Tipsy Bricks, Hannibal Missouri

 Tipsy Bricks, Hannibal Missouri

Hannibal was an interesting town.  Our first time walking the town looking for a lunch spot was memorable.  A parade of hot rods and classic cars cruised up and down the street.  It was a rolling car show with participants of all ages. New and old cars, trucks and motorcycles. Brad and I stood on one street corner and watched.  People told us this happens every week during the summer.  We found a place for chow.  Then we walked the town square where an outdoor musical concert was underway. We walked to the edge of town and found a bar called Tipsy Bricks.  Brad and I were the first customers this early during the day with the festivities around town. There was an older than us gentleman inside the bar.  He learned that we were out of town. He handed us two push pins and insisted we be the first to place pins on the map near the entrance.  It was one of those US maps using push pins to show where customers traveled from.  Brad and I obliged and then the gentlemen gave us a drink on the house.  

Two evenings later Brad and I decide to return to Tipsy Bricks.  Our plan was to park at Tipsy, walk to get some chow then finish at Tipsy Bricks.  As soon as we park our bikes, the same push pin gentleman starts aggressively yelling at us.  He tells us to move our bikes. We cannot park in their parking lot. I think it was just after noon and they were not going to open for another hour. We explained our plan to leave our bikes, walk to eat and return to Tipsy Bricks.  We told him we were there a couple days prior with the first push pins on the map. The gentleman paused and remembered us.  He explained that people try to park in their lot and walk to the concert in the nearby town square.  After a brief discussion we were granted permission to leave our motorcycles in their parking lot while we ate lunch down the street. 

Tipsy Bricks turned out to be a popular hang out for many locals. There is a small bar area with a pool table in a room adjacent to the bar.  There is an outside deck with picnic tables. Brad and I visited the bar a few nights in a row. I remember one night was karaoke night with a large crowd and a lot of singers! Tipsy Bricks didn’t offer any kitchen service. We ordered a pizza one evening and ate it at picnic table on the deck.  Ordering the pizza was a challenge. I called Dominoes as the bartender told us that they routinely deliver to the bar. Dominoes needed the full address and zip code for Tipsy Bricks. I reply that we are a few minutes away from Dominoes and the driver should already know where Tipsy Bricks was located. We’ve witnessed the Dominoes driver deliver pizza there earlier that evening. The voice on the phone insisted she needed the street address and zip code. I am puzzled.  I’ve also had a couple of drinks.  It has been years since I have called and ordered a pizza.  I worked at a Dominoes Pizza in the early 1990s in Hawaii.  I answered the phone, took orders, made pizza and delivered it in 30 minutes or less.  I was dumbfounded that the voice on the phone said she needed the exact street address and zip code. The name of the bar wasn’t enough.  I am asking how many Tipsy Brick bars are located in Hannibal?  Of course when I worked for Dominoes, the drivers matched the order address to the large paper map on the wall and located the delivery location. No phones or GPS! I begin to think that I was speaking to someone in China to place an order from a store two blocks from me. I was at a well know location in a small town.  I explained to the voice multiple times where I was located and stated I was from out of town. I’d ride down and pick up the pizza if I didn’t have any beers.  There was no negotiating this requirement for a street address and zip code. Brad gets the information from the bartender and relays it to me. I relay the street information to the voice on the phone to complete the order.  She has one last question for me.  She asked if I’d like a 2 liter bottle of soda!  My reply, “WTH? I told you that I was getting liqueured up at Tipsy Bricks, a bar! What and I gonna do with a bottle of soda?”  

Brad and I stayed in a hotel room that pizza night.  We had planned to drink a little and stay out late.  We don’t drink alcohol and ride.  We didn’t want to risk hitting a deer on the ride home late at night either.  That pizza was really good!  I remember that I was still sitting on the picnic table on the deck when the bar closed that night.  Brad and I walked around the corner to the hotel to sleep it off.