A while back I blogged a bit about "The Green Line". It's the new DART rail between North Carrollton and Buckner (Southeast Dallas).One thing I planted in my head to complain about but never got around to is the fact that the trains don't run from 12:30 AM until 3:30 AM (or there abouts). If I'm to understand all the highway signs and media blitz correctly, drinking and driving will land your ass in jail no questions asked. However, who the hell made up this schedule? You don't want people to drink and drive in Dallas. You have the infrastructure in place to get them safely home without driving. But you conveniently shut it down when people are getting ready to leave the bar? Which genius thought this up?
But, enough of that. On New Year's Eve, I took the Green Line to West End to celebrate New Years. I'm usually not one for celebrating New Years, but 2010 sucked in a rather adequate kind of way so I figured I should celebrate the coming in of 2011 in a manner that didn't see me sitting at home or sleeping.
I was irritated at first because I thought I'd end up having to bar hop until 3 AM and then try and catch the first train at 3:30. However, Dallas fixed their train schedule for New Years. They ran every 20 minutes from midnight until about 2:30. Yay for Dallas! Now, if they'd just see fit to do that every weekend (at least Friday and Saturday). I'd even be willing to pay an extra $5 for the tickets.
I arrived at Dick's Last Resort at about 6:30 PM. The waitress was great. She was full of attitude and insanity as she sniffed from her small paper bag marked Glue. She even handed out party favors with noise makers, hats, Alka-Seltzer and condoms. Who could ask for more? At around 9 PM they had a Beatle's Tribute band come on and I decided that I didn't want to bring in the New Years with a Beatle's Tribute Band. I went to Gator's Croc & Roc.
Now, I did my research and I was fairly certain that I read that Gator's was going to have a band there to bring in the New Year. I had picked up some shameless lady at Dick's and she went with me to Gator's with the promise of a better band than the one at Dick's.
Gator's was packed. I had to flirt with Miguel, the bartender, to get him to bring us two barstools to sit on: one for her and one for me. She wasn't that shameless. To my horror, there was no live band playing. I'm not entirely sure why the place was so packed. They were having (shudder) karaoke.
In order that my lady friend did not run away I agreed to liven the place up by singing some rock 'n roll. I could tell the country music was bringing her down and she was thinking about heading back to Dick's.
So, I sang and the people were proud of my singing and jumped up and made happy clapping noises when I was done. There was even a request or two for me to keep it going. I suspect too much sappy country music is bad for the festivities. Even my lady friend was feeling less shameless and more happy. Can you feel less shameless?
As midnight rolled around, we went up to the roof of Gator's and watched the fireworks at Victory Park while screaming Happy New Year to people walking down the street below. Basically kicking 2010 in the ass with a bunch of strangers on the roof of a bar in downtown Dallas. There was great camaraderie and laughter and drinking and I was proud to be part of the downtown Dallas New Year's environment. My heart grew two sizes.
And at about 1 AM, I got on the Green Line and road the train back home. Yay Dallas!
* the fine print: She wasn't a random shameless lady and I didn't meet her at Dick's. But it made the story funnier. At least in my head
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