Lake Ouachita

This past weekend, Weenie, Hoops, Mooey and I headed to Lake Ouachita and our usual stomping grounds at Crystal Springs. We left Friday morning around 8:45. We had the pontoon boat reserved from 2:00 to 6:00 and it was at least a 3 hour drive.

The drive was uneventful and we arrived around 12:30. We unloaded the car and while Hoops and Weenie made lunch, Mooey and I headed up to the beer store.

The beer store was tiny and we each grabbed two 30 packs of Bud Light. We hoped that would be enough. The Budweiser man came in and the guy behind the counter said "I'm glad you're here. These girls just bought all the Bud Light."

We headed back to the cabin and ate our sandwiches. We all donned our boat togs and asked Weenie to go to the Marina and ask if we could get on the boat an hour early. She can be real persuasive. She came back and said they had given us the go ahead to get on the boat. We loaded up both coolers filled to the gills with beer and headed to the marina.

We went inside to pay for the boat and Mooey saw this adorable bucket hat on sale for $3.95. She told the teenager behind the counter to add it to her half of the boat. Upon reviewing her receipt, she couldn't figure out why her total was so much. So, Mooey asked the teenager what was going on. He said the hat was $14.95. Mooey said she didn't want it anymore and made the boy refund her money. He was visably irritated and we all laughed. Then he gave us a broken ladder. Thanks.

We left the marina around 1:30 and it was beautiful.

The beers were flowing and we proceeded to get extremely buzzy on the boat. Here are Weenie and I doing shooters.

We headed back to the Marina at 6:00 and unloaded. We were to cook that night so we immediately started the grill when we got back. Hoops took a tiny nap upon arrival while I made lime and cranberry drinks for everyone else.

We ate dinner and then proceeded to continue to drink until around 2:00 am. Thanks. Here's one of the great shots of that night.

The next morning came too quick. We managed to get on the boat by 10:00 though. By 11:30, we were having lunch and cracking open beers. It was extremely hot and we had to jump into the lake often. Check out Weenie and Mooey.

Here's a couple more shots.

We didn't get off the boat until 5:30 and we were all crispy. My forehead was so flourescent, Mooey called me Radish Head. We continued to drink and Mooey make BBQ chicken.

Unfortunately, the sunburn sort of did us all in and we were in bed by 11:00. We had leftover beer! It was a miracle.

In the morning, Weenie made her famous sausage gravy and we loaded up and headed back to Memphis. I still miss the boat.

Kate's Birthday Party 8/8

I received a message on Monday that there was going to be a gathering at One More (12 More) to celebrate Kate's birthday. She said they were going to dinner and would arrive around 8:00. Weenie and I decided we were going to have prebirthday party drinks at Celtic Crossing. Upon arriving at CC, there was only one table left. We sat down and ordered beers. They came and we decided to slam the beers and leave. They were having an Irish wake that night and it was much too crowded. Plus, we didn't know the dead guy.

I had called Mooey and Hoops to see what they were doing. They had a cocktail party to attend before the birthday party. It started around 7:30. They were going to meet us but changed their mind. That is, until we decided to walk down to the Young Avenue Deli. In midstride, my phone rang and it was Mooey. They wanted to join us afterall. When I told her we were going to the deli, silence greeted me. She then asked if we would reconsider and go to the Bayou. I yelled at Weenie, she was several steps in front of me. Ok, we'll meet you there.

We were at the Bayou within minutes and beers were brought to us without ordering them. Mooey and Hoops arrived and more beers appeared.

I think they had 2 or 3 before leaving for the cocktail party. It was around 7:45 when my phone rang again. It was Anita and Ben. They were at Molly's having margaritas. I told them where we were and to come on! They arrived shortly after the phone call and we commenced to more drinking.

Around 8:30, Weenie and I decided it was time to head to 12 More.

When we arrived, Kate, Shirley, Kat, Sam and Mel were there. Here is a picture of Kate (in the middle) with Shirley (on the right) and Weenie (on the left).

We danced and drank and danced some more. Here are more pictures!

Mai, the bartender, kicked us out at 3:00. Wednesday was not a fun day at work!

Madison Avenue

Saturday, the day started out leisurely at Mooey's pool. We laid around on rafts until around 4:30. We headed home to get ready for the night's activities.

