Alcohol is a poison. I've never understood the taboo against drinking early. Why would I want to drink poison right before bed? I probably shouldn't drink poison ever, but hey, it's fun. And what better day than Inauguration Day to wake up early and drink poison. The location also seemed obvious, but I didn't really know what to expect of the touristy, former silver rush hub of Virginia City, Nevada.

The goal was simple: Start drinking early and finish drinking early to still have the rest of the day to be "productive". I'm currently staying in Reno, and clicking around Google maps showed lots of bars but they all seemed to either open in the afternoon or just be 24-hour casinos. Virginia City stuck out as having lots of bars within walking distance with a few being open somewhat early.

Mark Twain Saloon

We started at the Mark Twain Saloon at about 8 am. Technically it's also a casino, which is probably why it's open 24 hours, but it's also a pretty cool bar. Just as I'd hoped, there were a couple locals pounding Irish coffees and cheering the inauguration. We ordered the same, and slouched back to watch the swearing in.

The bartender was friendly but not overly chatty and my drink was the second best Irish coffee I've ever had ... out of about 3. The best was recommended by Jonathan Gold.

Bucket of Blood Saloon

We then headed to Bucket of Blood Saloon, which is more old-west themed than blood themed. The walls are lined with pictures of old west characters and also stocked with Bucket of Blood t-shirts. It's kitschy but also pretty cool. A huge window at the back looks out over the surrounding hills. It'd be a great place to remote work from, but you might get looked down on for being a tech bro.

We ordered Bloody Mary's (of course) and they were pretty good. There were a couple bartenders working and a couple locals occasionally heckling the TV as President Biden left the inauguration. The bartenders were friendly but a little skeptical of a couple city boys coming up from Reno. After some berating for my lack of survivalist skills, they poured us shots as a show of no-ill will ... so long as we don't try to force our city rules on them.

The Roasting House

Finally we stopped for coffee at the Roasting House. The coffee was roasted darker than I'd like but it was ok. They had a patio with great views which would make nice place to hang out, at least on a day when it's not 30F.

We headed back down the hill to Reno shortly after noon ready to attempt to be productive the rest of the day.