Don't Try To Do Your Christmas Shopping With A Major Hangover

A few weeks ago my girl friend and I decided to plan a weekend at the beach in order to do our Christmas shopping, and Rehoboth has more outlet stores than I can wrap my head around.  It just so happened that the weekend we chose was when the season-closing parties for The Rusty Rudder and The Starboard were going on.  Perfect!

Needless to say, Christmas shopping when you're hungover as hell is quite a nightmare.  Somehow Friday night, my friend and I ended up wasted at the Rudder.  Damn those shots.  And I got a phone call from my uncle around 10:30 Saturday morning - "Okay, I should be getting down there around 6:00.  I want you two to be at one hundred percent so that I can take you down peg by peg."  The scary thing was that I knew he wasn't joking.  

When we walked into Banana Republic a short time later, the look we exchanged with each other said it all - "This is going to suck."

Meeting back in line at the registers, she said to me, "Someone bumped into me at the rack and I nearly flipped out.  I need food.  And a beer."  It wasn't even noon.

We rallied ourselves and managed to get most of our shopping done with a lunch break at Applebee's somewhere in between.  Even though I still have a few people left to buy for, I'm very proud of myself for getting almost all of it done and sticking (within reason) to my budget.

Once we called it quits we focused on resting up for the evening.  A power nap and a shower, along with a couple slices of pizza, helped speed that process along.  Then it was time for the last hurrah of the season in Dewey Beach - the closing party at The Starboard.  Shots of Fireball whiskey before we head out?  Anyone?
I'll try not to beat a dead horse here.  You all know how much I love Dewey and what I do when I'm down there.  We partied like rock stars.  We drank our faces off and had a great time doing it.  I didn't have to worry about anyone catching me on a walk of shame the next morning - the only perk of it being early November.
So I know I said this when I posted about Labor Day Weekend, but now I can truly say that the season has come to a close, and now it's time to hunker down and pray for spring time.  Specifically, St. Patty's Day and the Starboard opening.

Jenny and I enjoying our last Grapefruit Crush of the season.

We Can't Let the Music Scene Die

What happened to being able to go hear local bands in your favorite bar minus the pretentiousness?  The Big Kahuna is extinct, and most of the other bars that provided a decent venue for bands to play have moved away from that scene.  So those of us music lovers who just want to rock out every once in a while are left with slim pickings or making the 30 minute + drive up to Philly.
On the plus side, Wilmington does have World Cafe Live at the Queen, a relatively new, two-in-one venue on Market Street where one can go to hear local bands and big names as well.  There's ample room, you can sit at a table and eat while listening to a band play and there's usually more than one event going on at a time.  You can play Quizzo on Monday nights or catch the 4W5 Blues Jam every Wednesday.  They've hosted the likes of The Pixies, George Clinton & the P-Funk Allstars, and the Bob Marley tribute band Spokey Speaky.  Not to mention Beer & Wine events, kid shows and you can book private parties.  I've only been once, but a few of my friends have played the stage there.  I'm thinking of catching Ozomatli on the 25th of October.
There's also Moodswing, which opened up last fall and is right down the street from my house.  It's in an unlikely location for a nightclub, but typically hosts a packed house every weekend.  I've been a few times when they've had live bands.  September 25th they hosted The Dirty Pearls (one of my favorite bands) and Bret Michaels.  (Yes, I was there.)  Moodswing is a good place for the beach bands to play during the off season.  I've seen Kristen & the Noise, Mr. Greengenes, Chorduroy and Love Seed Mama Jump there on Friday nights during the winter.  They offer all kinds of VIP packages and event specials, click the link for more info.
Okay, so there's Firestone Roasting House as well.  Situated right on the waterfront, the outside bar and seating is really nice.  But it's really only good in the summer.  If you don't mind huge crowds.  They typically have live bands on the weekends, the same ones that play Moodswing during the winter months.  Again, if you don't mind huge crowds.  Or anywhere from a $10 - $20 cover charge.  (I don't know how or why, but the head bouncer never takes my money anymore.  Maybe because my sister in law and I have frequented the place enough over the past year, or I inadvertently flirt with him and he likes it?)  It's always a mixed crowd which is nice as opposed to the monotony that is prevalent in a lot of other places.  Great food too, by the way.  You can go for dinner and stay for the music.  Try the pizza - it's out of this world.

