Good afternoon, Irene: Eat, drink, and be merry...

Irene may have stood us up, attracted as she was to the coast and the mountains of Vermont (Hey, prayers for those affected by the rains up there, and for those all along the East Coast who weren't as fortunate as we were), but it looks like some local restaurants and eateries got into the hurricane spirit! Indeed, some notable establishments even invented their own spirits...

Over at Mas they concocted a "Hurricane Punch" made with rum, more rum, some kind of juice, triple sec and grenadine. At Mono Loco they offered a cryptic message on their FB page, "Eat, drink, and be merry…" Indeed, according to bartender Ben Louquet, who also happens to be a Hook ad rep, Mono Loco's own 'Hurricane' special may have done more damage than Irene. His windy brew called for dark rum, light rum, Cointreau, passion fruit, orange juice, lime juice, agave nectar, and raspberry puree.

Down at Camino on Market Street they also had a Hurricane punch that packed a wallop with Myers rum, light Bacadi, orange juice, fresh lime, and grenadine.

"It was such a hit on Friday night that we had to go get more rum," says Camino's Drew Hart. "But curiously, after that, no one ordered one. I guess by Saturday night everyone was already sick of the hurricane, and on Sunday I talked to a bunch of people who said no one went out at all."

At Cardinal Point Vineyard & Winery they had free wine tastings in honor of Irene. They also had some $2 off specials on certain wines, which they said represented the 200 miles they hoped Irene's path would take offshore.

Over at the Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton their Steel Wheels E.S.B. Fest went off Saturday night without a hitch, as fest goers enjoyed the brewery's newest brews, Steel Wheels E.S.B. and Blue Reserve, along with the bands Steel Wheels, Old Sledge, Mercy Sakes Alive, and Hemlock Creek.

Great Harvest Bakery was serving up slices of bread at the Jefferson Sprint Triathlon on Saturday, and offering extra ones if folks could complete the race faster that Irene could. Hmm…doesn't that mean you have to run 14mph?