Jacqui's 23rd Birthday

How did Jacqui's birthday go? Well, it was her birthday, so you should probably ask her. This account of the night is only from my point of view, but I think we all had a pretty good time.

The day started with Jacqui heading to Brooklyn with our friend Shannon. They were both presenting some research at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights. Jacqui said it reminded her of Old City complete with cobble stone streets.

I was busy helping out at Captain Lawrence during the day. But when that 6:49PM train pulled into Plesantville I hopped on and headed towards Grand Central. I brought myself a warm bottle of Xtra Gold and with the small change I had in my pocket also bought a bag of Skittles and pretzel M&M's for the trip. Xtra Gold is a 10%ABV beer and in a 750ml bottle I brought a few disposable cups incase anyone wanted to help partake with me in the drink. No such luck. No new friends.

More for me.

So by the time I made it into the city with a belly full of candy and Xtra Gold, with no new friends, I was more confused by the subway map than most nights. Regardless, I found Jacqui, Shannon, and some of their friends at a bar called the Half Pint. I bought a bottle of Hop Devil that was one week out of code and still pretty good and toasted to the birthday girl.

A little while later Craig the Aussie tried finding us, so I went to find him. I saw him walking down the street before he saw me. So I let him walk by, then snuck up behind him. But since he was born and raised in Oz the man didn't do much more than flinch as I demanded his coat. He smiled and said, "Oh ey mate," and then some other stuff that I didn't understand. I think it had to do with doorknobs, though.

As the night progressed and the bar tab rose we toasted to Jacqui a few more times and I attempted to take notes on some of the subtle but important details of this trip to the city. I reread these notes later on, but have since lost them.

The notes included a converstaion I had with a Phillies fan I met on the subway, a comment I overheard about the high suicide rates of students at NYU (I never checked to see how true this was) I remember taking notes on the smallest car I've ever seen, a Fiat. My drunkly scrawled list was longer than this, but I guess the rest will be lost to history.

***

It took me, Jacqui, Shannon, and Craig a long while to get back to Grand Central because of some construction on a few subway lines, but thankfully, between the four of us, we were able to eventually get back in time for the last train home.

All in all, the night was a success. Jacqui's phone had died earlier in the day, so this morning we had the privlage of listening to a few great voicemails of friends and family singing happy birthday beautifully.