Fun in Four... Days and the Nights were good too

I do so enjoy a long weekend. The July 4th weekend meant that I did not have use any of my own vacation days to do it this time so into the weekend we went. Afterwork and with no time for the gym I headed home and dug into the dinner that awaited. After cleaning up, and changing clothes it was time to head into the city. Pais couldn't hang out because he had a softball game to play early in the morning. I wished him a good rest as I made my way over to Castle Car service and waited for an available Taxi to take me into the city. The driver was not sure of the best way to head over and took me all the way across the city to the west side before heading up the west side until 14th street. After driving up to 18th Street we drove over to 8th ave and got dropped off on the corner far corner. I then crossed the street and headed into Gym after saying hi to the door staff and made my way to the front bar. Barman Brett was holding down the fort at the front and I had my first drink and then headed to the back to say hi to DJ Smoky. A quick walkthrough and I was right back at the front and hanging with Barman Brett. As his shift ended he invited me to hang downstairs as he counted out. After a some conversation and saying hi to Manager Rick I was herded back upstairs and waited for Brett at the back of the Bar. After he came back upstairs we talked some more with his friends upstairs including DeMarko. Shortly after we said our good nights and I headed outside and walked over the two blocks east and 2 blocks down to pizzeria on 6th Ave and then on to Splash. I headed inside and looked over the crowd that had come out to dance this eve. The place was plenty full with heat and dancing bodies as the boys turned out for DJ Eliot DeHoyos and the Tribe Party. I danced on the stage and even on the platform in front of the stage especially when I heard the extended mix for "Lola's Theme". I hung out with Grace for a bit and made sure I finally gave her a copy of my Forward Spring CD. We danced near the speaker in front of the screen and then headed outside for some cooler air outside. After we took a moment outside I decided to head back a little sooner than later and Grace went back to the party. 3am and I was able to walk over to a taxi out front nice and easy. After some directions the taxi driver was able to get me home fairly easy. Friday night over with but the weekend far from done.

Rolled up and out around 11 and made preparations to head into the city. The softball tournament was taking place in Central Park so I had miles to go before I got to hang out some more. I wasn't sure at first where I had to go (the park is a big place) but after a look at the subway map on the F train and I determined my previous trip to Central Park to see the Gates had familiarized me with the layout of the park enough to know that the diamond fields were no where near Columbus circle and so I switched over to the A train and rode all the way up to 96th street before heading into the park. The guys were in between games but they had won one and lost one so they were right in the middle of the pack of teams in attendance. The day was a nice one. Not too much heat and a nice breeze. The previous year it was hot enough to cook beef on the sidewalk. We had an hour to play with so Pais and I headed out of the park with Donnie in tow and walked a block over from the park and up one street to a diner. The booth we chose was a little cramped but we were able to get our order in and talk to a few other team members who had already eaten before they headed back to the fields. After lunch we too headed back over to the fields and hung out with the other teams and teammates. Pretty soon it was game time once again and we returned to the fields and the team played on. I spectated from the fence behind 3rd base and next to the dugout but the team was out of energy and were not able to score enough to beat the other team so we were retired early and headed home. We ordered in a nice dinner from Friends and hung out watching HD programming on the Samsung. Pais had to get up for an 8am game the next day so I was heading out alone.

My new military black zip off shorts on and phone, watch, lip balm, sunglasses, lights, and Visine all in the right pockets, it was time to head down to Castle Car Service and wait for my ride. A short while inside and then the driver pulled up with his girlfriend in the front seat. We headed into the city via Atlantic Avenue to Adams Street to the Brooklyn Bridge. There was a little traffic, to be expected on the holiday weekend but we made it into the city with no problem and the driver got me through the hustle of cars on the west side very smoothly. He dropped me off right at the corner and I walked over to Roxy and headed inside after saying hi to Security and Derek just before midnight. Barman Barker was not here this eve but his bestest friend Matt was in attendance and did his best to keep his end of the bar happy. A few times during the night he even went so far as to have my drink ready before I could finish asking, one time when I didn't even want a drink. Of course, I didn't turn it down but drank my Gatorade first. Steve was visiting us from VA and we took in the sights of the place and had a few drinks before splitting up to see what there was to be seen on the dancefloor. I staked out an area of the dancefloor between the two speakerboxes near the front bar. I was so focused on the music thrown down by DJ Merritt, always excellent, that I stopped looking behind me and the sweat started to pour off my forehead. I was tapped on the shoulder and turned around to see that Duane had come in and was hanging out too. He said he was about to leave and head over to another place but saw he had friends in the place and we went over to the bar to pick up a drink. The music and the mood was very high energy but so very accessible and the crowd just ate it up. I found the asian section speaker too crowded so I took the stage, danced for the crowd a bit and then headed back to the front. I met up with Duane again on the far side in the back after speaking to doorman Derek who was taking a break and watching the dancefloor. We watched the laser light on the discoball in the center before heading back onto the dancefloor to dance some more. The night passed as another great one and I enjoyed my time with my friends and with the music. I even heard the DJ play one of my newest CD songs "Dear Diary" at around 4am and I barely had any voice to sing along I had been dancing so much. I finally decided to head home at around 5am and I caught a taxi nice and easy right out on 10 Ave. The cab driver to me back to Brooklyn with no complaint and with a nice tip besides.

