Friday, August 28, 2009

Remember The Night We Hijacked A Piano Bar?!?

Before reading this entry, make sure you have read all of the previous ones:

The ‘Early’ Beginning of Our Journey

Welcome Aboard Wednesday

Inside Cruisin’

and

Catch Me If You Can, Alaska

Well, I’m going to go ahead and put out a disclaimer on this post. Or a few actually.

  • Most of what you will read is probably one of those ‘you had to be there’ moments
  • Video is long, retarded and full of foul language and ignorance. {exactly why I laugh when I watch it}
  • We were all a little too intoxicated to be held fully responsible for any actions that may have taken place this night

I said my piece, now you may continue.

After our exciting day in Ketchikan, a good rinse and then a delicious dinner, we headed back to where….

*Ding!Ding!Ding!*

If you said the casino, you’d be absolutely correct!

I had switched from beer to bourbon after several rounds of sitting at a terrible table and we all know that can never lead to anything positive. With that choice of alcohol switch, I also decided to leave the group and switched to a table I hoped to be more profitable. {Let me just say that NO table was profitable to me.}

At my new table, I was introduced to my new friends from West Texas. Jordan & Jimmy are ‘West Texas’ in every sense of the term and of course welcomed me to their table as soon as I let my first racial slur slip. I can only imagine it had something to do with the strong current of the Indian Ocean on the boat. And as luck would have it, I looked up and saw one of them sitting two seats down from me. Whoops!

Let me introduce to Jordan and Jimmy. Class-acts aren’t they?

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As the rounds progressed, both in cards and drinks, our table got louder and louder, soon drawing over the Brown boys. Anytime those twinks are added to anything, the volume shoots through the damn roof. Constant noise and uproar coming from a table usually means it’s a winning table, so we definitely attracted a lot of attention.

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Two things about this picture:

1. Can anyone see what is wrong here? Look closely. Apparently, lefty needed some air and was trying to break through the barrier, hence why my button was undone. …again!… God, I’m so cool!

2. Please see the dude in the white button down at the poker table behind us. This poor bastard had no idea he was being made fun of the entire trip. It all started when he was attracted to the noise at our table and he seemed very normal. Somewhat metro, but pretty normal. That is until he opened his mouth. There is no way to describe his voice, but that he squeaks,slurs and spits out the side of his mouth when he speaks. I couldn’t figure out what the shit was wrong with this dude, so I asked him where he was from, wondering if it was some type of language barrier I wasn’t picking up on. He said he was from the east coast, over in New Jersey. He looked the total part of a guido douchebag, so I asked if he was a guido. This fool was completely unaware what a guido was, so his response is this

“Well my mom is originally from Jersey but my dad isn’t, so I guess I’m just half guido.”

Dub.Tee.Eff. is a half-guido? Like he’s only part-douchbag? I don’t get it.

Anyway, he eventually leaves our table but each time we scream over an unbelievable or nicely-played hand, {such as below} he would hoot and holla back from his poker table.

Every single time, Keith wouldn’t even turn and look, he’d just yell back over his shoulder “Zip it, Guido!”

I have no idea why it was so damn funny, but it was. He never caught on, he never found out why we were calling him Guido, but the entire table would erupt in laughter with each “Zip it, Guido!” that escaped Keith’s mouth.

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Of course, as the table got progressively louder, Chris, Danette and Richard wanted to join in on the fun. Turns out, every spot was occupied by a Texas player.

Texas in the house, what-what!?!?!IMG_0790

Of course, we couldn’t be quiet about our people ruling the casino, and when others caught on to our little cult, they high-tailed it across the bar and let us know that they too were from Texas. God, I loved it.

…and, um…. it looks like Jimmy loved my boobs.

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It wasn’t long before they stopped serving beer and the casino scene had died down, so we made a transition over to da’ dance club which was so incredibly lame, so then we decided to see what was happening in the Shanghai Piano Bar and Lounge. Nothing. Nothing at all was going on in the piano bar, so we decided to open it back up.

And when I say open it back up, I mean literally get the bar a’rockin. Somehow we managed to find more beer to keep stocked with us so we could drink long into the night, errr….morning.