That's three venues that are still making an effort to keep the music scene alive.  There used to be so many more.  The fact that there's people out there who play music for fun and do it well should be celebrated and promoted as much as possible and I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.  I also know it could be so much worse and I could live in a town where there's...nothing.  For now I will be satisfied with catching a decent live band every once in a while, or making that trek up to Philly when the mood strikes me.

The Bar Scene, It Is A-changin'...

...at least the one in Wilmington.  Tyler, Andy, Geeta and myself all went out to dinner the other night - the first time the four of us have been together all summer - and then decided to head over to Trolley Square.
I don't frequent Trolley as often as I used to, mostly because the scene has changed over the years, for better and for worse.  It's still a good place to grab lunch or dinner because you have a plethora of dining establishments to chose from, and all of the ones I've eaten at - which is most - have some damn good food and nice atmospheres.  But the nightlife has become...different.
When I was in my early twenties my girls and I used to rule the dance floor downstairs at Kelly's Loganhouse and there were times you could catch decent bands in the bar upstairs, but over recent years management has changed hands.  The dance floor has more or less become nonexistent and the amount of concert series performed there has dwindled.  (If there is one, the advertising is so minimal you'd only discover it was going on if you happen to be there on a random night.)
Now one of the only places that has a DJ is Catherine Rooney's, on Saturdays.  And I can't stand it.  On a regular night it's a good place to hang and get some food, I believe Thursday night is still Martini Night.  But it gets so crowded on Saturday nights that it's damn near impossible to get a drink, much less maneuver through the crowd and make yourself a little room to dance.  There's also Club 3.  If you like house music.  And well, sometimes house music is hard to dance to.
I'm not even going to go into how much I hate the music the DJs play these days - I'm sitting here shaking my head.  What ever happened to R&B?  Jams you could dance to as opposed to what I could only describe as wannabe gangster rap with some jackass declaring "Yo that shit cray," and every where you look you'll inevitably see brand-new 21-year-olds humping each other like they're having awful, strange, awkward sex.
As far as the people go, maybe I just didn't notice them when I was younger.  Maybe I was one of them, I don't know.  Girls dressed to the nines in heels they can't walk in and more makeup than Motley Crue circa 1987.  Oh right, they're trying to get laid.  Yikes.  The guys aren't much better, walking around in matching neon polo shirts, trying to get laid.  Everyone has their cell phone in hand and acting like they're texting someone more interesting than the scene going on around them.  They probably are, because anything is more interesting than the scene in Trolley Square.
Damn I sound old.
Maybe I was the same way when I was younger.  Maybe I notice it more because I don't go out looking to get laid.  I can do that with one phone call, thanks.  Maybe it's because I just spent the majority of August reveling in the Dewey Beach bar scene, which, granted, is somewhat similiar but with a larger age range.  (I like my men a little older anyway.)  Maybe that's more tolerable because it's summer time and everyone is a little more laid back, the bars are bigger and if you don't feel like being stuck in a crowd you can relocate to a different one where you don't have to fight your way to the bar and struggle to get the bartender's attention.  And if you see a girl throwing up on a side street or a guy being carried by his friends you just shake your head and smile, "Uh-oh, looks like they couldn't hang in Dewey."  Maybe because down there you can find decent bands playing every weekend and it's hard to find a DJ spinning music that he's adding his own "style" to therefore you're just listening to a train wreck happen.
But I digress.  The caliber of people that you find in Trolley Square on a weekend night has changed drastically, and it's just not fun anymore.  It almost seems like everyone has a chip on their shoulder, or is desensitized, or just plain trying too damn hard.  Maybe it seems that way because I was for the most part sober the last time I was there.  Or maybe I'm the one who's desensitized.
Damn I really sound old.
Maybe I just prefer the beach scene, or the Philly scene.  Shit, even New York, although I don't get up there as often as I like.  I don't have a reason to wear my slutty rock & roll gear out  in Wilmington.  This town is too trendy for that.  Even my usual watering hole was a different crowd that night.  We barely recognized anyone in the place, which was odd for us.  What, I go away for a month and everything changes?