DuPont residents know far too well how to detect the signs of summer.  Not the good signs of summer: warm sunrays, kids playing outside, and restaurant patios finally open for dining. I mean the miserable, annoying signs of summer, such as muggy afternoons, people who don't wear deodorant, and Sunday traffic on Interstate 5. 

The influx of vehicles on Interstate 5 returning from summer weekend retreats begins about 11 a.m. Sunday, and doesn't show signs of relief until well into the night.  The line of slow-moving, weary passengers can sometimes drag from Olympia all the way to Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

If you're like me and have to pee every 30 minutes, DuPont is your answer.

Drink One: Arrowhead (bartender's choice) - Having given our server, Mary, full custody of the first drink decision, I eagerly looked over the somewhat expansive tap beer selection at McNamara's Pub and waited patiently for my turn to choose  - the third drink.  I always go ahead with the first two drinks that I have no control over, but once it's my turn, I'm hittin' the beer.  The "Arrowhead" Mary chose was almost as refreshing as my dream beer might've been, with its vodka/cran/Peach Schnapps/Grand Marnier combo, but I was slightly disappointed she hadn't read my mind.  I tried the telepathic signals again by thinking really hard about beer for my second drink - the most popular within the last hour by 3 Drink Minimum rules.

Drink Two: Strawberry Basil (most popular drink within last hour) - So Mary's not a mind reader. I'm OK with that. This was a pretty good vodka drink, but it was no beer. 

Drink Three: Franziskaner Hefe-weisse (my choice) - After much debate and an anxiety-filled half-hour of sugary drink consumption, I finally was given the chance to tell Mary which beer on tap I would be enjoying.

Then she hit me right over the head with those five miserable words every beer lover hates to hear.

"Our beer tap is broken." 

SAY WHAT?

I quickly re-opened McNamara's drink menu and perused the bottled beer selection.  It was all domestic bullshit, and I was livid.  My heart sank and I almost burst into tears, at least until Mary remembered the ace in her pocket - McNamara's newest bottled beer (not yet on the menu): Franziskaner Hefe-weisse. 

It was redemption in the form of an unpronounceable beer, just as every 3 Drink Minimum should end.

McNamara's Pub & Eatery

1595 Wilmington Drive, Dupont
253.964.9200