Thursday, February 28, 2008

Welcome Back Bogart

Four.

It is a good number. Foursomes on the golf course...four chocolate chip cookies...four kids...four seats...reservations for four. With four people you can play beach volleyball all day. Amusement parks sell "Four Pack" tickets with special pricing. Four leaf clovers are lucky. Four strips of bacon make a mean sandwich.

It is an even number. It has a square root. Four.

Nice. Solid. Good.

Not when that is the temperature. Four. That is what the thermometer read as we got out of the car on Friday night in Northern Michigan. Four.

That is wrong on so many levels. It should be illegal. Four degrees.

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The snow mobile trip was amazing. We got in late Friday night...stayed up way too late chatting with our friends, then hit the road early Saturday morning. We went from town to town, through back roads, cruising on the snow, hitting in excess of 65mph. It was niiiicccceeee.

Saturday night was spent in the spa, sipping a nice glass of port. That is high-falutin livin.

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Spent the rest of the week in Washington D.C. Sorry for the lack of updates, but it was a work conference that had me running from 7am until 11 every night. No blogg'n for Bogart.

I will get pictures from our trip up next week.
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Last night, Claire and I met for dinner/happy hour at a restaurant called Todd Jurich's Bistro. It was very enjoyable and the food was great. I did notice one thing though...just about everyone in there was a "regular". You know, like on Cheers when Norm walked in everyone yelled "Norm"!

We were surrounded by regulars...there was Mike who drank Crown and Coke before dinner and wine with it. Robert who did his best to look cool for the hostess and the bartender and the waitress and any other female that happened to be in the vicinity. Susan had the glass of Pinot Grigio poured for her before she even sat down.

I can't decide if that is really cool or really sad. On the one hand, I think it would be neat to be a regular. Walk in and everyone knows your name. You don't have to worry about what you want to eat or drink because the waitress and bartender already know. You probably get special treatment...bigger glasses of wine, special food dishes, discounts, etc. It is comfortable and makes you happy.

But that also means that you probably spend WAY TOO MUCH TIME in a bar/restaurant. There are so many other places in town to go. I mean, I would never have found that tiny little Thai place on Granby if we were always going back to Todd's. I think I might miss out on some great food, great experiences, and great times.

What do you think? To be or not to be a regular?

10 comments:

Wonderful World of Weiners said...

To be. Some people need TO BE somewhere, anywhere and I'd rather see them BE in public and not sitting at home drinking alone.

I'm not either but I'd rather be a TO BE-er than a NOT TO BE-er!

Hallie

WILLIAM said...

I used to be a regular, Back in the day, I miss it.

for a different kind of girl said...

I was never a regular in any type of bar or restaurant, but I know I got a little feeling of "I should probably taper this habit off..." when I'd go into a coffee place and they'd start making my drink immediately, and I'd see the same customer there and suddenly, other places I would show up.

Like you, I think I'd like to find other unique places. When I get out. Right now, I don't go out much. Because it's 4 degrees. The only thing more illegal then 4 degrees is -4 degrees. But not by much.

Glad you had a nice trip.

Amy said...

Sounds like you and Claire had a fantastic weekend, despite the cold. Snow, spas, wine, and good company - seriously, what could be better?

As for being a regular..... while I haven' been neither and quite some time, I opt to try new places! Then if I like a place, I'll always try it again. We actually did that last week and it was awesome. We went to this new, jewel of a restaurant/bar that just opened. It was kind of nice because a guy around my age just opened it.

Though 4 degress should be illegal, 4 years old should be legal for everyone. My son is 4, and I wish I could have as much fun has him!

Wonderful World of Weiners said...

I love a man that is comfortable saying he loves another man's boner machine!

Hallie :)

Bogart said...

WWoW -- First, I think you are right...but clearly I gave off the wrong impression. It is not just bars, but rather a restaurant, a coffee shop, or even a doughnut place...just anywhere that you go there so often as to be a regular. Second, the boner machine comment looks 9 kinds of wrong without the context of your blog post accompanying it.

William -- That is what I hear.

DKG -- There is a fine line there.

Amy -- It was one of our better excursions for sure. And we excurse a lot.

Kevin Pellatiro said...

Four?!??! Oy. Not at those depths here, but do remember when mid 50's were freezing??

Need me some snowmobile pictures Bogart, sounds like a blast. Love the spa and vino in the snow too (no pics, thanks) - nice.

Regular... hmm... yeah, if its close to home and you don't have kids - I love it. I'm even moving to one of those trendy walking communities for some of this vibe. Am I too vanilla?

Ok, Where Was I? said...

AT least it wasn't 40 below. That's not impossible. I don't know about the regular thing. I dated one, and at first, when I was digging him, it seemed cool that he went somewhere and always new people and they poured his drink when he walked in the door. Then when we started not to get along, I thought he was a loser for it. I'm probably too biased on this one.

Amber said...

Please....Big D and I get recognized at a place called Dicky's. Of course, I am a local celebrity (at least, that is what I tell Big D)so we get recognized at a lot of places. I say go where you're loved!

Bogart said...

KP -- I long for the days of not owning a jacket and complaining about 55 degrees...I really do!

OK -- Yes, there are times that recusing yourself is the right answer. But I worry that you may be right.

Scarlett -- You did have blog fans recognize you in public!