The Moon Not just another bar

“The Hammered Man,” the iconic sculpture that resides outside the Blue Moon and parodies the Seattle Art Museum’s “Hammering Man” sculpture, sums up the bar’s atmosphere. In passing, it could easily be mistaken for just another dive bar, but upon further inspection, you will find that the tavern encompasses everyone from the intellectual to the just plain hammered.

The Blue Moon is one of the University District’s oldest bars, having opened in 1934. Its initial success was due to the fact that, at the time, alcohol could not be purchased within a mile of campus. The bar was situated just over the mile mark and became an instant hit with students.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the bar served as a hub for counterculture activity, acting as a meeting place for hippies, communists and just about everyone in between.

Today, the bar is home to an eclectic mix of people, and the people might be the most appealing aspect of the Blue Moon. On one recent visit, I walked in to find a woman straddling the bar. She later told me she was on psychedelic mushrooms.

Whether sitting at the bar or standing outside with the smokers, conversations are easily struck up between patrons, especially toward the end of the night when most people tend to be highly saturated and everyone there seems to have an interesting story.

The interior is dark and cavernous, and even since the city’s smoking ban has gone into effect, the bar still seems to have a stagnant haze. High-walled booths offer a little private space for groups or simply those who want to nurse their drinks and brood in silence, but the bar and several picnic-style tables let the more adventurous get to know their neighbors.

The walls are covered in layers of posters, political flyers and scrawlings of all sorts, none of which seem to have been touched since the bar’s opening.

The bathrooms may be frightening with their lack of stall doors, but the collection of wit and wisdom scribbled on the wall will make one linger, at least as long as the smell allows.

There are also drinks available at the Blue Moon — it is a bar after all — but don’t come looking for appletinis or cosmopolitans (head next door to the Fusion Ultra Lounge if that’s your scene). The bar selection isn’t huge, but they do offer several original cocktails and a decent selection of beers on tap.

Despite the bar’s history and iconic status along Northeast 45th Street, it failed to receive status as a cultural landmark when it applied for distinction in 1990. However, the Blue Moon’s lease runs through 2034, securing it as a future home for artists, revolutionaries, students and of course, hammered men.