HUMBOLDT — Humboldt’s newest gathering spot has a definite old-school appeal.
The Hitching Post celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday with Humboldt Chamber of Commerce members on hand.
The self-described whiskey bar opened its doors in November, and is the latest venture spearheaded by Paul and Alana Cloutier, two of the driving forces behind A Bolder Humboldt.
And as with other ABH productions, the Cloutiers left no detail uncovered.
Patrons mingled while tasting one of scores of whiskey-flavored concoctions inside the building that formerly housed Reb’s Bar at 820 Bridge St.
“I love these sorts of environments where there may be different kinds of people who don’t normally get to interact with one another, and still have a comfortable conversation,” said Paul Cloutier. “That’s been our model, creating a space that is exciting for the people who live here, but also those who are visiting.”
The Cloutiers began working to renovate the building in January of 2020.
“We got started thinking we could clean it up and before long, we’d have something going,” Cloutier said. “And then the pandemic happened.”
With gathering spots shuttered for several months at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the break offered an opportunity to rethink their plans.
The couple decided on a full-scale restoration, going to the floor and bare walls, and create a true old-school country environment.
“We knew we were going to open the cocktail bar next door, and we wanted to create something that was distinct from that,” Cloutier said. “I just felt like the idea of a neighborhood place to celebrate country music that makes the focus on whiskey something that would fly here.”
Add to that, Cloutier has had a lifelong passion of collecting old country music records: “Anything from 1930s to the 1980s,” he said.
His records are stored prominently atop a custom designed whiskey display shelf behind the bar, accessed by a ladder affixed to an overhead railing, akin to those used in libraries of yesteryear.
Even the booths carry a unique old-west flavor, and the walls are adorned with scores of vintage photographs.
“As time went on, I just kept adding to it,” said Cloutier, who has a background in in design and architecture. “I had an idea of what I wanted to look like.”
But as time wore on, the Cloutiers agreed it was time for the tinkering to stop.
