What makes a classic dive bar?
Is it the sticky floors or the peanut shells?
The killer juke box?
The heady aroma of stale beer and the haze of a million cigarettes? (In some states, anyway.)
These are all things that are worth debating, and we welcome you to disagree with the picks below.
The definition we decided on includes decades of history and everything from octogenarian bartenders and surly bouncers to pooping chickens and giggling ghosts.
Most of all, these are neighborhood standbys, the places you go because you know what you're going to get, and more importantly, what you're not going to get.
Pay a virtual visit to 9 classic U.S. dive bars over on CNN Travel.
Good list, especially with Mac's at #1, but you have GOT to get to Daytona Beach on Friday nite to Metz's I, for the smoke, swill, and general good times with no regrets. After that, let's go to small towns Montana.
He he he, um, yeah, 1st!