Karaoke

Most of you know that I'd rather spend a night at home with a bottle of wine, cheese and crackers, and friends, instead of going out bar hopping. Every once in a while, I suppose we need to break out of our comfort zone in order to remember how much we really, really prefer our comfort zone.

Last night Mike and I broke out. I'm way too old to be breaking out like this.

We had drinks at Clyde's after work, before heading next door to the Washington Capitals game at the Verizon center. It's important to the story to note that when I say "drinkS," I mean plural for both of us.

After the first period, we met some of Mike's friends from the intramural hockey team he plays on at the Green Turtle, a bar and restaurant that's attached to the Verizon Center (you can go in and out of the bar and the stadium). Another glass of wine. More of the game. Then back to the Green Turtle for even more wine.

Yeah, I know, I should have been having beer the whole time. But when I started with wine, I had no idea this was how the night was going to go! And since I wasn't drinking beer, I was majorly affected by the wine consumption. So much so that when another couple suggested we go out in Alexandria, perhaps to a bar that had karaoke, I thought this was a brilliant idea.

Out to Alexandria, to Nick's on South Picket. Never heard of it? Well, unless you like COUNTRY LINE DANCING, there's no reason for you to know about it.

Nick's was a country bar, with two parts -- the front is a huge area for line dancing. The back is a slightly younger crowd, with karaoke. But mostly country karaoke. And during the karaoke, the audience gets up and line dances!

Even though the other couple were semi-regulars, the four of us stuck out like sore thumbs. Everyone was in jeans, tank tops (boys and girls), cowboy hats (boys and girls), boots (yup, boys and girls), tramp stamps (for the girls), and military buzz cuts (for the boys).

The other couple had on matching red Caps jerseys. Mike and I had on our work slacks and button downs. My pearls and designer clutch really helped, too.

Needless to say, it was a blast. The other couple got up and did a song. Remember how I emphasised that this was a country bar? Did I emphasize that enough? Because they sang "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas.

(Pausing here while you digest that.)

I thought I was going to pee the floor.

One electric slide later, and we headed home at a little after 1 a.m.

Which made getting up at 7 a.m. for golf this morning reeeeaaaaalllly nice.

Golf, that would be my comfort zone. Along with wine at home with friends. I remember that now.