians, just not the main act. Dress code still applies.
  • Dress to impress. The dress code is strictly enforced so use this as an opportunity to get all dolled up.
  • Bring cash to tip the magicians and the photographer. The group photo is complimentary, so it’s nice to tip the photographer.
  • Arrive early and enjoy a drink out on the patio before dinner and stay late to enjoy the magicians and an after-dinner drink or cigar.
  • Be prepared to be engaged. There is a lot of audience participation.

The magicians we saw were Mark and Shadow. You can follow House of Cards on Instagram. Please message us on Instagram if you’ve been to House of Cards and share your experience with us!

Cheers!

Season 3, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 053 | Nashville, Part 1 – Honky Tonks

Get ready lushes, we’re off to Music City – Nashville, Tennessee! The Boozy Blondes served themselves a hearty helping of all things country during a recent visit to Nashville, and in this episode, they recap 9 bars they hit on and off Broadway. Tune in to hear where they went and why you should add these places to your next trip to Nash-Vegas!

The DOE is whiskey (bourbon), of course! Chrissy is drinking a “funky” old fashioned with Brothers Bond bourbon called Bond Fire S’Mores! Molly is drinking a smoked old fashioned with Angel’s Envy.

Before the Boozy Blondes made it to Broadway, they met their friends at Pins Mechanical, a boozy adult playground about 7 blocks west of where the honky tonks start on Broadway. Pin’s slogan is “when life gives you balls, play with them!” and the girls did just that! At Pins you can enjoy an abundance of games from old school arcade games and pinball to Skee Ball and ping pong to giant garbage can beer pong and bocce and so much more! You can follow Pins on IG to check out all the fun. If you’re an active drinker like the Boozy Blondes, then this place is definitely for you!

From here the girls walked to the Grand Hyatt Nashville to visit the rooftop bar lou/na. Offering stunning views of the city and serving delicious cocktails (the blondes recommend the espresso martinis), lou/na is one of the newest and most glamourous rooftop bars in Nashville. lou/na was inspired by the Louisville and Nashville railroad that passed directly through the site of the Grand Hyatt for a century! Be sure to follow lou/na on IG.

Speaking of railroads, across the street from the Grand Hyatt is the historic Union Station Nashville Yards. This luxury boutique hotel was first a bustling terminal and architectural marvel with its Gothic design. It’s stunning. Check out Bourbon & Boxcars Tea if you’re here on a Thursday, but you never know what special event could be happening! The Boozy Blondes walked into a Harry Potter pop-up bar when they were here! Check out the Boozy Blondes’ reels on IG to see how magical it was!

At this point it was time to tackle some honky tonks. The girls had a goal of six and, spoiler alert, they achieved their goal! These are the places they hit:

  1. Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge / IG = Tootsies
  2. Second Fiddle / IG = Second Fiddle
  3. The Stage / IG = The Stage
  4. Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk & Rock & Roll Steakhouse / IG = Kid Rock’s
  5. Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge / IG = Luke Bryan’s
  6. Blake Shelton’s Ole Red / IG = Ole Red

Tune in to hear about the drinks, the music and the fun at each of these places. There are over 30 bars along Broadway in the heart of Nashville, so the girls knocked out about a 1/5 of them!

Have you visited these bars? Share your pics with us! DM us on IG or email us!

Resources and Ridiculousness, Season 3

Episode 052 | Boozy Blondes Happy Hour, Volume 4

The Boozy Blondes have been apart since January 30, 2023, and in this episode they take time for a happy hour call! Listen in to hear about how the first part of the year has been for these booze travelers.

Settle in with your favorite drink and eavesdrop on the Boozy Blondes’ call. Chrissy is drinking the Boozy Blondes’ favorite morning drink, rum and ginger beer, and Molly is sipping on South Beach Brewing Strawberry Orange Mimosa beer.

This year Chrissy has been covered up in work and projects – she is just starting to have some well deserved time for herself! She’s been in North Georgia since the beginning of 2024, and recently she’s ventured to Currahee Tap Room in Clayton, Georgia, Stonewall Creek Vineyards and Tiger Mountain Vineyards in Tiger, Georgia, Wolf Mountain Vineyards in Dahlonega, Georgia and CeNita Vineyards in Cleveland, Georgia.

Molly has been busy traveling around Florida in Tampa, The Villages, Orlando and St. Augustine. Some of her favorite stops have been Forgotten Tonic‘s Miracle Christmas Bar in St. Augustine, Downtown Beer Hall in Marble Falls, Texas, Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar, The Edison, Raglan Road and STK in Disney Springs and Universal Orlando.

