Category Archives: Alcohol
Savannah, Georgia – Day 37-38
Savannah, the place I have been desperate to go to for at least three years since I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Although different to what I expected, it did not let me down. Day 37 was spent trekking around South Carolina and going to dinner at my road tripster’s sister’s house where one of the highlights of the evening was being called ‘Miss’ . But there was no time to be wasted on the night of day two, especially since I’d had such poor drinking performance on day one. So I settled for Amy Schumer on the comedy network and waited in anticipation for the next day.
But who would have known that such a delight as South of the Border would suddenly appear like an Oasis in the crosslines. A kitsch place that glows neon in the night and sells nothing but the utmost crap that you could buy anywhere in the world in a gift store. It was amazing. Built on the borders of North and South Carolina for no reason other than there is literally nothing else there and people needed a job, Genius. My one regret was that I didn’t stay the night in the motel there. We really screwed up on that one.
South of the Border
As we approached Savannah and River Street, I was a bit nervous. It looked nothing like I had thought and there were a lot of tourists in the way. How dare they have the same idea as us for a Memorial Day Weekend? But the fear and concern melted away when we reached the River Street Inn. One of the loveliest hotels I have ever had the pleasure to stay in. It was unlike a corporate W or Hilton and had its own Southern Charm. The place felt like a huge house with a courtyard in the middle and guest wings to the side. It wasn’t that expensive and I felt like I was in a palatial home. The rooms were spacious with antique furnishings, seating areas and even an honesty bar of snacks and drinks which I had never come across. I honestly ate a Snickers for breakfast.
So my roadster friend was nearly falling out of his skin with excitement that he could drink on the street so this became the main mission for the evening. I hadn’t even realized no one did drink on the streets anywhere, which makes me think that I must usually do it. So off we set. I have no sense of direction and get lost turning around, so always need someone around who does. Even on a grid system I have a problem so my friend led the way round the similar squares of Savannah.
But there’s something about the place; something in the air. I still can’t quite put my finger on it. It almost looks a bit Disney in places but you can tell that chances are behind closed mansion doors there has been debauchery and deliciousness to boot. A hidden way of life behind a white iron fence. Doors closed to you but know that if you are in you will probably sin. I had a feeling Savannah knew how to party.
Street Busker Echo
We ended up where most travellers do at the start, in an Irish pub. When the local busker came along and sat down with his steel stringed guitar I was pleasantly surprised until he said his name was Echo and then all hearts sank including his. We did make him repeat it a few times – but the joke failed. After my Margarita of nuclear strength we marched on to find we had spent too long dilly dallying and food was needed. In a drunk state I am highly impressed I ended up with an amazing three course meal but I’m afraid I can’t tell you where as I was in a drunk state until five am. On the street mostly and a whiskey bar. A messy day one in Savannah.
Washington D.C – Day 36
On our way to Washington D.C
Day 36 of the trip but Day 1 of road trip. My trusty friend and I went away for a five day extravaganza on the road with the ultimate goal being to reach Savannah, Gerogia; a place I had become obsessed about since reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It was Memorial Day weekend and getting out of New York past New Jersey took about three hours. It wasn’t the best start but luckily we were very excited and hadn’t annoyed the hell out of each other at that point. First point of call was Dunkin Donuts for coffee, where I learnt this was the best place to get your fast fix. Luckily for me I was with an experienced American road tripper.
By the time we reached the first point of call which was Washington D.C it was night. We were starving so we drove past the White House and all the buildings, said – yeah that’s cool and went to eat some Ethiopian food which I found much more interesting. I’m not one for staring at buildings even if they are important.
After dinner we checked into a local hotel in Arlington which was nice enough but my memory of it is already faint and went to the local dive sports bar. Which isn’t somewhere I would have chosen, but it was the only bar and I like drinking. What I did fail to notice was that my vodka and cranberry’s were being served in pint glasses. So the latter memory of this night is sketchy. I do know I cried for no reason and then wanted to be sick in the night; Classy. At least I didn’t fall off my stool which I have been known to do.
