A Tryst Between Friends
May 18th, 2007.
Previously…
I keep on jumping around in time like no one’s business, in this blog. My own mind’s fault, really. My mind keeps on dancing from place to place, and I really haven’t slept too much. The business trip to New Jersey wasn’t the most fun in the world, and I was glad to be getting the hell out of there.
The corporate world was a strange place. I keep on saying that, but it was part of my exhaustion. The mental jujitsu, the personalities, the strange feeling that maybe the person I was talking to wasn’t really a friend, more like competition, I didn’t like it. But the money was nice. I could never say ‘no’ to a proper paycheck, especially after being unemployed for so long. It was all a necessary evil.
But, it was my last day in “Dirty” Jersey, evil stepchild of the Northeast. Things would get better, as soon as I got home. My only problem now would be the summer, as I’d potentially be gone all of June, due to my National Guard obligation (for the last time, thankfully) and due to another business trip to New Jersey. Cruel summer, you know.
And now…
Let’s see, mid-air, high above Florida at 30,000 feet, I breathed a sigh of relief. Home was a mere hour away, and I could finally relax. Everything in life would finally slow down so I could relax. Lately I was being overwhelmed by not being in control of what I wanted to do. Now all I wanted to do was relax. Life was good.
Sabrina picked me up at the airport, which was really cool. She was leaving town, maybe forever. We caught up on how she was doing, that sort of thing. We arranged to make an attempt to go to EPCOT with her boyette and some other mates before she would be gone. I hadn’t been there since my senior year of high school, which was (as you could imagine) a very long time ago.
Home was quiet. No one was ‘round, all of the lights were out. It was great. No one yelling in my ears, no niece, no grandmother, no mum, no stepfather bugging me about random things. The house was mine. So I did what anyone else would have done.
I cranked my stereo to 11 and danced around the house. It was great. I wasn’t going to spend the rest of the night dancing by myself, so I contacted Red, who had planned to go to an old haunt, under new management and new name. What place? The place formerly known as Ybor’s Martini Bar. These days, it was a place called Tryst. Yes, the name’s a little tacky. And it’s also tacky that it’s time for a quick flashback.
Flashback to roughly 10 days ago: Red and I heard about what used to be Ybor’s opening up again. We took a quick trip downtown on a random Tuesday or Wednesday night to check it out. While I was extremely skeptical about it, the place turned out to be just as nice, if not nicer than Ybor’s used to be.
None of the usual suspects worked there anymore, only a few bartenders that we knew from our days at Antigua, according to Red. Since it was a slow night, the only person working was a guy by the name of Shaun, the manager. He gave us a quick, down and dirty rundown about what happened since this joint shuttered its doors, how it was sold and bought, then redesigned. While not well-versed in the art of bartending, the former house DJ did okay.
The place looked a little different. That new bar scent, new chairs, new interior design, and they even upgraded the televisions. I had worries that the place would turn into one of those McMartini bars that had sprung up like a scarred blight on the scene in recent years. Only time would tell. End Flashback.
I picked up Red at her flat, in my mum’s sled, since mine decided that it wouldn’t work anymore. Only temporarily, I hoped. Everything was temporary, right? The plan was to meet up with M and Sue at Ybors-opps, I meant Tryst. So, after getting really lucky with the parking in the SunTrust building, we made our way towards Church Street. It was still early, and the streets weren’t completely insane yet.
Tryst was bloody crowded, most likely from the folks who hadn’t made their way to Antigua below us. Like I said before, it was still early. It was also their official opening night, which meant one of the best combinations of words ever was in play: Open bar. I pretty much didn’t care about anything else after learning that. Life for my companions and I was great.
The crowd in Tryst (it just doesn’t feel right typing that somehow) was sort of a strange one. I recognized most of the usual suspects from before this place shut down in its previous incarnation. More or less the deep pocketed, the pretty people crowd. They played house music the whole time, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Overall it was pretty impressive.
Alas, our time there ended, and we ended up at Antigua, where we hadn’t been in literally ages. Okay, months anyway. There was a lot of dancing, so much that my feet were sore afterwards. Then the big crowds showed up and we learned why we stayed away for so long in the first place. We could barely get around, and it was an adventure getting to the bathroom. So, that meant it was probably time to make with the running away.
A fun night, a lot of dancing, and a nice welcome home. New Jersey took the life out of me, and Florida gave it right back tenfold. Home sweet home? That was still to be found in Orlando. And that would have to be a story for another day.
Next: The return of Persephone! Introducing the Bachelorette! Plus, just where am I going to live anyway? Lots of houses, so little time. In other news: there are more little subtle changes on the way.