A sandwich board sign outside Bonfire advertises its happy hour, which includes free bacon and is offered from 4-7 p.m. daily. Photos by Leslie Bridgers

Drinking to excess is decidedly not on trend, according to celebrities, Gen Z and my Instagram algorithm, but forking over less of your paycheck for a night out certainly is. So, in that vein, I devised a happy hour crawl that maximizes what you get for your money.

There are abundant happy hour deals in Maine this time of year, attempting to entice customers into restaurants on the slowest days in the slowest season, and you easily could customize your own multi-stop tour to focus on wine, oysters or fine dining.

My goal, however, was fitting in as much as possible, with an eye toward variety, so you wouldn’t be limited to draft beer and fried food at every stop or forced to follow a margarita with a martini. I also only chose places with both food and drink deals, allowing for it be done completely sober and for anyone feeling too full or too tipsy to skip the snack or booze at any point and still participate.

Zeroing in on the high concentration of happy hour deals in the walkable Old Port was the obvious place to start, eliminating the need for a designated driver or Uber fare from stop to stop, which could take up precious time and money. (Though, it goes without saying, unless you forgo the drinking portion or live downtown, one or the other is a must at the end of the evening.)

In mapping out a route, I also had to consider the start and end times of each happy hour and the distance between them, keeping the backtracking to a minimum. And of course, the deals had to be offered on overlapping days (for these spots, that’s Tuesday through Thursday).

This is a swift-paced schedule that’s predicated on sharing food, so choose your crawl companions wisely: Picky eaters and dillydallyers need not apply. With that, here are five stops that will get you a variety of food and drink for under $45.

Guinness is $6 during happy hour at RiRa.

3 p.m.

Although RiRa’s website has an extensive happy hour menu, it doesn’t exist in person. So don’t set your heart on the chicken bites. However, upon inquiring, a bartender was able to rattle off a few deals on well drinks and beers, including Guinness. For food, you can get half-off chicken wings or spinach artichoke dip, which I can attest is a garlicky delight, served with warm bread, carrots and celery.

Sample order: Guinness for $6, plus $8 spinach artichoke dip, split between two people = $10.

3:50 p.m.

DiMillo’s has an awesome happy hour in its bar and lounge that servers inform you is happening as soon as you sit down, providing a menu with an assortment of $10 appetizers, from mini corn dogs to sriracha-dusted haddock bites, and deals on all sorts of drinks, including $6 glasses of wine or cans of craft beer, cider and seltzer and $7 house Manhattans and martinis that you can get with three huge olives for a little bonus course.

Dirty house martini for $7, plus $10 French onion poutine, split between two people = $12.

A $5 well drink and $4 bowl of Caesar from the happy hour menu at Three Dollar Dewey’s.

4:45 p.m.

Three Dollar Deweys also has an extensive and well-presented happy hour menu with deals on all varieties of drinks and $4-$8 food specials, including nachos, chicken tenders and mac and cheese. If you’re starting to feel heavy from all the apps, though, there’s also a Caesar salad. To keep the cost down, go with a $3 Shipyard Discovery IPA, but if you’re in mood for a mixed drink, this might be your best bet: They’re served in pint glasses, and Ice Pik is the well vodka.

Well drink for $5, plus $4 bowl of Caesar = $9.

5:30 p.m.

If you’ve forgotten to stay hydrated along the way (an amateur move), The Corner Room might be the only place that will pour you a glass of water without asking. Drink it. This is also the only spot whose happy hour is offered on Saturdays, so we desk jockeys can actually go without using PTO. Along with $5 glasses of wine (not $3 as advertised on the website), there’s a delightful menu of $4 snacks, from marinated beets to mini pizzas. If you’re lacking protein at this point, get the single, giant meatball, which comes piping hot in a bath of red sauce.

Glass of rosé for $5, plus $4 meatball = $9.

Free bacon and a $4 draft of Peak Organic during happy hour at Bonfire.

6:15 p.m.

If you have a last stop in you, you can take your time making your way down to Bonfire, which has the latest and most frequent happy hour in town, running from 4-7 p.m. daily. Walk along Wharf Street on a winter weeknight, and you’ll see why. You can also go in a lot of different directions here, depending on how hungry you still are and how high your tolerance is, with everything from $5 burgers to $2 whiskey shots. Whatever you do, don’t pass up the free bacon.

Solo cup of draft beer for $4, plus free bacon = $4.

That brings our grand total to $44 (not including tax and all-important tips) for a full belly and more volume and varieties of alcohol than most people would want to consume in four hours. But rather than following this to a T, use it as a starting point to find a route that suits your tastes and budget. Whatever makes you happy.