New York – Days 24 to 35
I had a good friend in Town so we decided to do what I should do and don’t and that was go to the Museums. So we made arrangements and toddled over to the to Met Museum to find it closed. The Met is closed on a Monday to the Public should you need this info. So we went to the Natural History Museum to see the Whale Exhibition which was actually pretty good.
We had to go through the dinosaur exhibition to get anywhere and being a City girl I was immediately annoyed that I couldn’t just get direct to where I was going. Past childhood why on earth would you want to see a bunch of dinosaurs? But no I take it back. It’s pretty amazing and worth the walk. The only thing the museum could have done with is a good dusting. Some of the exhibits are behind glass and look like no one has cleaned the filth accumulating inside for as long as the items have existed. Get a duster Natural History.
We made it to the Met a few days later to the see the Punk Couture exhibition which would be great if you didn’t know anything about punk but I thought it was pretty lame in general. It’s a lot of clothes in rows and quite dull. But I’m from London and a musician so I know all about punk so I’m probably just being over picky. It didn’t stop me buying a CBGB t shirt at the end though. I once played there so I figured I had the right.
And in this amount of time there had been a ridiculous amount of food in amazing places. I do like a munch on the crumbs of life. Stanton Social on the Lower East Side, The Tangled Vine wine bar on the Upper West, Del Frisco’s amazing steak house in the Mid West, The Magnolia Bakery and their ridiculous Banana Pudding. And the cocktail bar of the hotel which killed it with their amazing mixology at The Crosby Hotel. I will name and shame the waiter in Sara Beth’s on the upper West Side for purposefully not trying to bring back change for a bill which meant he would have taken a 40% tip. And he was not making an error. When I complained he couldn’t even look me in the eye as he brought the change back. I am no tourist here now sir, so take the shame.
I also got stuck in a rainstorm. As it was warm and rainy I waited inside a toy store not looking suspicious in the slightest as I played on my phone. In the end my time of dawdling had run out and I decided to make a dash. Sure I might get a little wet but how much worse could it get? Well it gets much worse in New York as the sheets of rain hit. This is rain unlike any other I have experienced . I felt like I had been caught in a monsoon yet I was in the centre of New York. So if in doubt in the rain over here, just don’t.
And to top it off I l have been learning that the measurements of alcohol in drinks here is nothing like the paltry measures back home. I’m a practicing lush and I’m having to learn to take it slow on the consumption. Well I’m trying. After on a Monday night downing a few Espresso Martinis at the Crosby Hotel I went onto a friends bar where I ended up being the only proprietor. This ended with me getting over excited by the DJ playing a random selection of 80’s and running up to the booth like a fan and making him put on Don’t you Want me Baby by the Human League at full volume and making him sing it with me. Alone in the bar with my friend and two other co workers watching. The dangers of mixing the drinks is a lesson learned here. Maybe not adhered to but learned all the same. I felt very quiet the next day. Never have I willed a natural fruit juice to heal me more; It didn’t.
New York – Days 17 to 23
Be good to the people who work in the bars and clubs and they are good to you.
Things I have discovered.
1) Again I ended up somewhere twice in one week that if you sit at the bar and get wasted you end up with not much of a bill to pay. . Be nice to the bartenders and they are really nice to you. They free pour the spirits here so you end up with a glass of vodka and not much else to flavour it. This would never happen in the UK. Never. Well unless you were home doing the pouring.
2). You can get your nails done in every block here and your eyebrows too. How there are so many nail bars and brow bars in business is a mystery. Great prices and can always walk in. What a treat for the hands and feet.
Sickly Sweetness
3) I met an old friend and went walking, walking, walking around the city streets to buy as much sweets to make us sick as possible. The girl in a Disney like candy store looked and sounded like she was sugar rushing to the moon. Never has someone spoke so much crap so fast. I left my friend to deal with her. Note to self, don’t work in candy stores.
4) They like to have big menus here to match the portion size. See the burger menu and the beer menu.
- Any beer or ale you desire. Well alot of it.
