DRY 85 Speakeasy to Open New Year's Day in Annapolis

The long awaited opening day of DRY 85, an offshoot of Red, Red Wine Bar in downtown Annapolis, is nearly upon us.

The speakeasy with a penchant for bourbon is slated to open on New Year's Day at 4 p.m. The bar has been a project of Brian Bolter's, a former television news anchor and reporter, for more than a year.

Bolter and his wife Lisa already own Red, Red Wine Bar, just two doors down from where DRY 85 is situated on Main Street.

Over the summer, Bolter had projected optimistic opening dates of October, but told The Capital that the lengthy permitting process held them up longer than they had expected.

The name DRY 85 is a nod to the prohibition days, when Sen. John Morris Sheppard's Bone-Dry Act kept D.C. residents from drinking alcohol for a solid 85 days after the rest of the country was celebrating the end of prohibition.

Catch a behind-the-scenes look at DRY 85 in some of the promotional videos Bolter and his wife have produced.