The Silver Medal

There are many ways to find a good dive bar. Probably the most common way is to get a hot tip from a friend of a disreputable character. This way, it's already vetted and vouched for. You can get pissed drunk and deviate from your usual bar rotation by stumbling into one that catches your eye. You can read about one in an article or social media post or book or review site—like you're doing now. Or, you can simply pull over when you spot one after taking the wrong exit on the highway.

That may sound like a plot from a David Lynch movie, but I'd venture that's how quite a few people—in addition to myself—have ended up at The Silver Medal. A straight shootin' dive, it checks an impressive selection of boxes for what a good bar should have. It's got $2 jello shots every day, Twisted Tea on tap (!!!), Malort, and a patio. There's a chili dog punch card and you can get your 10th one for free. You can get a hamburger, chili dog, and Budweiser for $12. The place used the be a Mexican restaurant and they left the old restaurant sign up on the patio. Hell, there's even a motel next door in case you've had too much Twisted Tea and want to re-enact your favorite 'No Country For Old Men' scenes. "What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?"

There's not a lot of interior room at The Silver Medal, but it's got the cozy vibe of a Midwestern corner tap that keeps you warm through a raging snowstorm. And there's plenty of character inside for the square footage.

Your favorite bar might be next to your house. Or back in your hometown. Or on a tropical island. Or, maybe, you've driven past it on your daily commute a thousand times and you just don't know it yet. If anything, The Silver Medal serves as a reminder to keep your eyes peeled—it's a great big world out there.