It’s cold. I’m wearing flip flops and eating a cupcake on a corner.

…then I spotted one of DC’s finest across the street, but wait. Let me tell you how I got to this point.

Duke played Michigan yesterday. Yesterday was a nice sunny day so I decided to head into the city to watch the game at this new(er) bar/lounge that’s been ridiculously packed EVERYTIME I’ve attempted to go. I figured that I’d leave early because, although it was a Sunday afternoon, it just might be packed. It literally took me about 30 minutes to find parking but in the end I got a good spot and headed into Redline-solo. I was greeted by this bouncer who may have early onset Parkinson’s (or may have been a boxer in a previous life). He assured me that the place was not crowded. What he didn’t say was that the place was virtually empty.

Anywho, I sat down and started watching the game. Sensing that I was getting a little tired of waiting on the bartender to acknowledge me, my new favorite barback, Ivan took my order and brought my drink. Ivan enjoys house music and strawberry ice cream. He’s from Serbia and thinks that ET said “GO HOME” whole making the “trekkie motion” with his fingers. It’s cool though, Ivan may have been a little confused about his movies but he was very sure about DJ Tiesto and all the clubs in DC. I was joined by two guys who struck up some small talk about DC, basketball, beer and the like. Let’s call them Salami and the Jamaican. No, he isn’t Jamaican but he is many payrolls, and when Jaz met him, it was among the first questions she asked him. Salami asks me what I want for my second round and ordered me a sample of some disgusting beer that it took the Jamaican (TJ for short) about an hour to actually finish but not before the bartender (who is afraid that he might be gay-according to his co-workers) called him out to the entire bar and Redline manager for taking SO long to finish such a small amount of beer. I talked with them up until the :30 mark in the Duke game, when Jaz came to join us. These party animals were set on getting it in on a Sunday afternoon, so more drinks were ordered and I think we converted TJ to a champagne and pineapple drinker.

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Not wanting the party to end- TJ suggested we get out of Redline and head to Iron Horse down the street. At that moment, I decided that I MUST GET a cupcake, and Jaz informed us that she was in dire need of chips and queso. Problem is, that Iron Horse doesn’t sell food. So…what is we gone do? Well we went to Red Velvet and got some cupcakes-some of us did. Salami took TJ’s phone and disappeared. When we emerged from Red Velvet with our cupcake goodness- we were on the corner looking around as the street corner saxophonist played Tamia’s “So Into You” which was strangely appropriate as I looked to lock eyes with Officer El. Somewhere in this short period of time TJ starts whistling for Salami to return. I called the phone, no answer. TJ walked further ahead to find Salami, but he was nowhere in sight. Officer EL and I exchange a wave and I ask Jaz to go play in traffic run across the street and give him my nimba. Being the ride or die friend that she is, she obliged and took off towards Officer El. And like a ghost, Salami returned. TJ was tuned into the convo with Jaz and Officer El and then assured me that she wasn’t going to accomplish the mission. Jaz returned and informed me that Officer El was still in the middle of issuing a ticket and wondered why I hadn’t come to introduce myself. It was simple, I was eating a cupcake and it’s not polite to talk with your mouth full. We hammer out our next location. I find a pen and write my cell on the back of my card which I was going to either drop in Officer El’s sqad car…..or tape to the windshield. I wasn’t really sure. But once I realized that Officer El wasn’t really paying attention to the person whose car was falling apart right before our eyes, I decided to hang around for a bit and introduce myself. Jaz, Salami, and TJ walked ahead and texted me to “come on” mid convo with Officer El, so we exchanged nimbas and I went on my way. As I rounded the corner to meet the crew, the car that Officer El was assisting came too, only the parts were falling off of the car. He pulled over near us to figure out what was dragging on the ground. TJ blamed me for the officer's lack of attentiveness. Shrug.

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It was cold outside. I was only wearing a cardigan and my flip flops were not keeping my feet warm. Someone thought it would be a great idea to run to GB. So Salami and TJ took off running across the street. Suddenly, Salami pulls a mouth guard out of his pocket and puts it in. I was really unsure what we were preparing for. Like did he catch a glimpse of a linebacker as he ran down 9th street? And who carries a mouthpiece around, like on a regular basis? We get to GB. Before we even approach the host, Salami grabs ALL (ok maybe not all but most) of the peppermints out of the jar. Like he was stockpiling peppermints. We order more drinks (SB they have happy hour prices throughout the entire NCAA tournament, #win). We get some food. We talk more. GB was about as lively as a civilized couple in divorce court. Being the most lively people in the whole restaurant (aside from our waitress with the smeared smokey eye makeup and the collarbone piercings) we decided GB was gonna be a one drink stop. We had to get out of there.

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Our final stop was Cuba Libre. I had to stop and put my shoes and a coat on. I was trying not to sacrifice my pedicure for the third time by wearing flip flops, but DC sent me a gentle reminder that it is still winter. Flip flops in winter=bad idea. We got to Cuba Libre, ordered a pitcher of sangria and watched as the waiter flipped his entire tray of drinks onto the floor. This was due, according to the George Bush looking fellow seated at the table, to another table member running his fingers up the waiter’s thigh and pinching him. Not true at all but fairly funny when said ALOUD in a quiet restaurant. The sangria was good. And just as TJ was about the order another, we realized that it was like 8PM. The day was done. It was time to go home.

The day started with a solo trip to Redline and ended with a couple new buddies, an impromptu bar crawl, and a man in uniform. I’ll take it.