First, we had a little private concert with Chris on the keys and Kirk on the microphone. When that got old, Chris crawled up under the piano and started jacking with all the sound equipment. We realized there were amps and soundboards, speaker controls and even the switch to make the stage spin. Awesome! There was one cd in the player with an extremely limited list of songs, so he began looking for a plug for his iPod. He is such a nerd.

With no such luck, he told us he’d be right back – and he was, with the wire he needed. When we inquired about how in the hell he found what he was looking for, he got this shit-eating grin on his face. As it turns out, he went down to the main stage where they have all the adult shows and performances and started taking apart all their wiring. Basically, he unplugged the stage’s audio system and stole the wires just so we could have a heyday up in the shut-down bar. With a few modifications on the soundboard, we were up and running with the bass a’bumpin and windows a’shakin.

Well, we were…. all until security came in and busted our party.

Apparently it’s illegal to open up a closed bar on a boat and throw a private after-hours party.

And mess with their sound equipment.

And play their piano on the spinning stage.

And unplug a main production stage and steal wires.

Hmmm, who knew? Are we really supposed to be held responsible if the shit doesn’t work the next day because I think that is certainly unreasonable! Gah

With a not-so-friendly escort out of the bar, we were left with one lingering option. Up to the top Lido deck we went, all carrying as much beer as we could, to continue our party. The night was still young, we couldn’t stop yet. Wait, maybe the night wasn’t so young because it was 4:30 in the morning. Shit!

With the realization of the time, I had to throw in the towel and hit the sack. I was beginning to dread the next morning, and it already was the next morning. Ugh!!!!!

Sweet dreams.

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Stay tuned for tomorrow’s day in Juneau. THE.BEST.DAY.EVER!!!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Catch Me If You Can, Alaska

 

Well buckle up ladies, gentlemen and gentle-ladies {Hey… I don’t know what kind of  confused characters ride da’ train – you know what I’m sayin… ???}  you could be here a while…

Our first foot on Alaskan territory was when we docked at a our first port in Ketchikan. If you haven’t read the journey so far, please catch up:

The ‘Early’ Beginning of Our Journey

Welcome Aboard Wednesday

and

Inside Cruisin’

Bright and early, I was back up and at ‘em, you know since the sun only goes down for like a couple of hours in the summer.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that during the night, we had arrived in Ketchikan.  It was the first time I’d seen a building outside my balcony since we left Vancouver.  IMG_0579

Ketchikan is a quaint little drinking town with a fishing problem,  also known as the salmon capital of the world or Alaska’s first city. 

Being that it was our first stop, we immediately hit the rows of Alaskan-inspired, Chinese-made shit for sale.  We saw the SAME stuff in at least eleventy different stores across the state. But, why not at least have some fun with it all?

Ok, enough of the crap, let’s go find some real local artisan shops.  Totem poles are all over the place an Alaska and we just happened to wander into a shop where they are locally made.   This guy had quite an amazing collection of hand-sculpted art to buy and provided us with some very interesting information.  His large poles take 4 months to carve before he begins painting and they retail for $6800, which is the cheapest in town.  Most local totem pole shops sell them for $1000 per foot.

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Made a few purchases and we were out the door, where we were greeted with two spectacular pieces of Alaska’s wildlife.  Many cruisers paid tons of money to go on various wildlife excursion, but they should have definitely stuck with us!  We made our own excursion for free {minus the shopping. and the eating. and the beer.} but we saw so much of what the guided tours advertised.

Now tell me these guys aren’t amazingly awesome?

Oh yeah, I even got to ride a moose!  You know what they say…

You can take the girl out of Texas but you can’t takeu Texas out of the girl!

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Next on our agenda was to find our way to some food and beer, but first we had to make our way through this precious little village.  I could totally go back and spend some more time there, away from all the crowds.  The schools of salmon and the sea otter were incredible, the ride up Cape Fox Hill was so fun and looking out at our boat from the mountain was surreal. 