The plan was barhop down Madison and end up at the Jungle for darts. We met Mooey and Hoops at the Bayou at 6:00. It was packed! They got there just in time and snagged the last table. Weenie and I ordered beers and shooters. Mooey and Hoops were almost done with their beers. They ordered another one and we got the check. Onward!

The next stop was the Lamplighter. It's a total dive. It was pretty crowded too. There are 3 booths, 1 table, and about 6 seats at the bar. There were only 2 booths open and a couple of chairs at the bar. We chose the booth with the gigantic ashtray in the middle of the table. It was so big it took up half the table. I ordered 3 Bud Light's and 1 PBR for Hoops. She said she was obligated to have PBR when at the Lamplighter.

We laughed quitely at the table. The staring finally stopped and we enjoyed our beers. We ordered one more round before the smoke drove us out.

Next stop was Old Zinnie's. It's almost next door. It wasn't very crowded so we had our pick of the tables. We ordered a round of beers and discussed our next stop. Everyone was pretty buzzy and we decided we would have to skip the next two on the list and head straight for the Jungle for darts. We wanted to be able to actually play for a little while.

We had two beers at Old Zinnie's and then paid up and left. Weenie ran by the house and let the dogs out. She figured we'd be out for a while so she decided to go by and do that.

The Jungle was dead. I was so glad. Sometimes if it's crowded, it makes playing darts a little difficult. We got quarters and beers. We laid out the darts and started playing. Weenie loaded up the jukebox with money. I'm sure the men in the bar loved when Wolfmother screamed about a Woman. I looked at Weenie and she said it was the only song like that she played. I'm sure the patrons were eyerolling because Whitney Houston is usually playing.

We played 4 games of darts before it was time for Mooey and Hoops to head to Krystal/Taco Bell/Mcdonald's or wherever their buzz took them. I stayed behind because our old friend Patrice came in and I haven't seen him in about a month. Weenie took them to their car and came back to to visit with Patrice.

We caught up with him and had more beers. We were housesitting at the time so when the time approached 2:00, we knew we needed to head home to let the dogs out. We said our goodbyes and headed home.

Once home, we decided we hadn't had quite enough so we went up to Printer's Alley for a few more after hour beers. It wasn't very crowded so we scored two seats at the bar. Scottie, from old Amnesia is the chef at the restaurant, came over and sat with us and we laughed and laughed with him. We didn't stay too long and headed home to get some sleep!

Bar Hopping

D and I met DP (D's brother) at Old Zinnie's on Monday. We got there around 6:00 and DP arrived shortly thereafter. He got a beer at the bar and then returned to the bar to retrieve his chilled Patron. Uh oh. DP doesn't normally get Patron during the week. Not to be outdone, I went and order D and I pink lemonades. We toasted Monday and threw back the shots. We stayed there for a couple of hours and started talking about Alex's Tavern and how long it had been since we'd been there. DP suggested we head down there and we all agreed. I kept telling them they didn't take debit cards but they insisted there was no place in town that didn't take cards.

Upon arrival at Alex's, D asked about the cards. They shook their heads no. Luckily, I have about $14 in my pocket. That bought us 3 beers. D decided she wanted to hang out so a cash machine was in order. Being in a really bad part of town, D had to drive several miles in order to feel safe enough.

D came back and DP had ordered a burger. Alex's is famous for their burgers. D decided she wanted one too. I had eaten leftover pizza so I passed. I ordered more beer instead.

We stayed there for about two hours and then he'd had enough. We paid up and dropped him off at his car. We weren't done so we headed to the Bayou. This is definitely one of our main hangouts. It had cooled off just enough to sit outside. It was pretty dead so we had our pick of the tables. We ordered beers. About 30 minutes later, I noticed a Jeep Cherokee speeding down Idlewild. It was going really, really fast. All of the sudden, it took the corner in front of Maggie's Pharm. We heard a loud bang and then the Jeep took off. It had hit the curb and then a car. That person must've been trashed.

We paid our bill and went to The Blue Monkey. We drove by to see the damaged car. D had called the police but they never showed up. Thanks. Anyway, the Jeep had been abandoned at the apartments at the end of the street. We had no idea where the driver ended up.

The Blue Monkey was not very crownded. We saw W from the Bayou and MJ from Pizza Cafe playing pool so we headed over to play. We played 3 or 4 games and then hit the trivia machine. It was getting real late so we packed it in and headed home.

Tuesday I felt like complete ass.