Opening a portal to the netherworld usually requires a combination of candles, incense, and an interpretive dance based on Goodnight Moon. Skip the complex rituals with today’s Groupon: for $20, you get an evening ghost tour for two at Milwaukee’s Haunted Bar, a part of Shaker’s Cigar Bar (a $40 value). Participants must be aged 18 or older and must call ahead or check in online to reserve a spot.
Located in Milwaukee’s warehouse district and housed in a former cooperage and speakeasy dating back to 1894, Shaker’s Cigar Bar adds a hauntingly historical element to an otherwise typical night out. Paranormal researchers and the proprietor himself maintain that Shaker’s bustles with otherworldly regulars. Starting at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, groups of 13 or fewer tour takers explore the old building—from the basement below to the former brothel—in search of spine-tingling apparitions and the friendly phantasms of former accountants. Confronting the supernatural may be hard on the nerves of some erstwhile specte- seekers; fortunately, the bar-based tour allows patrons to bring a drink (not included) along for liquid courage.
Intricate 19th-century woodwork greets guests upon arrival, and a brass-topped front bar beckons un-wetted whistles and parched kazoos to belly up for a libation, such as a snifter of 132-year-old cognac paired with a natural Dominican cigar from the basement humidor. Bartenders, called Shakers and Shakerettes, also serve up period-style absinthe cocktails at the carved-oak back bar. The drinkery’s tin ceilings and tin-relief walls sigh with age as they long for new hearts, and antique stained glass and hardwood maple floors round out the time-displaced décor, transporting patrons into a bygone era.
Groupon Says
The Groupon Guide to: Making the Bed
A well-manicured bed is more than just a relaxing spot for a nap or the safest place to hoard cash—it's also the main differentiator between man and animals, who all sleep in trees. Make your bed the proper way by following these steps:
1. Burn your sheets. Your night sweat and involuntary dream tears combine into a flammable glaze that makes your soiled sheets ideal kindling.
2. Oil the springs. If your bed is stuffed with hay or a soft gas such as radon instead of springs, safely dispose of the oil you would have used by dumping it into a nearby ocean.
3. Cover the bed with newspapers while you knit new sheets. Or, save time by knitting the new sheets out of newspapers.
4. Heat your pillows. If your head rests on anything heated to less than 325 degrees, all of your dreams will take place during winter.
5. Test for comfort. Your newly made bed should be so inviting that you effortlessly nap from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., after which you'll have just enough time to remember your loved ones before turning in for the night.
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