New Bar + Old Friends = Good Times!

I spent all morning Saturday staining yet another box of cedar shakes - 4 boxes done, 2 more to go! And it's a good thing that I started early because by 1pm, the sky was black and thunder was rolling on through followed by torrential rain. But all that hard work paid off as I managed to get everything done and put away while the thunder was still in the far western area of the state. That was it for the work outside that day, which was ok since I plans to get together with my old high school pals KC, Chel and sj (Look here for pictures) at pre-opening party for a brand new bar that will be opening up at the end of the month in the capital city. A friend of ours entered into a partnership with 2 other guys to open up a new bar/club in the former Trout Brook Brewery building and althought they definitely have their work cut out for them, the character of the place speaks for itself. There are 2 rooms, both with stages for live bands and a bar in each room. Dark wood everywhere, paintings on the wall, ornate lighting fixtures and even an old whisky cask above a mantel where there used to be a suspended floor for elevated dining. I remember having a holiday luncheon for work up there once! There is also a full 2nd floor that will be able to accomodate 100-200 people once it gets all cleaned out and spruced up. Turnout on Saturday was pretty good for an invitation-only event. I'd have to say at its peak there were at least 250 in attendance. Not bad for a first night!

Now on to the fun stuff... The night got off to a bit of a slow start, but a few tequila sunrises and a buffet dinner later, we started eyeing the available men for my now very available BFF Chel. She zoned in on one in particular, forever immortalized as "baseball hat guy" who we discovered much later as being engaged. Bummer! One of J's collegues from work however became enamored with Chel, but based on her reaction, I'm thinking he's not quite her type. In all it was a very fun night. Both bands that played were really good and I'm looking forward to heading back down there at the end of the month for opening night!