Thumbnails below.

Thumbnails below.

When we showed up around 9:00 or so there were a handful of people there.  I went to the “bar” (which was a folding table with two girls serving drinks behind it) and ended up with a whiskey and Sprite (mixers were a bit limited).  After a rum and Coke I ended up settling on vodka and Sprite which became my friend for the night.  There were girls dancing in two chicken wire cages on each end of the room which gave it a nice sense of motion and theme.

After a couple conversations with some strangers (and several more drinks) we happened upon another stranger named James.  James Brian, actually.  With the coincidence not lost on me, I immediately informed him that my name was Brian James.  A quick exchange of IDs proved all to be true and we ended up hanging out for a good portion of the night.  James Brian had driven into St. Louis from Kansas by himself and ended up hanging with a guy named Dave.  Dave was a cool guy as well.  Then we met up with another guy named Lonnie who we bumped into from time to time throughout the night.  I drank steadily as the night progressed, eventually roasting a hot dog in the 20 degree weather with James Brian.  We were both pretty well gone by then (or at least I was).

Traci and I bumped around the place all night, talking with some of the dancers and a few other people.  Eventually the “bar” ran out of vodka so I opted for a whiskey (of which I drank about half).  By that time I was as good as gone; as Ice Cube would say “drunk as hell but no frowin’ up”.  As the party wound down Traci and I went outside and called a cab.  Unbeknownst to us inside a hay fight was raging.  At some point someone called the fire department and by then the party was officially over.

Luckily we hailed a cab within ten minutes or so and within five minutes or so we were home.  Traci and I took a shower, I had some edamame, and then we rolled into bed around 3:00 a.m. or so, the room still spinning a bit.

I took a few photos while I was there.  The thumbnails are below.

All in all it was an awesome event.  We met some cool people, drank a lot, and had a great time.  I can’t wait until next year.