Finally, we reached our ultimate destination: FOOD!  And let me just say, this joint did NOT disappoint.  We had some of the best appetizers I’ve ever put in my mouth, they were really borderline-orgasmic.  Seriously!  The crab and brie dip served over apples….OH.MY.GAWD.CHOLESTEROL!!!!!! Not to mention the plentiful oysters on the half shell and shrimp cocktail, topped off with a nice selection of Alaskan brews: Amber, Summer Ale and White.  {still looking to find Alaskan brew in Dallas}

Oddly enough, as we were sitting there enjoying the food, beverlies and company, I ran into some LSU fans from Breaux Bridge {where we spend Thanksgivings on the swamp.} I’m seaux glad to see that Tiger fans are taking over the world, one random bar at a time.  Geaux!

 

After eating, we perused the streets of the Ketchikan neighborhoods even more.  We learned that they are really proud of their salmon, have really small doors, have a precious produce department in their grocery stores but they don’t know how to group their aisles and that the best pizza in town comes from the Mexican restaurant.  Who knew?

What was really cool about Ketchikan was the bridge overlooking copious amounts of salmon just waiting to be caught.  You could rent a pole and buy a one-day license and get after it.  And don’t you think I didn’t….

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My dad had strict instructions for me to send home a picture of me holding a salmon to prove that I really was in Alaska.  He even emailed me inquiring about the fish. {see below}

Bebe,

How long dem pirogue you ride on en what dey name dat boat?  You hang on dem side rails fo sho not to fall off to dem icewater so cold yo hair be frozen wit dem win blowin.

My swamp trappin friend Robicheaux from Thibodeaux  say dem crawfish in Ooolaska bout long as you fo arm as to only eat one fo dinner.  Damn, how many dat size to fill a sack?

My nother friend Alphonse Boudreaux be a fish professor to dem LSU school.  Kinda like fish in school I think.  Mo way, he say no redfish in Ooolaska like at Grand Isle, LA but dem sammons in Ooolaska demselves be red.  You believe dat?  A fish what itself be red?  You be eatin diffent kinda foods on yo jerney, fo sho.  Butcept dey ain’t no nutrea dere, so you don’t have yo favrite stew. 

Yo mama n me sit here side by each wait fo yo hello tru dat twitter machine like yo mama aks about.  Dey got Tony Chachere on dem boat? 

Don ferget tie yo pirogue tight to stump when you get out.

Pappa

And like the good daughter I am, I got that fish he wanted…

After all that fishy business, it was time to head back to the boat and clean up for dinner.  After riding a moose and throwing around some fish, I was definitely due for a good rinse. 

Dis.gust.ing!

This was an incredible day with so many new sights and experiences to check of my bucket list, but little did I know what that night would have in store for me.  THAT deserves it’s own blog!

Stay tuned for…

Remember the Night We Hijacked a Piano Bar?!?

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Inside Cruisin’

Okay, okay – I apologize for my slacking.  I will now resume the Alaskan recap.  Hmm, where did I stop?  Oh right, we were just departing Vancouver and setting sail on the Inner Passage through British Columbia.

Just joining?  Catch up before reading further:

The ‘Early’ Beginning of Our Journey

and

Welcome Aboard Wednesday

Thursday morning, the 6th of August, I woke up to see this out my window.  Not a bad view, huh?

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We were scheduled to sail all day through the passage separating Canada from the Pacific Ocean with our next destination being Ketchikan, Alaska.  However, we wouldn’t reach that point until late into the night.  

{The lower red dot is Vancouver, with the other dot being Ketchikan.}

inside passage bc

Since we were to be at sea all day, I decided to start of this glorious day with a trip up to the gym and had a nice date with the dreadmill.  Wow, what an experience that was – in so many different ways.  Running on the top deck of a ginormous cruise ship with nothing but water in front of me was an amazing feeling! But then again, keeping steady on a moving strap while also trying to keep my balance on a rocking boat, woah – it was a feeling oddly similar to trying to walk up stairs completely wasted.  Then, when you add in the fact that the treadmills were stationed on the open deck directly above the fish-bowl hot tub, and the ridiculously hot steam was rising up and hitting your face as you were trying to work out – probably not the best decision on the architect’s part.  I was completely drenched leaving the gym, but I at least felt as if I had burned enough calories to go eat breakfast. 

spirit gym

Yay for UNLIMITED omelets, sausage, bacon, biscuits & gravy, toast, bagels, fruit, pastries, pancakes, French toast, etc. 