Get details on the best drinks from all these places, and hear shout outs to the Boozy Blondes’ favorites over these travels – Ryan at Currahee and Gonzo at STK.

Cheers!

Season 3, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 051 | Beer Spa

Check Beer Spa off the Boozy Blondes’ boozy bucket list! (Then add it again 1000 more times because the girls want to go back again and again and again!) Since the Boozy Blondes Podcast inception, the girls have wanted to visit the Beer Spa in Orlando, Florida, and now they are dishing all the details and pro tips to make the most out of your visit.

The DOE is beer of course! The girls are enjoying Sour Me Gummy Bear, a 5.5% sour ale from Duclaw Brewing.

The Beer Spa offers rooms to accommodate 1 - 4 adults. Each room has a (or two) soaking thermal tub(s), which is a bath of Beer Spa’s signature beer treatment, infrared sauna, chill hay lounge, full bathroom, and complimentary, unlimited self-serve beer. Beers from Ivanhoe Park Brewing in Orlando were on tap when the blondes visited, and for a $10 up-charge you can add sangria, wine and Prosecco to your experience. The girls brought boozy bros along for this adventure, so they reserved the two-tub, four-adults room, and added the sangria to their experience.

They reserved the room for 60 minutes, and Beer Spa staff recommends you soak for up to 45 minutes, then enjoy the sauna and/or hay bed for the remaining 15 minutes. Some benefits of the soak are:

  • beer yeast: considered an extremely healing ingredient and contains B vitamins and saccharides, which help exfoliate, purify and renew the skin while locking in moisture
  • hops: a natural sedative plant brimming with antioxidants, anti-anxiety and anti-inflammatory properties
  • hydrotherapy: soaking in warm water allows your pores to open to enhance skin absorption, it can improve your mood and increase positive emotions, it gets the blood moving increasing circulation and relaxing tight muscles.
  • aromatherapy: the smell of hops treats insomnia and has an anti-anxiety effect in the body

If you enjoy saunas, there are many benefits to spending time in there. It enhances collagen production strengthening and rejuvenating skin complexion. It improves circulation and lowers blood pressure. It detoxifies and relieves joint pain and muscle soreness and helps the body release endorphins!

The Boozy Blondes share some pro-tips from this experience during the episode too:

  • Go! Enjoy it!
  • Wear your bathing suit under your clothes
  • Add the extra 30 minutes (60 minutes flies by and the girls wish they had more time to experience all the room had to offer)
  • Don’t be surprised when you pull up the building – it’s in an unassuming strip mall
  • Bring cash to tip the Beer Spa team
  • Shower while you are in your beer spa room (even though they advise you wait 2 hours to shower)
  • If you’re not a beer drinker, add the wine and sangria option for $10
  • Don’t forget about your wet bathing suits after the trip – they will smell like an old bar mat in the plastic bag if you leave them in there too long

There are plenty of photo ops and Instagrammable places in Beer Spa, so prepare to have some extra time to take fun pictures! We got our custom swimsuits at Rave Suits.

You can hear the Boozy Blondes’ friend Florida Hop Mama gush about Beer Spa in Episode 029 (Behind the Booze Interview with Florida Hop Mama)!

Share your experience in the comments below if you’ve been to Beer Spa – especially if you have additional tips! Cheers!

Season 3, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 050 | Jax Ale Trail Vol 3: Jekyll Brewing, Green Room Brewing, Ink Factory Brewing, Southern Swells Brewing Co, Engine 15, Lynches Irish Pub, The Ritz, The Brix & Waffle House

Listen here!

The Boozy Blondes kick off Season 3 of the Boozy Blondes podcast with Volume 3 of the Jax Ale Trail series! If you listened to Jax Ale Trail Vol. 2 in Season 1 of the podcast (Episode 021), the blondes promised to bring a valuable and resourceful episode in Vol. 3. (Vol. 2 was a little fuzzy, so while entertaining, there were some gaps in the details, but come on, who hasn’t forgotten some things while day drinking?) Listen in, and you’ll see they achieved that goal! Tune in to this aggressive leg of the Jax Ale Trail (5 breweries plus 3 bonus beach bars) to learn about what Jax Beach in Northeast Florida has to offer the drinking crowd.

The DOE is Jekyll Brewing Sour Thangs Orange Cranberry, a 5.5% fruited sour. Jekyll Brewing happened to be the first stop on the Ale Trail too. With the boozy bros in tow, the girls stopped here first for “quality beer, delicious food and chill vibe,” as its slogan reads. It did not disappoint. Jekyll Brewing has five locations where they brew beer and also distill spirits and make wine! A triple threat! Chrissy drank the Pack of Mules made with ginger beer, lime and house vodka. (Insider tip, you can order this drink with gin or bourbon if you prefer.)

