B-I-N-G-O

We walked into the bar. Dark. Low ceilings. The bartender, June, took one look at us in the doorway and loudly announced, 'We only serve beer and wine."

The four of us were standing there clearly looking ready to order a round of cosmos or lemon-drops. Or whatever fresh organic fruit martini they may have on special.

But, no matter. No cocktails? That's okay. We may look like cocktail girls, but, we can hang.

Rainer on tap (for incredibly low prices)? Cool. Michelob Ultra in a bottle? We're in.

We had a purpose. We were there for bingo. Rock and Roll Bingo. We had a chance to win tens of dollars. Not our original destination but while waiting for a table at our favorite breakfast place we saw the ad in the paper. What is Girls Weekend if not adventurous? And, set at a bar with the word 'shack' in the name... how can you go wrong? You're going to find adventure whether you mean to or not.

After we sat down we were informed that they were on a limited menu that night. No pizza. Because the band. I'm not sure what one has to do with the other but... okay. No pizza. It wasn't a vegetarian friendly menu either but I ate a grilled cheese and a bag of chips and washed it down with a Mike's Hard Lemonade. Felt like a reasonably solid meal. Plus, we were there with a purpose.

To win.

There were a few regulars in the place. They were watching us closely as we poorly played shuffleboard. And laughed.

The band was warming up. The term band may be a little generous. Just two guys. Drummer and guitar player/singer. Not good, per se. But, fun. They knew their role: play songs people know, people sing along and have fun.

The bar got busier. With a crowd that seemed like it came straight out of Central Casting. It seemed they all took a minute to stare at us. One of these things was not like the other.... 

The band played a lot of hits. When Doves Cry followed by Scrubs. It's pretty safe to say they aren't locked into a particular genre. Nor do they care. And, oddly, they didn't know, Don't Stop Believin'... but, per our request they played it. Which sounded an awful lot like Scrubs with the Don't Stop Believin' lyrics. During each song they would stop singing and call the bingo numbers. We were warned early that the bingo set came from Walmart and there may be duplicate numbers. And, there were.

We started chatting with other folks in the bar. The mother and girlfriend of the singer,

Not winning. 

the lady who brought cupcakes for everyone as it was her birthday and she didn't have any other plans.

Turns out the limitations of beer and wine didn't please the band. They wandered out during their breaks to enjoy some tequila in the parking lot. Because, why not?

And, as our focus was fun and adventure, perhaps a couple of us joined them. Where else can you listen to a band and drink tequila in a parking lot with strangers?



We laughed. A lot. And, there were a couple winners in our group.

Not me.

I'm good at a lot of things but bingo isn't one of them. Fortunately laughing and drinking tequila is.