The Raleigh Boogeyman Bar Crawl

My birthday is on Halloween so we are always looking for fun events to celebrate with friends. This is the one! We had an awesome time - we checked in early and got a glow mug and flashing Necklace. We were separated into groups by color - everything was really organized! We got our drinks - they were delicious. The music was great - the bars were kept a secret until right before we left which added to the anticipation and excitement. At every bar, there was a game to play and fun prizes to win including spider necklaces, candy, and glowing prizes.  The photo op was great and everyone was really friendly!  We loved the light sabers and signs letting us know when we were about to leave. Our group, the blue group, went from Mirage to Downtown Sports Bar to 606 to Stilllife to Mirage. It was really fun and something we will be doing again.

Downtown Raleigh's Best Halloween Party

Last night, my husband, Andy, and I got together with a group of friends and some of their friends to do a little adult trick or treating along Glenwood South. We joined in the Raleigh Boogeyman Bar Crawl. This Halloween pub crawl was organized by Tri Sport Social Club. According to their web site, "Tri Sports is the place where over 20,000 of the Triangle's professionals come for co-ed sports leagues, adventure trips, social events, theme parties, philanthropy events, extreme sports & weekend getaways." Well, they sure know how to throw a party! My friends and I had a blast!!

The last 2 Halloweens, Andy and I celebrated this spooky holiday on Glenwood South making stops at bars that didn't charge a cover. After a few adult beverages I can convince my husband to get on the dance floor with me so we ended up paying at least $10 to get into one of the nightclubs with a good dj. To check out the scene at another dance hotspot, we had to dish out another $10 to walk in the door. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time but those admission fees can really add up. So when one of my friends told me about the Boogeyman Bar Crawl with an early registration fee of only $20 that included free VIP admission to 5 of Glenwood South's hottest haunts plus a beer or shooter at each of the first 4 locations. Uhh, no brainer! Where do I sign up?

To receive the special discounted price of $20 for the whole package, we had to register by October 24. The web site had details about signing up and all the benefits offered but didn't list the bars included in the tour. For me, it wasn't an issue since I like spontaneity and surprises but a few of my friends wanted to know the lineup before making a commitment. Since several hundred trick or treaters were expected, Tri Sports had to break up the large group (about 500 revelers) into 3 smaller 'teams' that the venues could handle. When we registered, we were instructed to send an email indicating our friends we wished to party with. Tri Sports did an excellent job making sure that my friends and I were in the same group. After the groupings were announced, a few friends realized that they forgot to send an email indicating our group. However, with a quick email note, the assignments were rearranged. There was one friend that did slip through all this organization and she was allowed to switch groups when she signed in on Saturday night. Easy and no hassle.

We started the night at Mirage, a venue that could handle all of the bar crawlers. Mirage provided a shot like a Kamikaze and a can of PBR. For those not camera shy, you could have your photo taken. At about 7 pm, we only waited about a minute. By 7:30 pm, the photo line wait was about 20 minutes so get in line as soon as possible. Each group had a tour leader that carried a colored light saber, the same color as the group's wristband and glow stick, directing the tour and keeping us mostly on track with about 1 hour at each of the venues. We went to Natty Greene's, Joel Lane House, and 606 before heading back for the dance party finale at Mirage. Since it was a cold evening, I was very happy that the bars were relatively close so we didn't have too far to walk between the clubs. We had VIP access; however, if you were at the end of the line, you had a little bit of a wait while the ID's were checked. All the venues had sufficient bar staff to provide quick service. Joel Lane House was the smallest venue and it felt overcrowded. It was unanimous among my friends and I that 606 had the BEST DJ. The music was awesome...an eclectic and broad variety of music. It was scary how we boogied...it would make the Boogeyman proud! For the finale, I'd have to say that Mirage was at MAX capacity with about 2 inches per person to shake your booty on the dance floor but it was fun! I loved checking out all the outrageous, the cool, and the creative costumes. Some people are incredibly talented in making their own costumes. It was wild! Last but not least, we ended the evening with a pizza run to Bada Bing, which offered 25% off pizza slices to the crawlers.

The Raleigh Boogeyman Bar Crawl provided an entire night of sheer haunting delight. I plan to do this bar crawl again next year...maybe I'll make it an annual tradition. Sounds frightenly good!