A bunch of us neighbors went barhopping last night in downtown Greensboro. Sonofabitch... Elm Street was a sight to behold... you'd a thunk we were in a real city or something.
A large part of the evening was spent sipping generous servings of various adult beverages at Hemingway's. We commandeered a couple of tables on the sidewalk section of the bar and had a grand time watching the streetlife in all its forms. Right across the street, the next big thing for downtown's night life is taking shape: Rum Runners in the old Kress Building.
We took great amusement from the bumper-to-bumper line of tricked-out motorcycles, borrowed-from-dad SUV's, jar-rattling stereos blaring hip-hop from otherwise junky looking cars, and regular folks attempting to leave a performance at Triad Stage who stared in wide-eyed awe of the whole spectacle. The parade of vehicles reminded me of cruisin' Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach during spring break. Just watching the attempts at parallel parking, by perhaps-tipsy drivers in the spaces right in front of us, was more fun than people are supposed to have.
The sidewalk strollers were mainly the 20-30 year-old crowd, and let me tell you... there is some plastic surgeon in town that is absolutely rolling in money. The silicone evidence of someone's healthy elective surgery business was delighfully evident. Countering the pretty girls and their fawning escorts was a strong contigent of folks who surely arrived in Greensboro's now-glitzy center city in muddy old pickup trucks. They, in their jeans and t-shirts, usually emblazoned with likenesses of either the flag of the north or the south, made me feel right at home. From the looks of things, not all of the people who stepped out on the town last night were locals. I am confident that bar owners were taking money away from Eden, Asheboro, Whitsett and Burlington.
From my seat next to the sidewalk, I noticed a familiar face meandering among the meanderers around 11:00p. When I first noticed him coming our way, the man was rubber-necking like a first-time visitor to New York City - taking it all in - thinking no one would notice the pride that was showing on his face. It was Ray Gibbs, president of Downtown Greensboro, Inc. He and I had a long conversation while leaning on the barrier that separated Manhattan's legal drinking area from the people waiting to get in the place. I'll go into some of the things he related to me later today, but suffice to say that Ray needs a weblog of his own to let people know what is really going on with efforts to continue and expand downtown's success. (I told him as much, and urged him to start one - but alas, his days are pretty full as it is.)
While we were talking, two more familiar faces came by. Former Chamber of Commerce president, and former across-the-street neighbor Peter Reichard and wife Linda had fun catching up with Jinni and other neighbors among our crew. Then, a little later, I hailed down Rhino writer Scott Yost as he and a group of friends walked by trying to decide which bar to go into next. We exchanged compliments on each other's writing efforts then went back to our respective cliques.
When the bar tab was finally settled around 1:00a (thanks for the gratis Anniversay evening my friends), we found that the only one of us who even had a hope of getting behind the wheel was Matt Gross' water-swilling, but very lovely and talented wife, Mel. She safely deposited us as close as she could get to our front porch. Jinni and I hit the sack satisfied that a better group of friends than ours cannot be found and a more vibrant city could not be wished for.
All-in-all, last night (this morning) was an eye-opening blast. It is one thing to read about the resurgence of night life downtown... quite another to see it for yourself. We, as a city, have by-God arrived as THE destination for people who want to have a great time.
And its all because of that new baseball stadium, right?
9:33:34 AM 
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