Sunday we spent hanging around the house, watching some DVR programming before getting dressed and heading down the street to the train station and heading for Central Park once again. I spoke to Pais on the Cell while at the aboveground F Train station and told him I was on my way. The train ride, transfer then train ride up to 96th street once again. This time I arrived after all the games were over (6 games in all) and the team ended up in 4th place. I said hello to everyone and then walked with Pais back to the car. We rode downtown until we hit a Baskin Robbins and had picked up some ice cream for the ride back to BK. We stopped off at Dallas BBQ on the way home and discovered calling ahead was not any better than picking up the food at the checkout counter. Despite the wait we got back to the Slope in short order and chilled out for a while. The evening passed watching Fox programming of Family Guy before getting ready for the later parts of the evening. Steve showed up followed quickly by The Jimmy who was finally out of his arm cast for his shoulder dislocation. We headed out at 10:50pm to the CattyShack bar not too far away into the slope and hung out with the girls and guys and enjoyed the rooofdeck , the barbecue and the cool Hip Hop vibes on the second floor dancefloor. The club gradually got more an more crowded and we had more and more drinks before I decided I wanted to go and really hang and dance so Steve and I said goodbye to the rest of the crew and walked across the street to the car service. As soon as I stepped inside I saw a giant bug that was big enough to keep me from going in right away (should get a leash for that thing). After staying on the other side of the room from the giant waterbug I was able to get us a car to ride into the city. We stopped at the ATM and then walked back down the street and into Avalon. I wasn't able to get Steve in at his discounted Roxy rate but it was still not that bad for a latenight party with plenty of people inside for the holiday weekend. We arrived at 3:45 but stayed until 5:30 as DJ Mike Cruz through out some great beats that had the crowd hanging out until the very end. We said hi to a lot of people and danced hard until the end before we stepped out and into the sunlight. We said our goodbye's once outside and I headed down the street for a quick stop at Mickey D's. After picking up breakfast I flagged down a taxi and headed for home. The long weekend was still not over but the hangout part was done. I got home and set myself up for a nice long sleep.

The day arrived and I greeted in in the afternoon. Delivery breakfast and we spent the afternoon hanging out and watching TV. We headed out briefly to pick up some soda and some house stuff before heading back in and making sure everything in the house was in order before guests arrived. Since the Fourth of July fireworks were viewable from the roof the guests started arriving between 8 and 8:30. We had Kevin and Phil, as well as Mina and her friend from NJ, later on we had the arrival of more workmates of Pais who were nice enough to Becks and Brooklyn Ale. After watching some of the HD on the Samsung we headed upstairs at 9pm en masse and waited for the display to occur. After swapping stories and drinking some more the show began at 9:25 and we oohed and aahed through 30 min of fireworks. We liked the new ones that they seem to come out with each year but the 30 min eventually passes and the show was over. We went downstairs and watched some more of the HD before wishing everyone a good night and seeing the guests off and out. Phil and Kevin stayed behind for a bit and then went to get a car ride home but found that the city was suddenly out of available cars, with some car services actually picking up the phone and telling us there was an hour wait. We offered to take them home and so we were out into the night driving into Clinton Hill. The ride was short and we dropped them off and said our goodnights. Then Pais and I headed across BK and searched down an all night Mickey D's so I could get something into my stomach that wasn't just doughnuts and ice cream. We picked up some burgers, fries and headed back home for a little late night snack. After I ate the food and relaxed some It was time for some DVR programming and finally a long weekend drew to a close.

Always something new under the sun. Keep your eyes open so you don't miss it. I don't want to miss anything.