A Proud Moment....

....in Leonard history.

Welcome to the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City.

It all started in 1973, when a local eccentric named Captain Dick, a veteran of various dubious ventures, discovered a severed toe in a nearby cabin. Inspired by the fictional ice worm of Gold Rush poems, he plopped it in a glass of champagne and thus invented the SourToe Cocktail. Since toes and bubbly don't mix that well, champagne made way for whiskey.  This bizarre drink fast became a hit in a small town clinging to history as a means of attracting tourists, and soon enough Captain Dick formed the SourToe Cocktail Club (click this link for a newspaper article).

For a small donation, anyone is welcome to join. The rules are as follows: The toe MUST touch your lips. There is a $2500 fine for swallowing the toe.  And, other drinks can be substituted for whiskey.....but no sweet liquors, milk or soda pop (we were told it must be 40-proof!).

Well, just looking at the brown, shriveled up toe....there was no mistaking it for anything other than what it was!  Disgusting!  People from all over donate or "will" their toes to the Dawson Hotel to be used for this cocktail tradition.

I'm not sure what we found more disturbing....the severed human toe staring up at us from the table or when the Toe Captain dropped it into our shot glass!  The look on Jenesa's face says it all!

If you think this is a big joke....The Canadian health authorities actually failed in their attempt to shut down the Sourtoe Cocktail, since the bar doesn't technically sell it, and what people put in their drink once they've bought it is nobody's business.  So the ritual continues!

You sit down across the small table from the Toe Captain...you place your shot glass in the middle of the table....he records your name and hometown in the Club journal....and the toe lies there ready to initiate you into the club!  After a brief initiation announcement....You may drink it fast or drink it slow...but either way, your lips must touch the filthy, rotten toe!....the Toe Captain picks up the toe and drops it into your shot glass.  Cheers!

The bar is packed with tourists and locals alike....cheering you on as you down the whiskey shot and "kiss" the toe!  After it was all over.....Jenesa and I are now both official members of the SourToe Club.  We will proudly display our certificates when we get home!