Channel your inner literary lush by drinking where the greats drank.
The Eagle and Child (Oxford, England)
Notable Patrons: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis
This University pub, which dates way back to the mid-17th century, served as the official meeting place for Tolkien, Lewis, and the rest of their writing group, called the Inklings. From 1933 to the early 1950s, the group met weekly in the Rabbit Room, the bar's private back lounge, to distribute and critique each other's unfinished manuscripts.
Today, the walls of the cozy Rabbit Room are decorated with bits of memorabilia, framed photos of the authors, and a signed document with a note -- "The undersigned, having just partaken in your ham, have drunk to your health" -- from the authors to the former owner.
Flickr: irenetong / Creative Commons
Vesuvio Cafe (San Francisco)
Notable Patrons: Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady
This kitschy North Beach bar was the stomping grounds of some Beat generation heavy-hitters, and the alley behind it is even named after Kerouac. Sitting right across the street from the renowned City Lights Bookstore, it now serves as a monument to jazz, art, poetry, and the creative lifestyle. It also serves some pretty stiff drinks.
Flickr: nicholaskaeser / Creative Commons
White Horse Tavern (New York City)
Notable Patrons: Dylan Thomas, James Baldwin, Anais Nin, Norman Mailer
The White Horse Tavern opened in 1880 and was known for being a longshoreman's hangout until the 1950s, when Welsh poet Dylan Thomas started coming around. It is most famously (and morbidly) known as the place of Thomas' last drink; in November of 1953, after downing eighteen shots of whiskey, he collapsed on the sidewalk and later died at St. Vincent's Hospital.
Still, the West Village tavern remained a favorite spot for the literary set, attracting writers and poets to this day.
Flickr: katie_cat / Creative Commons
El Floridita (Havana, Cuba)
Notable Patron: Ernest Hemingway
The world fell in love with El Floridita in the 1940s, and Hemingway was right in the middle of the fervor. It was his favorite bar throughout his 20 years living in Cuba, and his drink was their signature frozen Daquiri. He helped popularize the spot and its original cocktail (the bar was also known as "La Cuna Del Daquiri," or "The Cradle of the Daquiri") in his writing, specifically Islands In The Stream, and the bar has returned the love. Papa Hemingway is honored today with a dedicated bar stool, bust, life-size bronze statue, and assorted memorabilia and photographs.
Flickr: amycgx / Creative Commons
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