Walking Up 30th

So, yesterday, the FP's other band that he's in played at the Office.  So, this is a place that used to be a great dive bar called Scolari's Office, but it was taken over and turned into a fancy bar.  I mean, Scolari's Office sounds way cooler.  We had only been there one time since it was remodeled, and we were drunk and we hated it.

So, last night, I decided to walk to the bar.  So, it's 3 miles.  That's easy, right?  Well, for whatever reason walking 3 miles is more tiring than jogging 3 miles.  Especially when some of the streets are pitch black and you have to watch where you're walking to avoid dog shit and cracks in the sidewalk.  I'm still tired 24 hours later.  Maybe just because it takes longer to walk than jog?  Anyway, I haven't been up 30th street in a long time.

There were some changes along 30th street since I last walked up the street.  In South Park, there is that big warehouse that has been turned into storefronts.  The gym was open, and the big front door were open to the elements and the gawking of anyone walking by.  Seems kind of weird to me.

Next to that the Stone Company Store is open.  So, they sell bottled beer, kegs and growlers.  And there seemed to be a shitload of taps.  And of course lots of merch.  Stone has great logos for all the different beers.  I love gargoyles!

Next to the Stone Store is the wine bar.  So this wine bar took like maybe a year to open.  It was called Tinto.  We never went there, but a while ago it had a change of ownership alcohol license on the window.  So, now it's called Rose.  It looked nicer than before, but realistically we will never go there.

Sea Rocket Bistro looked...like Sea Rocket Bistro.  Except with this newer wooden sign with an anchor as the new logo.  I'm not one to judge, so I won't discuss what I think of restaurants changing their logos after only being open a couple years.

The Linkery looked as inviting as always.

Anyhoo, I also felt like there were coffee shops popped up where there weren't before.  So, 30th street was a little different than it used to be.  A little.  Well a lot different than several years ago.

Part of why I walked was because the FP was working, so he had to drive straight from work to the Office.  Get it?  From work to the office?  Ha ha?  Anyway, he beat me by about 15 minutes!  Of course.

So, I got there, and I had to get the FP to ask that I be "on the list".  Fancy.  Not really.  So the money guy asked if I was the FP's girlfriend.  The FP said, "she's my wife, but I girlfriend will also be coming."  Bah dump bump.

I got a "Mad men mule".  Which was a mule.  It was pretty yummy.   And I asked for a water, although I noticed right after that there were 2 big urns of water for self service.

The other guitarist's girlfriend, Lavender, gave me a blue feathery hair thing with little crystals in it, like a tasteful roach clip.  That was very sweet of her.  And then they showed me pictures of their cats on his fancy smartphone with amazing crystal clear photography.

The first band was like a country folk job with two female singers.  Their voices were great and the music wasn't offensive, but Lavender hated it.  She HATES country music and any derivative.  Like I asked her what she thought of REM.  Hates them.

The band I had walked 3 miles to see was on next.  They always "sound" good even when there are mistakes like wrong notes or out of tune guitars.  There was a little of that, but not really much at all.  The sound guy was good and they sounded great, which they usually do.  Anyway, there weren't many people in the bar (with a $8 cover and they played at 9 pm) and that kind of put a damper on the mood of the singer and thus put a damper on the performance.  When they were done playing, he said, "I'm as happy to be done playing as you are that we are done playing."  Or something like that.  Such a jokey happy go lucky guy!  This one guy in the audience really enjoyed them.  He asked, "where you guys from."  The singer answered, "From our parents."  Classic.  Nice attitude.

So, the band that went on next was not a band, but a woman with a guitarist and drummer accompanying her.  She introduced herself as whatever her name is, newly transplanted from the Cayman Islands, bringing her offshore bank account onshore.  She is what you call a singer/song writer.  Her voice sounded like Tori Amos with the disparate octave jumping, and she overplayed the digital piano.  I mean, she is a very talented musician, but it wasn't to my musical sense of aesthetics.  I like catchy melodies, whether they are dark or poppy.  She did have catchy song titles like, Coconuts, and A Whale, and Alien Love.  I really enjoyed the way she introduced each song.  It was very entertaining.

I guess it was all worth the long walk, but nonetheless I was very glad to be driving home.