New Year’s Eve is supposedly the biggest party night of the year. However, as longtime readers of this blog know, I hate New Year’s Eve. It’s totally amateur night, when all the people who can’t come out in public without acting a fool crawl out from under their rocks. Every bar and club is packed to the point that it isn’t any fun, and they charge 3-4 times the normal cover. Some of them raise drink prices too. New Year’s Eve plans tend to be overly contrived, with little opportunity for spontaneous fun.
However, last year’s Thanksgiving weekend, and the agenda for Thanksgiving this year, have led me to believe that Thanksgiving weekend in Downtown Memphis has become what New Year’s should be, but isn’t. There seems to be fun – easy-going, spontaneous, laid-back fun – everywhere you look.
Last year was the first year I remained Downtown for Thanksgiving. I was expecting a quiet weekend. I was wrong. Thursday I ate dinner at a friend’s condo in Barton Flats. Then the Saucer opened at 5 and it was one of the most fun nights I’ve ever had there. For a while it was so slow that they were allowing waitresses to play pool on the clock. It was more mellow than even a Sunday Fun Day. One of the waitresses bribed me with beer to go change into my Disco Paul persona I sometimes do at Raiford’s. People were dancing. I was doing shots as well as beer. I found out that Thanksgiving night tends to be a party night at Earnestine & Hazel’s, and I ended up there, dancing and smacking one of the Saucer waitresses on the ass. Friday was the four-and-a-half-hour long football game where unranked Arkansas took down #1 LSU in three overtimes, and we were on pins and needles the entire time watching it. Good times all around.
This year, once again, I can’t get home to Little Rock for Thanksgiving – I’d have to leave Thursday morning and turn around and go back Thursday night. However, it looks like I’ll have plenty to keep me occupied here. Wednesday night I have a birthday party to go to, with The Dempseys at Blues City. Big Foot Lodge is doing a “turkey tip-off” party with $2 Super Cold 34 oz. Coors Light draft all day long – from 11 AM to 3 AM. Hmmm, and I currently don’t have a job… yeah that could be a plan for the day Wednesday. Another reason to celebrate at Big Foot on Wednesday is that it’s Meghan’s day off. In addition, there’s a Thanksgiving Eve party at Bardog Tavern that night. I’ve heard something about Buffalo Trace specials and one of the bartenders dressing in a bra and chaps. It’s also “Turkey of the Year” glass night at the Saucer, so maybe I’ll stop by there too.
Friday looks to be the pinnacle of the party weekend, as the CCC has moved Memphis’ annual holiday parade to the day after Thanksgiving, and the location has been moved to South Main. What a great idea! It will expose thousands of people to all the cool shops and galleries in the area. True, since it’s off Beale Street I won’t be able to enjoy a Call-a-Cab from Wet Willie’s, but $1.50 PBR at Calhoun’s will more than make up for it. After the 5 PM parade, a special holiday-themed edition of the South Main Trolley Art Tour will kick off, and will surely be one of the most exciting Trolley Tours of the year. The galleries and shops will be open 6 to 9 and many of them will be serving holiday-themed refreshments.
As for T-day itself, the Saucer opens at 5, and this year I don’t plan on being late like I was last year (didn’t get there until 5:03). If you’ve had your fill of turkey and relatives during the day on Thanksgiving, come to the Saucer and have a beer. Or a shot of Jager, if you’ve had a really bad day. My plans are open-ended after I leave the Saucer… maybe I’ll end up at E&H again.
But that’s next weekend… plans for today involve a 1 PM meeting at the Second Street Branch Office, where I’ll be tutoring a guy on how to earn additional income through affiliate marketing. At 5 I’ll head to Court Square for the “Flip the Switch” ceremony, or as I call it, “Light Up the Bums,” where Court Square’s holiday lighting will be turned on for the first time. Not sure what I’ll do after that… may walk around and look at the holiday decoration in Downtown’s storefronts, or I may go somewhere and watch the Memphis vs. Seton Hall game in the Puerto Rico Tip-off. Game time is 6 PM CST.
I applied for a job yesterday… I said I was taking time off from job-hunting until December 1, but this was an exceptional organization that was too good to pass up. We’ll see what happens.
Time to get things started… I’ll possibly post again from the branch office this afternoon.