If You Noticed A Spike In The Twizzlers' Stock Last Thursday, That Was Me

There are two things in life that indicate "roadtrip" to me. First, is the fact that I actually fill up my gas tank.  Second, is that I stock up on Twizzlers (If you noticed the spike in the Twizzlers' stock last Thursday, that was me). So when it came time to travel to Annapolis for the release of GiGi, it comes as no surprise that both of those elements were present (My traveling buddies will claim that no Twizzler consumption occurred, but that is just because I did not share. Shhhhh).

I am eating Twizzlers in 45% of my Facebook pictures

Mr. Hobbs, Mr. Mabrey, and Mr. Rhoads joined me on this epic adventure (I like to compare this to the Fellowship of the Beer. Cue Lord of the Rings walking music).  It began at 3:07 on that Thursday afternoon, approximately 37 minutes later than anticipated on the project agenda, because Mr. Hobbs wanted to shower.  Each of us had a clear objective in mind for the evening:  I was picking up GiGi's release glasses for two coworkers; Mr. Hobbs had never visited Annapolis before and really wanted to see it; Mr. Mabrey wanted to take his picture with as many people as possible; and Mr. Rhoads wanted to experience a release party.

Through some form of time warp, we made it to Annapolis by 4:15. 

When we rolled into Rams Head, it was already completely packed.  Apparently, GiGi was the most anticipated beer that had been released in months.  Consequently, we realized that we would have to lock down all of our take-home glasses quickly, before they could run out.  By 4:25, we had four full pints, one in front of each of us, and four empty glasses that were souvenirs.

Obviously, my camera phone sucks

That was when the evening started getting weird.

I happened to be sitting on the end of the bar, which is something that I never do (In fact, I always insist on sitting with my back against the wall because when I was in third grade I read a book about Wild Bill Hickok. He always sat with his back against a wall. On the one day he sat with his back out in the open, he got shot and died.) This fellow started talking to me.  We started by discussing GiGi.  I raved about the subtle nuances of flavors, he remained nonplussed (negative friend points). Then he started telling me about his drug habits and his life in the music business (I cannot believe the candor of strangers). The conversation ended abruptly when he gave us a sample CD to listen to.

Three beers each later, it was 8.  The release party was a success; they had sold out of GiGi's cups within an hour (I like to think it is because everyone was drinking it, not because they were just buying them for friends).  So, we decided to move on to our next destination.

We ended up grabbing dinner at the best sushi restaurant in Annapolis and then we went to one of the Irish bars.  We happened to hit it on karaoke night.  While we were there, we had the distinct pleasure of watching a gentleman, who was obviously intoxicated, perform his version of some death metal song, while he repeatedly hit himself on the head with the microphone. He was later calmly carrying on a conversation while throwing up blood outside.

This is pretty much how the 30 pint glasses in my car looked

For the most part, we accomplished all of our objectives for the evening.  However, the next morning, I found a giant stack of glasses in my car and some of them were definitely NOT release glasses.  In fact, somehow a shot glass made it home with us.