Molly enjoyed a flight of Earth Mother (4% Cucumber Lime gose), Sour Thangs Watermelon, Lime & Hibiscus (5.5% Sour), Moon Peeps (5.2% blackberry flavored Belgian Wit) and Southern Juice IPA (6.3%). Phil also enjoyed Southern Juice and Rainer drank the El Chapo Margarita infused with jalapeño. The group had their base food here too splitting fish and chips, pork sliders and pork rinds.

The group headed west and crossed the street to check out Green Room Brewing, Jacksonville Beach’s first microbrewery! This brewery has an extensive tap list with 7 permanent taps and 9 rotating taps, releasing a new beer every Thursday! This pet-friendly brewery does not serve food, but you can bring your own. Chrissy loved the She Doesn’t Even Go Here (5% blueberry seltzer) and Molly couldn’t decide on just one, so indulged in another flight: Count Shakula (6.2% Oatmeal Stout), Fruit on the Bottom – Apricot Peach (4.2% sour), Diamond Blueberry (5% blonde ale) and Panty Vigilante (11.8% Belgian Quadruple with black currant). Phil enjoyed a NEIPA Hazy and Rainer had a spicy Mexican lager – La Ola.

Ink Factory Brewing was next, a short walk to the west of Green Room. This brewery is home to a microbrewery, cowork and espresso bar – the Boozy Blondes office dream! Caffeine fix in the morning, work in one of the conference room, then head downstairs to happy hour. What more could you ask for? Ink Factory had great beer and even better swag – there’s a surf shop here too! Think of this brewery like a bakery – fresh beer on tap every day, but once it’s gone, it’s gone for the day. So get here early to enjoy all the taps. Chrissy had a 7% Bahama Breeze seltzer – Breezy Bits. Molly and Phil got the Fun Foam (6% Milkshake IPA), and Rainer drank Factory Kolsch (5.2%).

It was time to eat again, and THE BEST food truck was parked at Ink Factory. Hard Pressed Burgers. Jacksonville’s best burger according to the Boozy Blondes. Definitely made the top 5 list of Chrissy’s worldwide best burgers list! Follow them on Instagram to see where they will pop up next and do yourself a favor – EAT ONE. It’s a simple smash burger with thinly shaved onion, house pickles, garlic aioli and American cheese. The meat mix is house made, and the girls are still drooling over this burger.

A half mile west of Ink Factory is Southern Swells Brewing Co, the fourth stop on Jax Ale Trail Vol. 3. Southern Swells offers a full bar! The patio is pet friendly, and while they don’t serve food, their share a courtyard with Talkin’ Tacos, so you can get your beer snacks there. The group played a game of shuffleboard while enjoying their drinks – Chrissy sipped on The Duval, an 11% electric blue sweltzer cocktail complete with a mustache swivel stick. Molly enjoyed Spicy Cukes, a 6% sour ale infused with cucumber and jalapeno and Phil had Karate in the Garage (6.8% NEIPA). No one can remember what Rainer drank here.

This day happened to be the first Jacksonville Jaguars preseason game, and with 75% of the group excited for this event, they hurried farther west down the street to Engine 15 Brewing Co. to catch the game. Engine 15 hosts 30 tap lines! Try to find a beer you won’t like here! Chrissy drank Sour Sara (5.8% strawberry guava sour) and Molly drank It’s Your Blood (5.2% Irish Red Ale). Phil enjoyed Sunday Funday (4.6% session IPA) while Rainer had the J’Ville Lager (5%).

The theme for this adventure was food every other stop, so it was time to eat again. The girls each had a hot dog and chips, and Molly added mac and cheese to hers which was reminiscent of Kraft blue box – so perfect for this point of the day!

So they did it! They hit the five breweries in Jax Beach, but the night wasn’t over yet. The group grabbed an Uber and started their tour of three Jax Beach staples – Lynch’s Irish Pub, The Ritz and The Brix. Lynch’s offers a full bar, live music, a menu packed with Irish staples and 42 beers on tap!

The Ritz and The Brix are located near each other. The Ritz opened its doors in 1945 and it still a “great place to meet” almost 80 years later! The Brix has a great outside courtyard and a million giant-sized tvs inside great for watching the game.

To wrap up the gang hit the Waffle House across the street from their hotel for some class late-night bites.

The blondes went four for four on Jax Beach breweries listed in their Jax Ale Trail passports (Jekyll Brewing opened after the passports the blondes own were created)! Predictions for Vol. 4 are that the girls will travel around Jacksonville’s southside area.

Be sure to follow all these fun locations on Instagram and stay tuned for Jax Ale Trail Vol. 4!

Cheers!