{Now, do you realize why I was on such a strenuous workout regimen to lose weight before my cruise?  Because I knew I would be eating all that crap every.single.morning.  Praise Jesus!}

After over-indulging myself in calories, carbs, grease and fat {so unlike me, I know…}  I needed to go shower and get read for the day.  Let me just inform you that I was a lucky guest on that boat and got a cabin with special effects.  Besides having very hot men come bang on my door, demanding to be let in, I also had a vibrating bed. 

Seriously. 

Didn’t even have to insert a quarter for the ride. 

Hot men + vibrating bed = Suh-weet! 

Wait, wait– let me clarify a few things.  These two bonuses didn’t necessarily go together.

 Dammit!

The only reason I had the crew come bang on my door is because it was the fire department responding to the smoke detector going off in my room.   Apparently their on-board hair dryers aren’t industrial-strength enough for my weave and I might have blown it up trying to dry this massive mound on my head. 

Side note:  I have always had a thing for firemen, so it’s only right that I unknowingly lured them to my room. 

Okay, back to sailing the passage.  I got ready, took a small nap and headed up to the Lido deck to search for my friends.  They were nowhere to be found! Hmmm, what do I do by myself on a big ass boat?  Well, first of all, I needed to grab a cocktail.  Check!

I continued my quest for companions and still couldn’t find them.  What to do, what to do?  Most definitely I got another drink and then sat down at the BlackJack table.  Gambling and drinking mid-day?  I don’t have a problem…

Finnnnaallllyy, I found my peeps back on the Lido deck, so we decided to just straight-chill with a bucket’o’beer and lay out Alaskan-style.  In pants and scarves.

It was just so easy to lay there, make new friends and watch the world pass us by.  I mean, it was truly stunning. 

We were lucky enough to get to see some whales and dolphins cruisin’ right along with us.  I was disappointed because I kept getting snapshots of them as they were descending back underwater, so you couldn’t really tell….but if you hold out long enough….you’ll get a perfect shot!

B.E.A. – Utiful!

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I tell ya, I could spend hours upon hours sitting out here just taking it all in!  Unbelievably gorgeous!

I was near a peaceful sleep on deck when I decided I needed to get up and get ready for dinner, which was one of the formal nights.  I pulled out my dress, made myself another cocktail and headed towards the dining room for another delicious meal.  YumScrum!

With full bellies, the Brown Boys, Chris and I hit up the casino once again, and then ventured into the Dancin’ dance club.  Unfortunately, the ‘Indian Ocean’ had taken over the club so we quickly made a B-line for the door and found ourselves in the Shanghai Piano Bar & Lounge. 

This is where we met Derek, one of the ship’s entertainers, and Vagina Girl Amanda, a crew photographer and the Australian Mate. Amanda came in after her shift for Derek’s entertainment and we quickly made friends with her.  She was an absolute riot!

We sat there and enjoyed the company and music until we closed down the bar {which is the opposite from opening the bar – stay tuned…} and then the boys were so kind to walk me back to my room.  My mom was adamant about using the buddy system, and they were determined not to disappoint. 

And once again, I was left to myself for a long sea nap.  Well, not totally all by myself.  Pepito was once again kind enough to leave me a cuddle buddy, Sir Peter Pig…

Off to sleep I go, dreaming of the next day’s adventures in Ketchikan.

Stay tuned…

Monday, August 24, 2009

Me! Always Happens to Me!

Let me just take a small break from all this incredible, blow-your-mind, vividly-detailed blogging I'm doing about my Alaskan adventure {you know, A.L.L. this blogging I'm doing.  I will get better, I promise!} to tell you a short story.

Sure you'll want to scoff, point fingers, and publicly make fun of me on Facebook even, but it's okay. I would do the same thing.  I'm just not sure why this stuff always happens to me!

Let's set up the scenario, shall we?

I might have maybe just possibly told someone that I would bring a surprise over.

