Current mood:
blah
I was up early, tossing and turning with dreams. Dreams given to me by a little pill called Percocet, a perk to working in the bar business. I finally rolled out of bed, both too hot and too cold, the weather is in-between and I had the overhead fan on low, the window slightly open to the ocean breeze and I had kept under the covers, both sweating and chilled. Now nature called and I got up and got ready, Miss Patti would be making her way to the city and I needed to get going. I pulled open the miniblinds and opened the windows to halfway. The ocean breezes that brought in the chilled air the night before had stopped and the day looked beautiful from my bedroom windows. I could see those early sun worshippers out on the beach, the beginning of the season to get their skin that perfect colour of a leather suitcase. I decided to shower since I rarely shower when I am just sitting at home for a few days. I figured Miss Patti would appreciate the effort. Back in my room, I took my sunblock and put it on all the exposed areas of my skin that my T-shirt wouldn't cover, and then I put on some more. It was bright out there and my last bout with sunburn wasn't too pleasant. I gathered my things and made my way out of the penthouse, taking my usual route first to the Art of Flowers to update my Café and get the city gossip. Like Brittany's, where you can sit and have brunch with the city's leaders conducting city business at the next table, Becky is quite plugged in to the pulse of the city and knows a few things. I looked at the time and realized that if I was going to walk, I needed to get moving. I made my way down to the boardwalk and realized just how beautiful aday it was, the high pristine white clouds were floating in the upper atmosphere, the sun was beating down on the city and making the ocean sparkle. It was a beautiful spring day and I found myself dallying, time was getting ahead of me and I quickened my pace, passing by the Rainforest Café and wondering if Meredith was working. No time to find out. I couldn't help but thank the gods for the warm sunshine, more heat means less clothes and there were some handsome bodies strolling the boards. More distractions, I felt I needed those eye shields that keep horses in line on city streets, I kept pace and rounded the curve near New York Avenue where I saw Miss Patti standing there, mobile in hand dialing my number. She looked up and saw me approach, her smile warmed my heart. My affection for her has not lessened over all these years and I was happy to see that smile on her face. Behind her was a poor person out on the boards wearing the sandwich board with the Pub's menu was passing out flyers to a group of older folks. We chatted as we walked down the ramp, passing the old Skil-o (a version of bingo) hall where we both worked at during different times of our lives. The older crowd around us had the same objective and we quickly made our way to the front door of the Irish Pub, walking in to the darkened room and hearing the conversations of the patrons at the bar. I know from experience that those "gentlemen" were probably still there from the evening before. Our eyes adjusted to the darkness and we made our way around the bar to the seating area, the bartender told us to just sit where we wanted and we plopped down at the nearest table. They don't serve until the stroke of eleven-thirty so we perused the menu that's printed on the placemats and debated what we were going to eat. We noticed a few additions to the décor, which is terribly hard to do. The Pub is decorated, floor to ceiling, with posters and prints pertaining to the Emerald Isle as well as antiques and vintage furniture strewn about. One of my particular favourites is the "No Irish Need Apply" sign on the back wall which is funny considering all the Irish kids that stayed there during the eighties Irish workforce that came to the city. The new item was a beautiful Deco era statue, similar to the artist Erte's work. It was quite beautiful. The waitron finally came over and we ordered, Miss Patti had the Poor Richard's Special, a roast beef sandwich and onion soup and a coffee and I ordered a Guinness and a bacon cheeseburger. I was hungry, still. Patti, not an aficionado of beer, wanted to taste the Guinness and proclaimed it…beer. She didn't get the nuances inherent in that sweet brown nectar of the gods. Pity. I won't hold it against her. We talked about this and that until our food arrived and then we dove in heartily. The food there is always good and filling. After eating and paying our check, we went back out onto the boards and into the sunlight. We wandered over to Central Pier to the Dollar Store that's on the left side. It's always fun to explore dollar stores and see what they have, I especially love the ceramics. There's usually something peculiar about them, a fish with odd appendages, a rhino with strange legs, there's always something different that I think is oddly amusing. We sifted through the flotsam and jetsam on the shelves with her finally finding what she was looking for and we left, making our way down the boardwalk amongst the shoobies. I made her stop by my addiction-enabling center and bought some fresh hot pretzels. She and I wandered, arm in arm, through Bally's Hotel and Casino and I tore her away from the slot machines. It seems my little Miss Pooh likes to feed the one-armed bandits now and again. She can't help herself, they were sitting there, lonely and unloved. We found our way to the people movers that whisk you to the bus lobby and the garages and we went down the three-story tall escalator and made our way to Pacific Avenue and the jitney stop. Unfortunately, a number two came right away (the number twos go out to the marina district) and I gave my best friend a little kiss on the head and off she went to the Borgata and to work.
I walked over to The Walk to see if there was anything being given away at The Gap or Eddie Bauer but I found nothing worth the time, effort or money so I made my way back down to the boards and the cute boys walking along the ocean side. I made my way home, hopped on my bed listening to some classical pieces of music and wrote on my little Lappy, smiling to myself.
I love my little Miss Patti!
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