My boss gave me the Friday after the 4th off because she wasn’t coming to work. Since I spent the night with my Guido friends, I was supposed to join in their shenanigans the next day. I was awake the entire night, so it seemed like forever until everyone else got up for the day. We decided that we were going to pack the coolers and off-road to the ocean. I was in a bad-mood-hangover, and felt like I didn’t have a say in the plans. It was my idea to go to the ocean, however, so it was nice that the guys gave me the pick of the day. Later on, I had dinner plans with a friend I hadn’t seen since last summer, so I had an escape route just in case I needed one.
I jumped in the ocean and it made me a little better about life. The ocean always seems to do that for me. Relaxing on the beach was incredible. If I would have known the people I was with better, I’m sure I would have enjoyed it even more. It was a good break from the constant rush of Manhattan. The call of seagulls and the tide breaking on the shore was a huge difference from the usual sirens and honking I hear on 5th Avenue. We decided I should be on the 3:40 train if I was doing dinner at 6:30. Too bad my train was late, and it took two hours! I was 20 minutes late for dinner because I had to thoroughly brush my teeth, shower, and try to get the entire ocean out of my ears.
I met my friend at the Hurricane Club (a Hawaiian BBQ place that is much more expensive than it sounds). There were six in our party, so we ordered this amazing hollowed-out watermelon full of pineapple juice, watermelon juice, mint, and some Hawaiian liquor I didn’t catch the name of. They brought us six 3-foot straws, which we still had to stand up to drink from. This was obviously my favorite part about our meal, though the food was definitely delicious. It was served in the tiniest portions, so it better have tasted good for the price we paid. Dropping $50 in one meal accounts for my most expensive meal in the city thus far.
From the restaurant, we went down to the LES (Lower East Side) where they have a bunch of college-age bars. We went to a bar that was famous for Lychee martinis and having happy hour until 10:30. I walked in realizing I was the tallest person in the entire joint, probably because about 99% of this bar’s population was Asian. After their happy hour, we journeyed onward, but the bar scene hadn’t really erupted for the night. We walked from bar to bar looking for a place that had more than five other customers. Surprisingly, with my heels being over 6” tall, my feet hadn’t started hurting yet.
We finally came upon the DL, and the Hotel Chantelle. There was a large line for both, so without a promoter, we had to wait. Some time had to be killed before the party started anyways. Plenty of pictures were taken, because if there aren’t pictures it didn’t happen. We laughed a lot, and made fun of creepy dudes that would fail in attempts to hit on us. I forgot how weird we became when we were together and we both decided that we hadn’t laughed so hard in a really long time. I always love seeing old friends and being able to reminisce together. Though we’ve only known each other since last summer, it seems like we’ve been in contact our entire lives. It’s almost as if this year gap between meetings didn’t even exist because we effortlessly picked up right where we left off.
Always,
Alena Netia Horowitz
