Day 1, Firkin Tavern, West Trenton, NJ. Thurs, Dec. 9. Yes, yes, this is late!
What the firk? Pulling into the parking lot of this armpit of a strip mall, there is not a spot to be found. None in front, none around the side, none over on the other side. There is one way, way over there, in an area never before used by a customer in this toilet bowl of a strip mall. This firking TDDOC is already starting to tick me off.
Bad news quickly turns to good as inside the place is expectedly packed, but fortunately not with us old pathetic TDDOCers, but by boatloads of local college students. How can I tell? A booth for 4 with 2 extra chairs at the end, with 6 or 7 people crammed into it, all clearly drinking large glasses of the most translucent beer, aka cheapest, available. Optimistic hopes of wet t-shirt contests breaking out were dashed however. One of the college ladies was drinking a martini out of Scugi's favorite style of female martini glasses though (you'll have to ask him about it for more details).
Things begin to look up quickly as Gman flags me down with a yell of "Irish Nachos!". Irish Nachos at the Firkin are to me like crack is to Crack Pipe Larry. Delicious corned beef, cheese, some mystery stuff, and some other mystery stuff, and some stuff I'm not sure what it is
over top of some burned chips. Yes, as delicious as it sounds. I can't explain it, but those Irish really know their nachos. Yo proclaims that the Irish stew is the finest, but who wants to eat something with easily identifiable ingredients?
The Newcastle girls are in the house giving away glasses, t-shirts, dog tags, and rubdowns for free. Well, only some got the rubdowns. Actually most of the rest wasn't free either unless you actually bought a Newcastle, unless you are named Yo and have enough Mojo to nail a t-shirt without making a purchase. Being the fine competitive shopper that Gman is, he ends up without about 20 Newcastle glasses. Next time you're having formal dinner at the Williams household, guess what you'll be drinking your water, wine, and after-dinner cordial out of?
Early discussions of plans for Day 12 break out. Gman's claims of being able to defeat Russ in a 100-unit* dash are met with Russ self-pounding his chest and breaking a beer bottle over his own head. Russ makes plans to show up early that day at the Lawrenceville High School track oval. Huh? As if this is a legitimate athletic endeavour. Much more likely, as Day 12 the past few years has been at Wildflowers on Pennington Circle, is a dash around the Pennington circle after a pre-agreed number of drinks. Note, if you plan to attend Day 12, please bring a lot of orange cones as we will need them to help block off traffic from the circle during this blessed event.
*Yard? Meter? Footcandle? I can't remember what was discussed
Tons of familiar faces roll in. Alba is back from her rookie year of 2009. Thank god our boorish behavior didn't scare her into not returning. Celeste is as well. Can we actually be getting less boorish? That question will be answered quickly by Pods, as he strolls in, mutters something about social butterflies, and immediately punches a hole in the wall. Noticing that the hole in the wall is reminiscent of the Newcastle beer icon, he is quickly rewarded with a free Newcastle t-shirt. Wait, that may be more bore-ish.
Another heartwarming moment develops as Bobo and Big Lou share a plate of nachos, with Bobo nudging the last chip with his nose to Big Lou's side of the plate when done. I had no idea what a big fan of Lady and the Tramp that Bobo was.
Scugi orders a burger. It looks delicious. Before his first bite, I ask "you eatin' dat?". New TDDOC tradition. I later eat some quesadillas filled with chili. Absolutely atrocious and I'd highly recommend never trying that. Ever. Why not Irish nacho quesadillas?
Antlers were provided by the PA chapter. I believe that there may have been some bucking of antlers, accompanied by some very very painful camera work. Does the term "point and shoot" really apply? It always looked so easy on those Ashton Kutcher commercials.
Wait, someone's missing....someone obvious....who is it? Who? Some people that usually attend both Pa and NJ chapter events? Who, who could it be? Wait, is that a hockey game on the TV? Huh, interesting. Wait, what were we talking about again?
My night concludes with a rousing shuffleboard competition, one in which I pledge to be part, then try to duck out of. Sharon and my teammate (OK, it was late and I've lost track of his name) peer pressure me back in, and fortunately so, as my extensive recent work with sawdust enabled me to lead my team to a rousing victory. In future TDDOC days I will push hard to avoid any place with shuffleboard, so I can be assured of finishing the season undefeated.
Day 2 will be held at the Dublin Square in Bordentown NJ. I won't bother to provide directions or a website, as I write these stats late and Day 2 has shamefully already happened. Oh, OK, for old times' sake, here it is:
TDDoC East Coast will be at Dublin Square in Bordentown, NJ
"Where everyone is Irish. Well, everyone except the Italians" --
Famous quotable philosopher
Dublin Square
167 US Highway 130
Bordentown, NJ 08505-2228
609 298 7100
www.dublinsquarepubs.com
If anyone has been missed in the points, please advise and they can be corrected. If anyone who wasn't there would like to request points, please send an email to nicetryloser@tddoc.com.
Alba 1
Andrew (Gman) 1
BIG LOU 1
Bobo 1
Celeste 1
Chaty 1
Cole Howard 1
Eman 1
Gena (Pa) 1
Gman 1
Howard Jones 1
Jason (Pa) 1
Julian 1
Kaden 1
Katherine 1
Laura 1
Lisa Eman 1
Lou DeAngelo (Pa) 1
Mertz 1
Milot 1
Mosso 1
Mrs Scugi 1
Neil H (Pa) 1
Pods 1
Randy 1
Reese 1
Rose 1
Scugi 1
Sean (Chaty Friend) 1
Sharon A (Pa) 1
Ska 1
Stacy (Rose Friend) 1
Steve (Chaty Friend) 1
Su 1
Tamp 1
Trent Eman 1
Yo 1
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