Happy Hour Therapy

I know it sounds a little dangerous to be engaging in Happy Hour Therapy, but, honestly, it is much healthier than Donut Therapy.

Let me break it down for you... just because it's happy hour doesn't mean you have to get drunk. One drink, particularly if you are at Luka's where there are no drink specials for happy hour, and good conversation, decent people watching and a lot of laughter is truly good shit.

Then there is the Lucky Hour at Kingman's Lucky Lounge, from 8 to 9 drinks are half priced. Ok, so the decor is a little gaudy and the dj is likely to play weird mixes, but the lucky hour gives you the time to go for a run, grab some dinner, maybe do a little work, and still get your drink on.

Finally, for now, there is the Golden Bear, with its misleading sign and bleacher seating, it is the perfect spot for the serious sports bar crew. And as long as they are buying, who cares what game is on. The people watching here is especially entertaining as these folks are serious sports fans and willing to tell everyone about it. Perhaps my favorite part, though, is that they don't care if you bring in outside food. I mean, the sign says that there's seafood inside, but I didn't even see peanuts. And one day I walked by there, I thought I smelled BBQ. Making friends is key as you want someone to buy you drinks and share his pizza.

Any of these therapies require the right set of willing participants; luckily for me, for the past two weeks, there have been plenty of bar buddies. I guess in some way, all the bar buddies are a little part therapist part patient.

Try it out and report back on the best therapy spots.