Walla Walla, WA
Updated: May 16, 2021
I started my journey in Walla Walla, Washington, or Warshington as the locals say. I was born here and half of my family is still here so I wanted to spend some time before I hit the road. If you like wine, beer, a laid back agenda, and pretty people, Walla Walla is for you.
The population of Walla Walla is just over 30,000 and there are 120 wineries. For all you mathematicians out there that's like 1 winery for every 250 people. Or in other words, there's plenty to drink here. I used to sell wine for a living so I'm kind of burnt out on the whole wine thing but I will link some of my local favorites at the bottom of this banger of a blog post. Since I'm burnt out on wine I found myself doing most of my sipping at a place called, Hop Thief, really neat concept:
So when you arrive you give them your credit/debit card and in return they give you a "tap card". You may think this is a bad deal but just hang tight, it get's better. You then walk over to a fridge full of glasses of all shapes and sizes, depending on what you're drinking you select your glass. You then walk over to "the wall of taps".
This wall has something like 30 options. You select your beer or wine that you'd like to drink, you insert your tap card and you pour your own drink. Each beer or wine tells you the cost per ounce and your card tracks how many ounces you pour, thus charging you accordingly. How god damn cool is that? You may be thinking the prices are outrageous but I actually found that it was the cheapest beer on tap in town, something like 4 bucks a pop compared to the average 6. "How do they prevent you from over serving yourself?" I don't know, I didn't get that far, but I encourage you to. Apparently this is the first bar of it's kind in the state of Washington and the owner got the idea form a place in Arizona. Leave it to Arizona to come up with some cool shit like that. Side note: Hop Thief had the fastest god damn wi-fi you've ever seen, so that's pretty neat too.
Downtown Walla Walla has a lot to offer when it comes to drinking, eating and shopping. Everything is within a few blocks so just Uber right downtown for lunch and prepare for a day of wine tasting and bomb food. Everything from casual eats to boujee ass restaurants litter the main strip.
A few of my favorite casual spots to grab a drink:
Wing Man Birdz and Brewz (Wish they used an "s" and not a "z" but okay)
A few places to show off that new dress:
The Marc Restaurant (Historic staple of Walla Walla)
Whether you're in town for a day or a week, I encourage you to explore the downtown area thoroughly. Everyone in the downtown area is worry free and having a good time. Be sure to bring a full wallet, you're gonna need it.
*Some of my favorite local wineries: