Tucson: the final frontier. These are the voyages of Caliente. Its mission: to explore strange new bars, to seek out new dance trends and new cocktails, to boldly go where no entertainment tabloid has gone before.
Recently, that voyage brought us to Sky Bar, an astronomy-themed bar on North Fourth Avenue.
Opened in November, Sky Bar is the science project of Tony Vaccaro, who also owns the adjacent Brooklyn Pizza Co.
Vaccaro is not a trained astronomer, but he has a passion for celestial bodies.
He's installed an 8-inch Celestron CPC SchmidtCassegrain Telescope on the bar's roof that takes photos of the skies, which are projected on a screen inside the bar.
There's also a 12-inch Meade LightBridge Dobsonian Telescope on the patio that customers can look through.
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The former New York native, who moved to Tucson to attend the University of Arizona, says he has plans for at least one more telescope for the patio.
"I had a telescope in the third grade and loved it," said Vaccaro. "I saw one shooting star in my life in New York. I've seen tons since moving west."
Sky Bar is quickly becoming a popular spot for those looking for a less rowdy alternative to co-ed-crammed joints like O'Malley's and Maloney's.
Not that Sky Bar is a place you'll go to hit the books. But at least you can hear what your friend across the table is saying.
On Thursday nights, the bar offers jazz and blues, including a 10 p.m. performance by local blues staple Tom Walbank.
On Fridays and Saturdays, there is either live music or a DJ.
Tuesday evenings are family nights, with a presentation on what stars are visible at that time of year.
On a recent Thursday, the club was teeming with life, though not all of it intelligent.
Outside on the patio, a tall man in a black blazer and backwards Kangol hat looked through a telescope pointed at Saturn.
"I can see the moons," he told his khakis-clad friend.
"Could be Uranus," his friend shot back.
Later in the evening, a bachelorette party stopped by on a pub crawl, a group of friends shot pool at one of the bar's two tables, and a jazz trio played "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" by US3.
Nicole Blaser, the 26-year-old bachelorette, wore a zebra-print top with white pants, a mesh veil and a laminated card around her neck with a list of tasks.
One task was "make a man wear the veil," and this reporter was happy to oblige. Another called for the future bride to pick up a shot glass with her mouth and drink the alcohol inside.
Blaser said she liked the new bar.
"It's better than North," she said, referring to North On Fourth, the dingy club that previously occupied the space. That club quickly fell out of favor with the neighborhood associations, which considered it a magnet for crime.
On Thursday, several people called Sky Bar "chill" - a word seldom associated with North On Fourth.
Toward the back of Sky Bar, a man and a woman - both in blue jeans and black tops - sat at one of several wooden tables with high stools.
The woman, PJ Joseph, works in sales and said Sky Bar doesn't seem like it belongs on Fourth Avenue.
"Fourth Avenue is college bars," she said. "Here they have jazz."
Joseph also complimented the bar's specialty drinks.
"My apple martini actually has apples in it," she gushed.
Other creative cocktails at Sky Bar include a margarita made with orange flower water and Peychaud's bitters ($4); the Painkiller, made with rum, pineapple juice, OJ, coconut milk and hand-grated nutmeg ($6); and the Mule, made with vodka, muddled basil, house-made ginger syrup and lime and topped with club soda ($6).
Unfortunately, that dedication to creative cocktails sometimes means longer waits for drinks, even if you've only ordered a beer.
Sky Bar doesn't serve much food - just scones and muffins - but patrons are encouraged to buy pizza next door. The servers at Brooklyn Pizza will bring your slice or pie over when it's ready.
During the day, Sky Bar is a cafe with $1 cups of coffee and espresso.
Vaccaro said business during the daytime hours has been slow thus far.
"I think people haven't realized yet that we're a cafe," he said.
Slow coffee sales aside, if Sky Bar's nighttime crowds are any indication, the newest addition to the Fourth Avenue bar scene should live long and prosper.
If you go
• What: Sky Bar
• Address: 536 N. Fourth Ave.
• Hours: 9 a.m.-2 a.m. daily.
• Happy hour: 5.-8 p.m. $1 off drafts and wells
"I saw one shooting star in my life in New York. I've seen tons since moving west."
Tony Vaccaro, owner of the Sky Bar, which incorporates an astronomy theme
