Drunk O' the Irish
Lucky's Club Cigar hosted the big St. Patrick's day event last night, which consisted of Toad in the Hole (the band, not the English food), Irish Car Bombs, Guinness, some random fights, chanting/hollering, and other stereotypically superb shenanigans. There were a bunch of us on the Drunk Train initially: Me, Sammy, Rachel, Liz, Adrienne, Angelene, & Tracy (visiting from CA), and John & Julia (Visiting from CA as well).
We arrived at Lucky's at 8:00 and already the bar's poorly designed layout was impossible to navigate because of the sheer number of drunk people wearing green. When you first enter, you walk through a hallway that is about five feet wide and also contains the bar. When you would leave to go to the outside smoking area, again, narrow hallway, this time containing the bathrooms. The sheer genius of the layout puts long lines (to the bar/bathroom) in the two most compact spaces available. The main room is quite large...I think they filter you in through the sieve-like hallways so you'll be that much more glad to be there. Despite our issues getting in and out, people that showed up after us had to wait in line outside. The typical wait was 20-45 minutes.
Toad in the Hole was awesome. It was their last performance, which is sad, but they left a lasting impression on all five million people that squeezed into that room to see them. We drank many car bombs and whisky drinks and saw some funny shit go down. Our friend Jessica, who bartends at the
Black Forest, divided and conquered a fight that broke out among a few drunk guys outside. She spotted it with her keen bartender eyes and swooped upon them, splitting them up and sending them on their way within a few seconds. Awesome. Another sight was Liz, who was might sloppy and staggering in a bit of a grapevine...I'm not sure what happened to her last night! Jessica, the keen-eyed bartender was monitoring her, last I knew.
Then it was on to the
Horsehead, where there weren't quite as many people, but it was still packed for that place. We ran into
Patrick,
Robin,
Evan, and friends there, for whom the Horsehead was another hole of Bar Golfing. Ask
Patrick for the rules, I don't remember them exactly. We also saw Josh, Bryan, Andrew, Andy, and more. Sorry if I left anyone's name out. Our intoxication peaked here, and many more shenanigans ensued. Two people got asked to stop dancing on the table. Evan did parlor tricks for us. We stood in a pathway making jazz-hand bridges for people to pass beneath as we cheered, "Yay, go through the fun bridge!" We took more car bombs. We took many pictures where our faces were shiny and our mouths were very open (heh, heh Rachel).
In closing, here is information about Sammy's question last night about the history of St. Patrick's day:
The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn't get the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship. Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God.
He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity. His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the native pagans to Christianity. But his superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. But two years later, Palladius transferred to Scotland. Patrick, having adopted that Christian name earlier, was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland. Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. And this fact upset the Celtic Druids.
Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity. His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.
Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated. Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.
(source)
Not a very nice story, really, but what the hey? Enough Guinness will help you forget.
