A Long Weekend....

Typically, my weekends are pretty uneventful, but this past weekend was different. It was the 25th Anniversary of some very good friends of ours (I went to High School with the guy) and we were invited to celebrate with them on Saturday night.

We were going to take a limo downtown so 'drinking and driving' would not be an issue. The plans changed to getting a hotel room and then taking taxis to various downtown 'hot spots'.

Normally when we go out for dinner......it's fairly early...like '6-ish'. I hate waiting for anything and getting a table is no exception. But...since this was a special occasion, our dinner reservations were for..................8:00 PM. Of course, this meant taking a nap Saturday afternoon ;) We got to the hotel about 6:30, a few drinks at the hotel bar then off to the restaurant about 7:45.

We had reservations at 'Mike Shannons Seafood and Steaks'. 'Shannons' is the top-rated place for steaks here...and its excellent. Pretty pricey...but the food is great. The dinner bill, with wine and drinks, came in around $400. Now to me, an average of $100 per is alot. But I gotta say, the steak I had, 12 ounce filet, was fucking great. As with most steak places, every fuckin thing is ala carte, which I don't care for, but wtf...this was a special occasion.

Left there about 10:00, grabbed a cab, and headed off to an area that sits right next to the Mississippi River, called 'LaCledes Landing'....right on the St. Louis Riverfront. The 'Landing' has more fuckin bars and nightspots than you can shake the 'proverbial stick' at. Everything is located in buildings that date back over a hundred years.

Stopped in a few places, had a drink or two at each, then made our way to 'The Big Bang'. It's a Dueling Piano Bar and the place was packed...fucking packed to the walls. Of course, the median age was probably 25, but we had a blast. I was amazed how well I could sing ....well, drinking for 5 hours may have had something to do with my perception of that ;) Found a spot for at the bar, luckily, and stayed until 2:00 AM (they are open until 3:00).

Another taxi back to the hotel, tried to get more to drink there but they had closed their bar (WTF??). So, we had to improvise. I had packed some 'refreshment' so we all went back to our room and drank some more. That was certainly smart on my part. Finally got to bed around 4:00....and woke up at 7:00...with my head feeling like there was someone inside, kicking to get out.

A 20 minute shower really didn't help all that much....and the 3 aspirins hadn't kicked in yet. We all met at the restaurant and did the 'Sunday Breakfast Buffet' thing. I was fuckin starvin. It wasn't all that great but I didn't care...coffee and food seemed to help.

Went to 'Valet' to pick up my vehicle and pay the Valet Charge. $23.....all I had was two $20's, which I gave her. Of course she had no fucking change so she had to call some 'manager' guy to get change. 15 fucking minutes I wait until he comes back. He hands her the money, she turns to me and counts out my change....$17....all in fucking ONES! As is typical 'Efen' fashion....a 'bitch session' normally ensues..but I was tired and my head still fucking hurt..so I just let it go...didn't say one damn thing. Now you know, I must have felt like shit if I let that go ;)

We got home around 11:00..............and that was it for me for the day. Went 'to couch' and stayed there. Watched TV and napped....pretty much a useless fucking day.

I did come to one conclusion.......I'm too old for this shit ;)