One could probably make a good argument that Wilmington, North Carolina is the dive bar capital of the USA. Exhibit A might very well be the Goat and Compass on North 4th Street. The Goat and Compass has not been in Wilmington very long, although I can't say how long it has been around; for instance, it wasn't there when Lynn and I left the Port City in 2000. The G & C can't compare in longevity to say The Barbary Coast on Front Street which has the patina and archaeological layers of a 17th century tavern in Williamsburg.
The Goat and Compass, however, has packed a lot of physical character into it's relatively short history with its pounded and worn surfaces and lived in bar chairs. The G&C is a great beer and shot place (don't order a mixed drink unless you are cool with getting a martini in a plastic cup). I pushed my luck and ordered a Cuba Libre which cooled the early summer heat of Wilmington (even in a plastic cup). We went there on a couple of occasions in the first week of June. We found that the place grew on us with its raffish charm, blistering A/C, dorky 90's music and laid back bartenders.
The real appeal for us was the "cornhole" court in back of the bar which is a game of subtlety and finesse where the notion is to throw a canvas beanbag through a plywood apparatus often while negotiating the effects of the heat of the deep South and the effect of icy Cuba Libres and/or Gin and Tonics on motor skills. Like many dive bars like the G&C the point is creating great memories which we did in our brief stay in June 2013.
M & L
