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50 and finished

November 22, 2004

By Sky Barsch Times Argus Staff

MONTPELIER – Richard Matthews and Simon Dickens claimed victory this weekend in their 21-year quest to have a drink in every state in the union.
With a clink of their pint glasses and a sip of Trout River Rainbow Red Ale, the two college buddies completed a mission that has brought them from days of youth in the Washington area to the long, boring roads of North Dakota, to the beaches of Hawaii and eventually to the smallest state capital in the country, Montpelier.

Each time the friends have a drink in a state, they have colored that state orange on a map of the country, noting the year they visited as well. Late Saturday night, Matthews and Dickens walked into "World Famous" Charlie-O's tavern with a United States map entirely colored in orange, save for a tiny white spot in the Northeast corner of the country.

As Dickens colored in Vermont, and Matthews scripted "2004," the two friends reflected on the culmination of their 21-year journey. "I am very excited," Matthews, a trial consultant from San Francisco said.
Dickens, a transactional lawyer in Tokyo, saw it as bittersweet. "I'm a little worried about the anti-climax, and having nothing to talk about now," Dickens, 40, joked.

Patrons were clearly impressed with their story, and welcomed them at the Main Street bar. They were eager to hear what the two thought of the Montpelier and Charlie-O's, though they had only been in town for about an hour. Matthews and Dickens even had a chance to hear Vermont's popular rockabilly band, The Starline Rhythm Boys, and drink local microbrews.

"This is definitely the most fun of any bar," 39-year-old Matthews said. The pair have collected a number of incredible stories. Their friendship began at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. in the mid-1980s. Though they lived on the same dormitory floor, it took a few Trivial Pursuit games to bring them together. That began the trouble.

"We hit if off and started drinking. We used to steal flags, we sort of quit doing that. Washington, D.C.'s a great town for that," Matthews said. "We would also scam people at Trivial Pursuit. We'd get huge bets on the things and we'd keep missing questions. They'd have the pie almost completely filled and then we would run the board."

Matthews eventually transferred to the University of Washington in Seattle. Dickens came to visit, and they headed to Oregon for a drink. Matthews was in Boston in the summer of 1986, Dickens came to visit, and in one day they drank in five New England states, skipping Vermont. It wasn't until Dickens moved to Chicago after graduating that the two started to think about how many states they had had a drink in, and started pursuing more.

The two did a five-state bout again – this time it was Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. There, the friends stumbled into a seedy bar in a place called Montpelier, where they happened to sit down next to the city's mayor.

"Still, to both of us, the mayor of Montpelier, Ohio – it just cracks me up. He's sitting there at the end of the bar, clearly not on his first drink either," Matthews said. The mayor kept referring to his city as "Mont-peculiar," also an affectionate name for Vermont's capital city. "It was just the damndest thing. He is near the top of the list of memorable characters," Matthews said.

Matthews and Dickens by chance drove through another Montpelier on their journey, this time in Idaho, and had a drink there. After that, the two decided they wanted Montpelier, Vt., to be where they completed their mission to have a drink in every state in the union.

Matthews even had a chance to tell a national audience about his plans to visit Montpelier. As a contestant on "Jeopardy," he "burned through" a state capitals category (he was also a $32,000-winning contestant on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"). Jeopardy host Alex Trebek suggested Matthews had done so well because of his quest to see all 50 states, and asked where Matthews planned on wrapping it up. Matthews told Trebek it'd be Montpelier, since the city kept popping up along their adventure.

Their travels have included some humorous quirks. While leaving Arkansas for Oklahoma, a cop pulled the two over for speeding, and gave Matthews a warning. The men had their drink in Oklahoma and drove back into Arkansas, and were pulled over again, by the same cop. He gave Dickens a warning this time.

In Kentucky, the men were stuck in an area full of dry towns. They had to drive to Tennessee, buy beer, and bring it back to Kentucky to have a drink there. New Mexico was their 47th state, and it coincidentally was the 47th state admitted to the union.

Matthews was working in Hawaii for a time and Dickens met up with him there for a drink. Dickens brought his family to Alaska earlier this year for a vacation, and Matthews met up with him there. Saturday night, Matthews left the bar sporting a new Charlie-O's hat, and the two enjoyed breakfast at Coffee Corner the next morning. The men admit meeting around the country has become more difficult now that the two have careers and other obligations. But the pair have had a drink in a couple of Canadian provinces. One has to wonder if someday Canada will too be colored entirely in orange.