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Oct242009
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Schlitz! |
This afternoon, Dad and I installed the new alternator that I repaired recently. The battery was pretty dead so we still weren’t able to start the car, even after jumping it. A neighbor across the street was kind enough to lend me a trickle charger which did work.This evening at seven, I met Amy for dinner at a small Thai restaurant adjacent to Cooter Browns uptown. I read good things about Bangkok Thai’s food. I haven’t had good Pad Thai since hurricane Katrina and I have been anxious to find a place that does it well since. The décor leaves a lot to be desired but the food was good. After dinner, we went to Cooter Browns for one drink. I would consider it a local landmark and Amy had never been there so I felt obligated. The place was rather crowded as an LSU game was on. After a little while there, Amy insisted on buying me a drink so we walked across the street to the daiquiri shop and then took a little walk to the levee and back.I invited Amy to come with me to meet Andrey and some friends this evening. She decided to go home instead but she was kind enough to wait with me for the streetcar. I was going to Helix at the Le Cirque Hotel downtown which the streetcar passes right in front of. I can’t quite remember the last time I rode the streetcar.I arrived at the hotel shortly after nine this evening. My friends didn’t arrive until after ten so I had a couple light drinks by myself and exchanged some text messages to pass the time. Eventually everyone did show up. Andrey, David, Romy and Patrick were there along with Nick who I have not met before. We remained at Helix for an hour or so and had a few drinks while talking about this and that. There was music playing but it was possible to have a conversation. I ordered a little pizza from their kitchen so I had some more food to go with the drinks I was having.We left Helix around 11 and went to Cure on Freret, a reasonably new place I’ve rode past over the last several months but not visited. It’s a classy and well decorated place with a cozy bar and seating area as well as a nice lounge area outside. We all took a table outside and ordered some drinks. There we met another friend of Andrey’s, John. The place is known for exceptional mixed drinks and I had a sazerac. It was even easier to carry on a conversation here. I don’t remember much of what we talked about though.We left there perhaps sometime after midnight. Nick and Andrey wanted to square off at pool and we walked a couple block to Friar Tucks but Andrey didn’t want to pay the cover so we drove down to Der Ratskeller at Tulane which also has pool tables. Andrey and Nick had it out and I got something to munch on. Later on we parted company with Patrick and John. The rest of us made one last stop at Snake & Jakes for a round of Schlitz. I’ve been hoping to visit this renowned dive bar for quite some time. Afterward I called a cab from Andrey’s house and got home sometime after three.