Said someone's questioned response was "Jacques-Imo in a thong?"

{thinking: Hmm...not what I had in mind, but pretty damn funny.   Why not?!?!?}

Done. Show up with my cute little homie in a purple thong with the cute black bow on the back T. {Of course it was purple! Don't you know football season is right around the corner....} It was funny, worthy of the laugh I was seeking, it was all good.  

Joke over.  

Put thong in purse.  

{Molly -  I don't need any dirty comment about why my panties were really in my purse, because I KNOW that's where you'll take this!}

Fast forward to today.

Just like clockwork, as soon as I get on the elevator to leave work, I bust out my Burt's Bees and the shades.  It's my elevator routine.  

Only today, I had a spectator for my elevator routine.  A very HOT spectator! 

No bigs, just pretend to act like I didn't notice, just go about my normal business.  

*fling!* 

It's possible that maybe, just maybe, the arm of my glasses might have hooked into the strap of the thong, which then acted like a slingshot for an elastic band of my Jacques-Imo's manties.  

Now I ask you, how the shit do you cover something like that up?

Do you apologize? 

I'm sorry for just catapulting my thong in your face, sir.  

or

They're clean I promise.  Well, kinda.  I mean...uhhhh... they were until I put them on my dog. 

Or do you just deny it? Like look away and run off the elevator like you were never there?

Holy fucking crap!  Somebody shoot me!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Welcome Aboard Wednesday!

{Read Part I: An 'Early' Beginning of Our Journey}


Wednesday morning we woke up bright and early, excited to get the day started. Chris, Danette & I started ours off a little differently than the rest of the crew. We went for a run on the boardwalk around the bay and let me just say IT.WAS.AH-MAZING. If I had that scenery and crisp weather, I would seriously run every single day. I don’t even have words in my vocabulary to do that experience any justice.

After pounding out several miles, followed up with a De-Lish! breakfast, we got our stuff together and headed off towards the boat. Luckily, the procedures of getting through Customs, security and ticketing were breezy and took us little time, allowing us an earlier boarding and more time to explore the ship before leaving the dock at 5:00 that afternoon.

When first entering the boat, we were greeted with a pretty sweet bar in the center of the boat, where guests were snatching up the special drink-of-the-day hand over fist. IMG_0508

I loved watching this set of elevators. Give me a couple of cocktails and I could follow those lights up and down until I was sick! I’m not exactly sure why I was so enamored with the lights, like was a six month old infant, but I just thought it was so pretty...

…and even prettier to look all the way up from the bottom of the boat to see this on the 10th floor:

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We all separated and headed to our respective cabins to retrieve our luggage and settle in. There, I met Pepito – my cabin steward. He rocked! With this being my first cruise, I was definitely spoiled by having a ocean-view balcony cabin all.to.myself! I don’t know that I will ever be able to take a cruise and room in anything less. And the pillows… Oh.My.Gawd.Cholesterol. Yes, please!

After unpacking all my gear {and PS - a little BTW with a side note of FYI – do you know how freaking hard it is to pack for Alaska and keep your suitcase under the 50 pound weight regulation???} I went in search of the boys and unsurprisingly, I found them here:

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Brews and cocktails in tow, we explored the ship. First stop: The Chapel. Kirk and I decided to validate our secret relationship and take the plunge. My bridesmaids wore beautiful blouses, made of fine cotton, while the groomsman wore a neatly tailored faux silk shirt. Wait, who.the.eff. were my bridesmaids? To all you hunky fellas out there just waiting for a opportunity to wine’n’dine me – no worries, we got our marriage annulled at dinner. Thanks Mary!

After the chapel, we found our way to some pretty sweet lounges, the Dancin’ dance club {oh cheese!} and to all the bars we could possibly find. Please make note of this particular bar, the Shanghai Lounge and Piano Bar. You will see this again in future posts. IMG_0507

Quickly the clock rounded out to hit 5:00 and we set sail. Chris & Danette had a ridiculously large balcony {thank you handy-cap room} that connected to her Aunt Maureen & Uncle Bills balcony, so we had some serious space to watch us slowly drift away from the dock.

Adios Vancouver and VanCougars!

