Lane's Ramblings

I had my first legal beer in the States (thank you Canada) with my parents on my 21st birthday at some place like an Applebees or 99 or something like that in Salem, NH. Probably only a few days later my cousin had me hurling out of the passenger-side door of his car in the breakdown lane of 495 after going to a place that had Bud Lite for a quarter and tequila. Getting back to college I was hanging out in the bars of Flint, MI. My local in Flint was Paddy McGee's, in Boston it was Crossroads, in Haverhill it's the Peddlar's Daughter, in MI it was The Hideout, and in St Kilda it's the Elephant and Wheelbarrow.

I like pubs to be old, dirty, and moderately lit. I like them to have Irish names on the front, with Irish waitresses with Irish accents, and with Irish Guinness on tap. It's a bonus if it has a couple of steel-tip dart boards in the corner and a pool table. And if I'm in the Midwest then I'll even take a shuffleboard table as a substitute.

Well, a couple of days ago I got an email from a friend of mine saying that he and his girlfriend have arranged a night out at a bar on Friday and everyone's invited. This guy's a fellow GMIer - he won't steer me wrong, right? So we all give the green light. Then today I was wondering where we were going so I looked it up and to my horror this place is billed as "Sex in the City come to life" (is it Sex in the City or Sex and the City?). Also, "If you're looking for beer or wine don't come here." What has this dude gotten us into? This place is all mixed drinks - I think the only mixed drink I've ever ordered is a 3 Wisemen. I'll tell ya - I'm not looking forward to this.

But wish me luck, one consolation is that the dirty pool hall that we went to last week is just across the street. Somebody help me!