50 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE
11.19
Dispatches Adventure Bars
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is a justifiable classic. (Heads up: the kitchen
doesn’t turn down the heat for visitors.) Come
early if you want the famous key lime pie, which
sells out on most days. TVM is also home to
arguably the best margaritas in Santa Fe. Try
the jalapeño if you’re feeling brave; otherwise,
be like a local and order the Reevarita, named
after co-owner Reeve Stein and made with El
Jimador reposado. —ABIGAIL WISE
Miguels Pizza
RED RIVER GORGE, KENTUCKY
CLOSE TO: CLIMBING
Red River Gorge has become the epicenter
of sport climbing in the U.S. Spend the day on
sandstone in this remote corner of Kentucky
and soon enough you’re going to get hungry.
Since the mid-eighties, Miguels Pizza has been
at the heart of the Red’s vibrant scene. It’s
where you go for breakfast and beta before
trying the steep, bolted routes on Motherlode.
It’s where you pick up a few more quickdraws
(there’s a gear shop on-site) and maybe even
spend the night (there’s a climbers-only
campground, too). And yeah, it’s where you
eat pizza, building your own pie from a stock-
pile of 50 ingredients, including unusual op-
tions like chickpeas and white beans. Miguels
is beloved for its dirtbag vibe, but last year
during the off-season—it’s closed from Decem-
ber to March—the joint got a new kitchen and
an expanded dining room. It’s just like the old
Miguels, but better.
Talon Beach Bar
SITKA, ALASKA
CLOSE TO: FISHING
Alaska isn’t known for its beaches, but there
is one spot that should be on your bucket list: a
tiny sliver of sand on Big Apple Island. A private
eight-acre key in Sitka Sound that’s home to
the Talon Lodge and Spa, this adventurous
outpost in Southeast Alaska has a maximum
capacity of 24 and specializes in guided boat,
ATV, and floatplane fishing expeditions deep
in Alaska’s salmon country. The lodge has an
open-air kitchen and a bar with fire pits on the
deck, which looks out on the sound. The island
is surrounded by Tongass National Forest and
is part of the Inside Passage, so there’s a good
chance you’ll spot a whale or a bald eagle from
your barstool. You have to be a guest at the
lodge to drink here—packages start at $4,095
for four nights, all-inclusive, from mid-May
through early September.
The Beachcomber
CAPE COD NATIONAL SEASHORE,
MASSACHUSETTS
CLOSE TO: SURFING, BEACH WALKS
A seaside hangout in the heart of Cape Cod
National Seashore, the Beachcomber is frozen
in time in all the right ways. The bar took
over an old lifesaving service station in 1953,
predating the national seashore that sur-
rounds it by almost a decade. Fortunately, the
establishment was grandfathered in and can
still serve drinks. The building is set atop the
100-foot bluffs of Cahoon Hollow Beach and
has a large patio overlooking the Atlantic’s
surf. It’s the only oceanfront bar on the cape.
The order? Wellfleet oysters and a Goombay
Smash, made with apricot brandy, two rums,
some fruit juice, and more rum on top. If there
isn’t a Red Sox game on the TV, then there’s
probably a DJ spinning. But don’t go looking
for a drink after a chilly winter surf session—
the Beachcomber is only open in summer.
The Talon
Lodge’s beach
bar in Sitka,
Alaska