My crappitystock remembrances/experiences were slightly different from everyone else's because Pogo! and I never made it to the condo (we were staying at the hotel, as was FBP)... We tried on Saturday afternoon, but called KGB who said she and Pat were now back home, and everyone was resting up/getting themselves together for dinner and Sluggo's, so it was not to be. (Though I shoulda just called Stan to come pick us up. He loooooooooooooooves driving.
)
Anyway, so my weekend started Thursday, basically, the second Bams picked me up at the airport. (She has an
adorable new 'do, btw, which you'll see later when more pix emerge.) Did pre-game at her place
on an empty stomach, mind, then met up with Ryan and his friend Puffer (apparently his real name
) at a newish place called The Cove (nautical themed!), then more drinks at Tripp's, where I met Kurt, then to Bamah's for...more drinks. And crashing
hard.
(That's what she said.)
Friday's drive (still empty stomach...save for all the liquids I'd been imbibing) was not so fun for me. I'd taken an anti-nausea pill and hoped it would help with "motion sickness." It didn't. I fell asleep early on, but then -- only about an hour outside of Memphis -- woke up seriously nauseous. Like, pull-over-the-van kind of nauseous. Only Stan couldn't hear what was going on because I was way in the back. Bobby (also amazing and entertaining, btw) managed to find a plastic bag, and I totally hurled. But before that, when we were trying to get Stan's attention, Bams (sitting beside me) was, like, trying to figure something out and got her magazine out for me to barf in (or on?). Like that would do anything. Totally hilarious.
Anyway, there I am, with my face in a bag, vomiting probably pure vodka (and some water I'd had in the morning), and Ryan motions to Bamah to get the video camera out. haha. (No, she didn't.)
We stopped at a Taco Bell shortly thereafter and I managed to choke down a cheese roll-up (or whatever they're called) and maybe a bite of my bean burrito. Ugh. It took me about an hour on the road to eat that thing; one bite every 15 minutes or so. Fun times. That was a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal quiet ride for me. Not sure if I really even spoke to anyone... All's I know is we crossed several state lines (Tennessee into Mississippi into Alabama, then Florida) on that 8 hour trek, and that Ryan still likes me even after the barf episode. Yay!
We picked up some boozes and hit Pat's where I met Pat (duh), FBP, gocat, and our newest fab member, KGB. Many drinks were had (and no dinner), then Ryan and I were dropped off at the hotel where we "napped" for a while. (And got lots of the "what were you guys doing?" and "what took you so long?" kind of questions when we
did meet up with everyone again.) We eventually walked over to the Keg Bar -- pretty sketch at first glance, but the people there were totally nice, and it was real cheap and fun -- for the karaoke that everyone else has previously mentioned. Super fun! (No, I didn't.) I drank a lot of the memory remover, so there are gaps, but this time, it was Ryan's turn to be the super fucked-up one. We were dropped off at the hotel (even tho' it was within walking distance from the bar... did we go back to Pat's? I think we might've, but... um, memory remover) and tried to order pizza but stupidly couldn't figure out the area code and just gave up and passed out in our clothes. Fun times.
(Obviously the others can fill you in on the condo antics that night. Pat had stayed there, too.)
Saturday morning, got a call from Sav that the "taxi" (Kim squared) was going out to the beach/condo shortly if we wanted in, but Ryan just could not do it. So we got them to drop us off downtown for food. Weird, Pensacola proper -- a military town -- really shuts down on weekend days, but we did manage to find an open restaurant in Seville Quarter (a historic part of town) and got some hangover helper (more booze) along with our lunch. (Everyone at the condo at this point was eatin' somewhere on the beach.) We cabbed back to the hotel for more "napping" and napping. (And afterwards, that's when we reckoned we could cab out to the beach, but were shut down.)
Met up with everyone at The Fish House for dinner (though no fish for me -- I always feel like such a vegetarian party pooper at times like that, but genuinely, I was fine) and drinks. Pat kindly managed to get us a $150 bar tab gratis from his old boss (he used to work there) and we only drank $146 of it. Weird, given the people involved.
He also treated us to the appetizers. Such a sweet boy, that Pat. Went to Sluggo's after, around 8:30 for set-up/sound check, etc. I wasn't so into the first band, but the one-man-band dude that Pat mentioned was pretty fun.
Then, Dragoon. As I said, they totally rocked it. Such a great time. Y'all should see them some time.
Grifters karaoke? What to say that hasn't already been said? It was both special and hilarious at the same time. I'll just wait for the video footage to tell
that story. Really fun times!!! Pat was in his glory; an amazing and fun host. And Bams ruled as MC. Yay!
I think we got outta there around 2:30 or 3am (keep in mind, we'd been drinking there since 8:30), and I don't recall much of the car ride back to the hotel, but apparently it was "hilarious." (Wish Bobby was a member here because he ended up driving us, and has a great account of the trek.)
Anyway. Sunday morning was also fab. Set a wake-up call for 11am, and I think we were picked up around noon and Ryan and I were a little shaky. (Did I mention how
cheap the booze is in Florida? Yipes.) But, the trip back was 80,000 times more fun than the trip there. As Tripp mentioned, we stopped at some li'l Mexican roadside joint for lunch -- well, technically breakfast for some of us -- and dropped Ryan off at the airport in Jackson, Mississippi. Too too sad (for me). Then continued on to Mempho. No dinner break, so of course, Bamah and I (and her gay BFF Floyd) had to just start the drinking again. Got some good girl talk in, along with the vodka, so all's well with the world...
Today, we dragged our hungover selves to India Palace for buffet, then the airport... and the rest (i.e. today's travel) is history.
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