The Weekend That Was

I’m sitting here at my computer with a plate of sliced avocado, a small stack of dill pickle chips and a toasted and buttered everything bagel trying to recapture the feeling of peace that I had when I took this sunset photo yesterday evening.  It’s kind of hard to recapture peace when you keep biting the same place on the inside of your bottom lip though.  Don’t you hate when that happens?  You bite it once then it swells and you keep biting it because it’s sticking out.  Ugh!  That hurts!

Anyway, it was another lovely weekend here.  We kicked it off with a couples date night at a really great local restaurant.  We had a private room for eight and a seemingly endless supply of malbec wine.  I had the cobia with a sun-dried tomato cream sauce!  It was pretty much a religious experience.  After dinner we exited through our private deck to the back of the restaurant and walked out onto the restaurant’s pier.  It was freezing but our huddled group made for a great picture 🙂  Our little party made its way over to rundown, hole-in-the wall bar near our house to watch some truly awful karaoke.  It was really fun but the smoke in the seedy bar got to us after a while.  We all got a good laugh about how we went to one of the nicest places and then one of the sketchiest places that night.

On Saturday, J took off to St. Augustine to meet up with his old friend from North Carolina.  His friend was in Florida to celebrate his 50th birthday at a motocross track.  I ended up taking the kids to the zoo then Big Red took Wildman fishing while Cutie Pie napped.  It was homemade pizza and asparagus for dinner then off to bed for us.  J finally rolled in from his wild birthday party fun at 4:30 AM!!!

Sunday found us out on a spoil island again.  The weather was warm with just the right amount of chill in the air to make it comfortable.  Weekend boat trips are one of the best things about living here.  I could have stayed stretched out on my picnic blanket, basking the rays of the sun, listening to the children play, watching the calm water ripple up on the sandbar forever.  It was wonderful.

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Lou’s Blues (Or Lou’s Blue Hair?!)

Today is A/V guy’s 40th birthday. A/V guy is a kiteboarding buddy of J’s. We were invited to attend the party his mom was throwing for him at a local bar called Lou’s Blues. Since A/V guy is such a good friend of J’s we decided to go. My in-laws were available to babysit so off we went at 7 PM.

I wore this sweater with a matching blue cami from NY & Co.

And these Bermuda shorts (also NY & Co.).

I went monochrome. It looked pretty cute if I do say so myself.

I was in no way prepared for what has become of this bar. It used to be trendy little nightspot on the beach for the 20-30-year-old crowd with a crowded dance floor and bass-tastic dance music. At least that’s what it was like when I went there in college. And it wasn’t called Lou’s Blues. It was called The Dragon Lady. The bar is as old as I am. To quote a write up from the Brevard Directory, “32 years ago, the Dragon Lady opened her doors. Astronauts, politicians, judges and even the occasional regular guy knew where to go for a good time. The tradition continues at Lou’s Blues! We kept her secrets quiet, the view spectacular, and the history alive.”

It is an understatement to say that this club has changed from my college days… The downstairs bar has been replaced with a new dance floor. The new bar has been pushed up against the wall. Gone is the DJ. Now entertainment comes in the form of karaoke. Yes, folks, I said karaoke. The lights aren’t turned down low anymore, there are no black lights or cool wall art. The mood has definitely shifted. Instead of drawing the 20-30 something set, Lou’s Blues draws the 50-70 something set. I’m not exaggerating. J and I brought the average age of the club-goers waaaaaaay down.

Let me recap the karaoke song list for you.

– I Did It My Way

– Unchained Melody

– All That Jazz

– That’s Amore

– The Electric Slide

– Daddy’s Home

If I heard “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” I was going to shoot myself. I’m still here, thank God.

We sat on the second floor overlooking the downstairs dance floor. The crowd was a sea of single, white-haired people on the prowl. It was nuts. I leaned over to J and asked him if he thought there was any chance we were going to hear a little “Baby Got Back”. He said only if I were to sing it myself. Given enough alcohol, I might have busted out some Sir-Mix-Alot. Hell, maybe I’d even sing some Ludacris.

A/V guy looked uncomfortable the whole time we were there. He didn’t want his guests to feel awkward in this setting. His mom meant so well! But the poor lady just didn’t get it, if you know what I mean. She thought this place was awesome. And I guess it is awesome for someone in her demographic. Like I said, she meant well so we made the best of it. J and I chatted with the other guests, had a couple of drinks, watched the old folks belt out some classics and then politely said our good-byes after about 2 hours.

After leaving Lou’s we went to get ice cream and sit on the beach. It was a nice, cool evening. I’m so glad I wore my sweater! The ice cream coupled with the cool breeze was enough to make me shiver.

A group of frat guys from Florida Tech built a ginormous bonfire on the beach. They dug a pit about 5 feet deep and 15 feet wide. It was insane. We watched the flame leap about 10 feet into the air.

I’m still chuckling over the people at Lou’s Blues -like the guy I called Lance Armstrong. He had a mini-mullet, wore a thick gold chain and a cycling jersey with his brown braided belt and blue jeans. He gyrated his hips like no man I know. It was mesmerizing really. And not in a good way. I hope I never end up a lonely divorcee at a club. It’s depressing.

Our night out was entertaining if nothing else. We supported A/V guy on his birthday and I left with a good story to tell so I’d say that tonight was worth it!

BTW- we found out that AV guy’s wife is a nurse at our PCP’s office. Small world!!!