On Saturday, March 17, I introduced two of the people I'm working with from Scotland, Steven and Neil, to the greatness that is the annual St. Paddy's Day Greenville block party in Dallas. After a few hiccups trying to get started, including Neil forgetting his ID back at their corporate apartment which required a 75-minute roundtrip, Neil not being able to withdraw money from an ATM, Steven losing his cell phone in the cab on the initial ride down, and an extra-long wait for cab to the party, we arrived a few blocks away around noon with Steven carrying his magic talisman from the previous night--a golf ball (reminiscent of Tom Hanks' Wilson volleyball in
Cast Away)--which was probably the only thing that kept him upright at this point.
We got there early enough that there was no line. Later I heard that the wait to get in was two hours. Yikes! Right then and there I bumped into Erin, who I had met at Laura's birthday party, and some of her friends. A few of us went into
Stan's to grab some beer and cocktails. Outside on the Stan's patio, I bumped into my friend Daniel and his family and friends. We finished our drinks, headed outside, and made our way towards
Hurricane Grill.
Soon after I lost Steven and Neil for about an hour. I bumped into a few others I knew and got distracted. I did a minor loop outside and walked around Stan's before taking a stab at checking out the
Dubliner. We stayed there awhile on the outside patio chatting with some giant, talking beer cans and admiring the scenery.
Coming upon 6 pm, the block party was coming to a close and mounted police organized on the south side of Greenville to begin to clear the streets of pedestrians and reopen the street to traffic. Steven, Neil, and I walked over to my friend Carrie's house to meet up with the rest of the remaining for some drinks and a brief respite from the Greenville chaos.
Around 9 pm we headed from there to the last party in Uptown near State and Clark. There we enjoyed conversation, music, beer, wine, cocktails, queso, snacks, and a great view of downtown Dallas from the rooftop.
Around 2 am we grabbed a cab and headed for my place to watch the
2007 Australian Grand Prix. Being a bit tired, I fell asleep with 7 laps to go and didn't wake up until Kimi Räikkönen was giving his victory interview.
The next morning, we got up and headed to
Bread Winners around 10 am. None of us ordered mimosas or bloody marys and opted instead for juice. Steven's hands were shaking badly so we got him a straw. There we all got a bite to eat before heading back up towards Oklahoma to drop the Scots off at their corporate apartment in the middle of nowhere.
All-in-all, it was a fantastically great time. The weather was great--sunshine interspersed with clouds to cool things off. I was fortunate to bump into tons of people I knew, many who I had not seen in a year or so. One of the best block parties I've been to in a long time! Looking forward to next year!
Allison Stokke is one of the best young pole vaulters in the country. Prior to joining the track team in high school, she was a gymnast for ten years. An exceptional athlete, in her first year of pole vaulting she set the U.S. record for pole vault for high school freshman girls at 12-08.
On Saturday, April 14, one of my friends, Carolyn, was one of the hosts of the 12th Annual Crawfish Party in Dallas, TX at The Green Elephant. Among the bands playing were Ray Wylie Hubbard, No Justice, and Poison Cherry. For $25, you got all you could eat crawfish and beer to drink, including one of my perennial favorites, Lone Star. The weather was a bit chilly and overcast but every once in a while, the sun would come out for a quick peek.
