2001-10-14
A night out in Fell's Point, posted at 1:36 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Jason and I stopped whining and feeling sorry for ourselves last night, and finally went out and had a night on the town. It was fun.We went to the Fell's Point area of the city, which is also referred to as the "old harbor" area. The Inner Harbor area of the city is ritzier and more tourist-y, while the Fell's Point area (they're just a few blocks away from each other) is more college-townish and laid back. Both are fun.
We both got drunk. After doing a bit of pre-drinking (he one drink and me three) and arranging for a taxicab home, we drove to Fell's Point and visited the Fell's Point Cafe, which was a cool laid-back place. We watched the rest of Yankees/A's game (damn Giambi for not sliding on that play in the 8th... but this is still Oakland's series) while listening to the mediocre cover artist who was there. We also started having deep conversations over our beers, which became a running theme of the evening. There, we pretty much stuck to stuff about life goals, worst fears, and relationships with our fathers.
We then headed over to the Cat's Eye Pub, which I'd heard about way back in Michigan from artists that I had booked for the Common Grounds. They have live music seven nights a week, and it always seemed like it would be my sort of place. I was right. While the crowd was a bit older than I thought it would be, that may have been because of the band, which also seemed to skew a bit old. Still, it was a very cool place. Drafts were only $2, and we watched the band intently. We then moved on to Kooper's Tavern. By this point, I was feeling pretty good, as was Jason but not as much, and I kept asking if we could go to the "dog place." There was a dog on the sign for Koopers, and I thought it was just hilarious that we went from the "cat place" to the "dog place," and pondered if they put them next to each other on person.
At Koopers, with no music to distract us, we resumed our deep conversation from earlier. We moved on to weighty topics that I generally do not talk about with anyone, like crushes and sex and fears. I think I surprised him with some of my confessions. He even referred to it as a double life last night. I wouldn't go that far, not even close, but I am someone who is perhaps too private about certain things. He said, "Dude, I'm one of your closest friends, and I never knew any of this." To which I coyly replied with a smirk, "Well, you never asked." We probably (hopefully) won't talk about any of it again until the next time we get real drunk together, but some groundwork may be laid now for me to have someone I can really confide in about things that I just don't talk about. He also revealed some things to me that were a bit shocking, in a funny way... we will see if any of it materializes later.
Anyhow, it was a bonding night. We came determination that we don't have any friends yet because we're both the sort of person to wait to be asked to do something, not the type to make the first move. I told him how the new Mark was the one who was supposed to emerge in B-more, a Mark that wouldn't care about stupid shit like sparking a conversation with a stranger or about seeming desperate for friends. He really hasn't arrived yet, and I'm not really sure if he's even in there.
I spoke with Erin last night, and I miss her. I miss all my friends. Erin told me a rumor that Gale may not be able to come down on Nov. 16 because of some work conference; hoepfully that is just a rumor because I'm really looking forward to their visit.