Balki came out to NY for the long weekend for no other reason than to hang out and drink. And that boy can drink; he put my 30 year old liver to the test.
The weekend consisted of a lot of walking, drinking, and being hungover. We set the bar high on Thursday when he showed up by going to my local afterwork bar for a going away party and a birthday party. We rolled out of there at 3:30am and I still managed to make it through a full day of work, while Balki hated life on the couch all day. We did it two more days in a row. After three nights in a row of staying out until bar close, I really thought I was starting to get used to 4am bar close, which has been alluding me for the past year. Not true.
Sunday we a cold reminder that I can’t make it. 4am bar close is something that my body just cant figure out. Once it hits 2am, Im ready to eat some pizza and pass the hell out.
It didn’t help that I started the day with a tequila hangover, but the one meal I ate also probably contributed to my inability to last to 4am. After our meal of the day we settled into Rudy’s, my favorite dive bar located in hell’s kitchen. The $9 pitchers and free hotdogs can’t be beat. I only had one of the free hotdogs though. Instead, Balki and I just went through five pitchers of cheap beer. On an empty stomach it was a recipe for disaster. We then proceeded to go to the nicest bar I’ve been to since I moved toNY. On the 20th floor with spectacular open air views of the empire state building, this place paid their outrageous rent with outrageous drink prices. We went from drinking $9 pitchers to drinking $9 beers. The irony is not lost on me. All the alcohol proved to be too much for me and had to call it a night before 3am.We stumbled back to my neighborhood (walking instead of in a cab in case I had an unfortunate incident), ate some pizza and I somehow managed to keep the contents of my stomach intact.
By Monday, neither of us had the energy to go out another night. Instead we hit Coney Island to eat Nathan’s hotdogs, ride the cyclone, and people watch. We walked out to the pier where I saw this:
Coney Island gambling!
Yes, it’s illegal gambling. I have never actually seen this game played before. Itsvery simple, like roulette, pick a number and the de are rolled, if it adds up to your number it pays 2 to 1. The house edge is phenomenal: pay 2x with a 1 in 6 chance of winning, unless my math is mistaken, that’s a 66% house edge. Yikes! I love it.
Coney Island – Labor Day 2007
After hitting up the New York culture all day, we topped it off with a visit to UCB Theatre where we got to see Aziz Ansari, Paul Sheer, and Demetri Martin perform FOR FREE. Now that’s something you don’t get to see just anywhere.
It’s Friday now and I still feel like I’m recovering from last weekend. Were on our way to AC though, that always makes me feel sober. Kind of. One week to ACL, I’ll see you all there.