Now, it should be obvious that I’m not really a sports scene sort of person. That said, if there’s a sport I enjoy, it’s baseball and the Braves are the only team that I’ve ever seriously followed. So I was not dreading going to see the game with Katherine. I called around, found a place that would have the game on and we headed down.
We all, including Katherine, agreed that Blondies was a ruthlessly unpleasant experience.
Food? My vegetarian chili was fine. The caesar salad was so watery as to be almost inedible. I mean, yes, wash the lettuce, but then at least drain it. Rob’s fries and garden burger also seemed fine. Katherine’s buffalo wings? She couldn’t even finish them because they were “slimy” and “gross.” This is a girl who loooooves buffalo wings. The fat and skin to meat content was apparently on the wrong end of the spectrum.
Atmosphere? Frigid. We had to wear our coats the whole time.
Music? Deafening. I mean, Rob put in ear plugs. I actually had my fingers in my ears at one point because it was nightclub loud. Not a nightclub. Sportsbar. I finally asked one of the waitresses if they could turn the music down a little.
She said, “It’s really hard to turn music down in a bar. Where are you from?”
“I live in New York.”
“Oh. Well, it’s really hard to turn music down.”
Right… funny thing. From my time waiting tables if a customer asks you to turn the music down, you turn it down. Now, she did briefly turn it down. For one song. Then she turned it back up, louder, so she could dance in the back to it. I kid you not.
When the Braves tied the Nationals at the top of the ninth, I was not happy. I should have been rooting for the Braves but all I could think was that now we were going to be stuck there for another inning and that I would have to kill someone.
The Nationals won, without going to extra innings. Katherine was sad, but we were all grateful to get out of that joint.
Oh, and the ladies bathroom? Gross. Truck stop level grossness.
Ewww. Chalk this one up to “bad bar”. My sports bar here in Florida has excellent food, most particularly the assortment of things they roll into balls and fry, things get turned down (music? what music? The TVs rule) for various activities, and the temperature is decent. =/ Sorry you had such a terrible experience.
That’s been my experience, too with sports bars. True, not my scene under normal circumstances, but I’ve gone out with my brother and haven’t hated them. This was bad on pretty much every level.
When/if I ever hit New York, I definitely know which one to avoid at all costs now!
Definitely! I will scout more carefully if you come to New York and need a sports bar.
Definitely good to know I’ll have a friend who can direct me to the right spots when I get there! Ah, some day…only ever flown through Kennedy so far. I’ll get there before 40, gosh darn it, no matter what I have to do. The theatre geek in me has been demanding it since about age fifteen.
Mary, Mary, Mary… I had such hopes and respect for you, and you turn out to be a Braves fan? Oh, the pain!
Sean (LET’S GO METS!)
Sean, I lived in Atlanta so you can’t begrudge me the Braves.
What’s going to really make you disappointed in me is that I’m taking Katherine to a Yankees game on Friday. I would have gone with the Mets but they are out of town this week.
Guilt … guilt … guilt …
Tell you what, you can make it up to me by recommending a place for Katherine to get a manicure.