5) Clubs here are still like clubs ten years ago. It was a weird experience to be back in a nightclub. I don’t think I had been in one for years. I knew I could have talked to loads of people but I was just enjoying watching the crowd and thinking of days gone by. And as they prance by with their not so creative face paint and sparkly tutus (just the guys) I wondered in ten years time whether they would be the one like me staring back at them thinking – ooh how boring.
6) Everyone has a dog. Big or small. None of these dogs bark. Weird.
7) If you want to play catch the Frisbee in Central park the pre requisite is to be in your early twenties and have a six-pack. Good thing I don’t like catch the Frisbee.
New York Day 16 – Lower East Side
Mary Poppins Comes to the Lower East Side for one night only.
I’ve discovered the app HopStop. This is amazing in NYC for someone like myself who gets lost turning around. The only problem is that it tells you at the end of a subway stop to go in a compass direction which is an immediate fail for someone like me. Luckily on day 16 the friend who called me to do coat check called me as I got out of Canal Street and asked what way the traffic was going and told me it was the wrong way and to turn around, This was repeated on Day 17 too. Day 18 someone showed me that there was a compass on the iphone. Life is complete.
Day 16 was a Saturday and I was out in Soho wandering around with a friend trying out various vessels of white wine in various bars, which is always going to create a more than drunk night. You never know which way it will go but becoming utterly wasted is always a certainity. I get a call from my friend who has the direction of a magnet asking me to do coat check in his bar. I was drunk so it seemed like a fab idea.
I didn’t really want to do coat check but I had blabbed on about how i would do any job the week before if someone asked me just to try it once and of course when you brag it comes back and hits you in the face. So off I went. A thirty something in a twenty somethi ng lower eastside bar. It was like a drunk Mary Poppins had come to town. ‘Oh do have a fabulous time tonight’ I crowed in a posher than normal voice as I tried to contain my OCD with arranging the tickets as they came back. I thought people would be really rude to me but they weren’t and it was fun until the hangover kicked in at 3am The rail behind me, of course, fell down.
One particular individual eyed me up suspiciously and said ‘What’s going on here?
What do you mean ? I relplied . ‘Your’re far too cute to be running coat check’ I went up to his face and said ‘ you are right – I am too cute to be doing coat check. I’m filling in for a friend.‘What do you do when you are not running coat check?’ he enquired.
‘Run An Empire’. I deadpan replied.
Thank you Pinot Grigio you served me well.
New York Days 11 to 15
So I moved into my gaff in the week. Advertised as a B and B but really like having a small studio apartment on the Upper West Side. I love having the space to myself even though I’m not used to a one room space. I’m obsessed with watching rubbish TV on Netflix as I haven’t watched TV in ages. The main thing that I worked out very quickly is that they deliver anything. And we’re not just talking food. They deliver – Wait for it – Wine, well alcohol in general. It’s already on speed dial and I was a regular within minutes. This is surely worthy of a blog on its own? I’ve also discovered a deli called Citarella that makes Marks and Spencers in the UK look like a corner store. Anything you want it’s there. Like restaurant food without having to sit down. I’ve been twice but I’ve managed to hold back a bit. It’s not been easy.
I got to have my first problem encounter with a neighbour upstairs who sounded like she was dragging furniture around at one in the morning Turns out she was. Being too polite to confront her myself I left a note grassing her up for the housekeeper. I don’t know what I expected to happen but he went straight to her and grassed me back up. On my return home I had a pack of earplugs and an apology note and then the worst case scenario, a knock on the door. I dealt with it by blaming the house for being so creaky not her neurotic behaviour and rather than ending it with a bye then said,
‘You really must come down before you leave and have a glass of wine.’
Why Why Why? So far no knock. I’d only turn the lights out and stand still for an hour if she did.
Manhattan is such a great place to wander around but I’m struggling with the fashion. There doesn’t seem to be any on the streets like London. Pretty generic and sporty. In London more than most have a particular sense of style. Most people I’ve noticed on the street or subway look like they picked up their partners clothes and threw them on, backwards. So much for Sex and the City. I can’t say I’m a sporty dresser so that’s a no. But then the designer discount stores are always worth a visit. Century 21 and Loehmans. Hold me back, I’m about to get into debt.
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