You never know what memories are brought back to the surface when you return to your hometown. While in downtown Nampa, Idaho. I passed by this amazing painted sign, and memories of the infamous “Kendall’s Monkey Bar” came flodding back.

When I was growing up there was a bar in downtown that was legendary for having a troop of monkeys that patrons could feed peanuts and snacks to during breaks from Budweiser’s. I never went there, mostly due to it’s seedy reputation, stabbings, hepatitis-C possibilities, the legends of patrons teaching the monkey’s to pleasure themselves for extra peanuts.

This is the place that made me make my informal personal rule to NOT go to a bar with no windows, assuming that too many people were thrown through them to be economical. I tried to look up what happened to the bar, but it seems it lost it’s appeal (sorry, banana joke) after the owner passed away. Eventually the bar became a hookah bar and is currently the Valhalla Pub which still lacks windows, has iffy Yelp! reviews, but still seems cool. If nothing else it makes me want to channel my inner Mad Max War Boy.

If you’re interested here’s the best article I could find about the Monkey Bar.. “No Pigs, Please But Tigers, Monkeys, Tortoises And Antelopes Are Welcome” from the Spokesman Review.