Sliding into Damenti's Ice Bar for a Quick One!

Last night S and I slid in to a crowded Damenti's Ice Bar in Mountain Top for a quick one and a good cause.

The barmaid told us that the proceeds from the $3.00 cover charge this year are going to repair a local Mountain Top man's barn that was also his home, which recently burned down.

The first thing you'll notice is that this year marks a change in the ice bar design in that it's no longer all-ice like an igloo, but instead is built under a permanent roof.

Inside the crystalline objet d'art, we found a sensational 30' ice bar where we could pick from a selection of canned beers (none of which terrifically tickled our tails), plenty of cocktails and a wicked rum punch that turned out to be deeeeeeeelicious! Careful now, anything placed on the bar is liable to slide right off.

The inside walls are adorned with sometimes stunning natural scenes depicted in sunken and Bas-relief.  The few pictures here don't do the artistry of the 500-plus man-hours of work justice.

This whimsical snail utters: "Welcome to Damenti's Ice Bar."

Every ice bar needs a throne upon which the Ice Queen's fat arse may rest!

The back bar is a wonder and it even has an ice mirror!

Damenti's Ice Bar is Open!

Arrrrrrrrr!

Just passed by Damenti's ice bar on the way home from work and I see that it's now open for the year.

Here's some pics of what it looked like last year.

Gotta stop in tonight and see what Kevin and Helen have in store this year.

A scurvy dog tied to the yardarm?

Grog anyone?

Arrrrr.... Damenti's Ice Bar

I'm always on the lookout for cool bars, so me and the S.A.M. intrepid sailed into ice-locked Damenti's Ice Bar on Friday night after work to check out the bar and some icy beverages. Seeing how this bar is only three minutes from home, how could I resist?






Sliding inside we discovered that this bar sports two (not one!) serving bars to the left and right of the one and only door. Each bar-top is a very slick six inches of clear ice and about 12 inches wide. No stools. A nice touch.

I wonder how thick an ice bar has to be before it's safe to walk on?

Artificial turf on the ground keeps the `ol tootsies warm--or as warm as can be expected inside an igloo when it's 8 degrees outside and 20 inside. Grog was being served as were a selection of beers and other refreshments.

The elongated igloo is maybe 30 feet long and 10 feet wide formed entirely from ice blocks perhaps 8" x 8" x 16". Those are air conditioners on the ceiling--you know, for when it gets to be warm inside. And that's a grog guitar on the bar if you're wondering. And what's a grog guitar? Well, I'm told that when you're out building grand edifices or sailing around the world pirating, grog is what keeps the crew in line. The guitar is of a special ice-design where the crew's ration of grog is poured into one end and drank from the other. It works--I saw it in action.


The ice sculptures adorning the walls inside were sculpted, okay ground out, using electric grinders by Kevin McDonald (Captain) and his crew. He places a pattern on the surface of the ice and removes ice outside the pattern's form. One end of the structure has a scary skull sculpted into it.

After about 30 minutes inside, we began to move at a glacial pace and knew it was time to raise a grog salute to Kevin and his masterpiece. (Now I know where groggy comes from.) We dropped a couple bucks at the door as a donation to the American Cancer Society--1/2 the drink proceeds go to the American Cancer Society too.

Dead Men Sculpt No Ice! Now that's something to live by.

The Ice Bar opens every night at 5:00 pm. Damenti's is at 870 N Hunter Hwy, in Mountain Top PA. Put another way, it's on route 309 about one mile north of the 309/I-80 junction, at the top of the hill, on the left. You can't miss it.