boys night

On Thursday we decided a little boys night was in order, so the 4 of us with season tix decided to grab a nice dinner before the game (me, Schneider, Pickett and Dave p). Pickett had heard good things from somebody about this new steakhouse in st Paul called the strip club. Pretty fitting name for boys night. My initial reaction when we walked in was a touch underwhelming but as the night progressed the decor grew on me hugely and I really like it now.

It was one of the better dinner experiences I've had and I eat out a lot(more than i should). Our waiter was one of the best I've ever had - he was really attentive and helpful (and yet not annoying/over the top) and even called us a cab to get to the game. The food was really good. We all got steaks of somesort and everyone was pleased. One of the appetizers stood out as really good - it was like beef tips or something. Basically rib eye marinated in BBQ sauce and then grilled with some peppers or something. It only comes with 2 so it's pretty small but it really hits the spot.

We started with some wine but then got intrigued by the $25 dollar 750ml beers at the bottom of the list so we asked the waiter about them and he said he personally picked them and they are all fantastic. We decided why not try all 3 so he got us all 3 glasses and poured them all and it was quite the sight with 3 beers, a glass of wine, and water all in front of everyone on this little table. 2 of them were Belgian imports while the third was from some small brewery in Colorado. All 9-10% alcohol content. They were super good, as was the wine, so much so that we decided to get another bottle. Schneider said it may be one of his favorites. I hope he wrote it down because it wasn't very expensive.

All that eating and drinking and we were ready for some hockey. Dave P and I had 20 bucks on how long the cab would take to get to the stadium. I had under 7 minutes and Dave had the over. 6:05 later we were there. There was a light we coulda missed that woulda made for a sweat butttttt our cabby decided yellow means go. ship it!

The wild game started off far more intense than many and we were finally like YES! there is going to be a fight finally! (I've been to 5 games so far, 0 fights) Nope. Just some scuffling. The game was tight and down to the wire but we just couldn't capitalize on the most power plays I think I've ever seen. Montreal was sick at killing them and ended up winning which was well deserved in my book.

Going drink for drink with Pickett and Dave P is recipe for disaster so by the third period it was time for a round off for beeker. Those boys don't slow down. Schneider had stopped after round 1 or 2 at the game. By the time the game was done I was feeling like a little extended break. We walked to a local bar and Dave and mike went in for a drink and Schneider and I waited outside cause it was super nice out and just pretty chill and talk a little trash with Montreal fans...most of which had came down from Manitoba. They were all real nice and fun to chat with.

Chal was at the game (but not with us) and somehow had gone home after so we swung by his house and then went downtown to meet up with some of the other boys (Frank, Adam, Johny, Justin). We got apps/drinks at the 508 which really hit the spot for me. We hung out there for awhile then hit up the drink and stinky petes or something where nothing notable really happened. By 1am I was ready to just go home and relax so Dave p, chal and I came back here to chill. Chal was giving me grief about being kinda tired, demanding I stay up so I told him I'd promise him an hour. On the way home Dave P slept most of the way so as we're pulling up I'm like ok everyone have their cell phone and wallet (chal has lost like 4 cell phones in cabs). Chal said yep and dave didn't really respond. We got out of the cab and Dave p is like oman my phone must be in the cab. Wtf i just asked if you had it. Haha. It was there and all is well.

One side note I didn't understand is we called a cab from my house initially and Dave p got caught up in traffic on the way here so when I told the cabby to start the meter, our buddy will be here in 10 minutes he said "god dammit" and was all put out. I don't understand? Is it that crappy of a rate that they get to charge for waiting or what's the deal? I thought cabby's live for big fairs and ours was going to be at least 50 or 60 bucks cause we had to swing by Pickett's, too. Of course on the way we missed a turn because we were too busy talking and he was pissed about that too. Who cares dude? The meter is running and it was our fault. We don't give a shit. Must be just an unhappy person. Pickett lost the paper rock scissors for who had to pay and wasn't there for most of the shenanigans so I'm not sure how much he tipped him, but I wouldn't have given him anything which I'm sure would compound his view of the world but, hey that's not my problem...I was pleasant.