Wait, we’re not in Mexico – what do they speak in Canada? Oh right, French!

Au Revoir Vancouver!

Sailing – Check!

More drinks – Check!

Dinner – Check!

Introducing Lane to the Black Jack tables – Check! Check! Check!

I learned the basic fundamentals of the game, however I was still sporting my training wheels, according to the boys. My $3 bets were killer. Killer, I tell ya. I was a machine on that table! {Sarcasm anyone? Sarcasm… Going once, going twice … }

The dealers probably had all they could take from me, so I retreated back to my room to settle in for a nice Alaskan sleep at sea. You know, with that summer sunlight and all…

At least I didn’t return to an empty bed, as I had originally thought. Pepito was so kind enough to give me a snuggle buddy, Wally Walrus!

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Ahhhh, G’nite Sea.

Next up: Thursday, August 6th – Sailing the Inside Passage of British Columbia

Stay tuned….

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The ‘Early’ Beginning of Our Journey

So this begins the multi-entry rendition of my amazing trip to Alaska.

It all started on Tuesday, August 4th at 4:30 am. I spent the night at Danette’s house, and was so quietly woken up by a sweet little visitor climbing into my bed. Sure, it would have totally rocked if that guest was some ridiculously hot dude, but a precious little five year old girl was fun too!

By the time we made it out of the room, C&D, Keith and Kirk were already congregating in the kitchen, starting to sort through luggage and pack it up. We definitely had the most pimp-ass ride to the airport, which was necessary to fit all of our crap! All this bad-boy vehicle is missing is Free Candy spray-painted on the side. Pair that with blacked out windows and Keith in the driver’s seat… suh-weet!

Once loaded up, we were off to the airport. For leaving the house at shortly after 5 in the morning, most of us were pretty peppy. Most of us!

We boarded the plane, and I am forever grateful that I had a separate flight to Vancouver than the rest of the gang. Reason being: Dots&Towels. This sounds pretty un-pc, so unlike me, I know {what the crap do you expect?} but the gang was overwhelmed with seriously over 120 of them congregating in the aisles mid-air. All I have to say is Amen! to flying solo. Luckily, they left them in Seattle … Or so they thought! {more on that later…}

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Once in Vancouver, we headed off to to the Westin at Seaside to drop off our goods and begin exploring what Canada had to offer. During the cab ride, I handed the photography duties over to Keith, since he was documenting our search for VanCougars.  We were actually fairly successful!



I really wish we would have had more time to explore the city, but from what I was able to see, it was totally awesome! First, we it was necessary to grab a cold brew and take a rest and observe the scenery.

We also decided to hold a little compare & contrast session. First with the Kokanee beer bottles and then the evolution of the Canon PowerShot. IMG_0400Canon

Why on earth would we have so many dang cameras on the table? Well, it was most definitely to be readily available for any spectacular people-watching sights we were able to capture. We got plenty! Vancouver is …. interesting.

And of course we had to capture the weird Japanese sushi-like hotdog vendor. So weird. {Gag!}IMG_0397 IMG_0398

This stand was completely responsible for our worked-up appetites, forcing us to meet up with Kay & Richard and take over an awesome sea-side patio. It was so peaceful {until we go there} to just sit and watch the seaplanes fly in and out of the bay, and not to mention look at all the beautiful boats.

It so happened that while we were visiting, Vancouver was hosting the World Police & Fire Games.IMG_0490

Anyone donning P&F Games apparel fell victim to my questions. Usually it was just Police or Fire? The end. However, one poor fella at the restaurant got a little more than he bargained for. I approached him to ask my standard question and soon learned that he was from Spain and spoke little English.

Very.Little.English.

We were only able to communicate slightly via his electronic translator he busted out of his pocket, but he did manage to ask me one extremely important question. He took my hand, noticing that there wasn’t a ring on my finger, and he poses the question:

You…. Me….. Tonight?!?!?!

Fabulous.

I think it’s safe to say with all the Moslon brew we consumed and all the laughs shared, the group definitely enjoyed this venue!

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Next up: Wednesday, August 5th – Exiting Vancouver!

Stay tuned …