Whew, that was one exhausting weekend. \u00a0Punishing, even. \u00a0It started early on last Thursday when we flew to KC for Martin’s sort-of-kind-of-not-really-surprise 50th birthday party. \u00a0The very fact that I went to school with people who are now turning 50 troubles me deeply, but I’m just to avoid the issue for the time being, and stick with a brief overview of the festivities.<\/p>\n
Friday was a fun day, at least for me. \u00a0I do miss my little self-styled KC pub crawls. \u00a0That wasn’t even really the plan, it just kind of worked out that way. \u00a0I met up with Kobe around 11:00 at the Blue Line<\/a>, a place I’d never been to before. \u00a0Actually, I’d definitely been there before, but I think it was under a different name last time I was there. \u00a0At any rate, it’s now The Blue Line, a self-proclaimed “Hockey Bar.” \u00a0Huh, didn’t know KC had one of those, or for that matter needed one. \u00a0At least for the day of the US vs. Canada game, it proved a very successful theme though. \u00a0It was just crazy-crowded, there was no use even looking for a seat. \u00a0We stood around and watched the entire game, which I found oddly entertaining. \u00a0After the US loss, the crowd magically disappeared. \u00a0They left the TV’s turned up deafeningly loud though, so I decided to walk up to the Phoenix for some lunch. \u00a0Ah, I miss that place. \u00a0I sat around there for a while, joined briefly by a few coworkers, then Martin picked me up and we headed south to my old stomping grounds. \u00a0“The Boys” were all at Hooper’s<\/a>; \u00a0Not my favorite place but hey, I got to see a lot of people in one spot so it worked out OK. \u00a0From there, we headed further south to Tommy’s<\/a>, which our friend Susan recently purchased. \u00a0After checking out her remodel of the place (she was out of town so we didn’t get to see her,) we headed back downtown to one of my favorite spots, the Peanut<\/a>. \u00a0I know the one on Main is the original, but I have always preferred the downtown location. \u00a0I maintain those are the best wings in the city, I love them. \u00a0I generally am a bit self-conscious of eating them in public, as I tend to… errrrr… sweat just a bit. \u00a0I figured what the heck though, I was on vacation, so I grabbed a roll of paper towels and tore them up. \u00a0That and a double BLT were more than enough for the four of us.<\/p>\n Saturday was the day of Martin’s party, so I was tasked with keeping him occupied while the girls made preparations. \u00a0Of course, I can’t even keep myself occupied most of the time, so I deferred to Schmidt. \u00a0He put together a little shootin’ party with Lueck, Martin, Brown and myself up at the Brown Ranch in Kearney. \u00a0Good times, although none of us were exactly tearing up the clay pigeons. \u00a0 By the time we got cleaned up it was time for the party, which was down in Westport at Californos<\/a>. \u00a0Much like Hooper’s, I had the benefit of seeing a bunch of people in one spot, so I had a great time catching up with everybody. \u00a0After the party, a handful of us headed up the street to Kelly’s<\/a>\u00a0to keep the festivities going. \u00a0All we did was prove the adage “there is nothing to do after 10:00 but get in trouble.” \u00a0That’s all I have to say about that.<\/p>\n