Can A Girl Get A Drink In Peace?

After months of schedule juggling, I was finally able to meet up with my cousin Alyson last night for dinner and drinks. No small feat, since we have been trying to get together ever since she got married and moved to Seattle this past August. Needless to say, I was excited to see my older cousin who I had idolized since the age of 5.

Since we live on opposite sides of Queen Anne and both like Thai food, the most logical thing to do was meet up at one of the neighborhood's countless Thai restaurants. We had quite a few to pick from, but settled on the Thai Kitchen. Lured in by their sparkling display of wine and martini glasses, we were shocked and disappointed to find that the restaurant does not serve alcohol!! (We think the waitress mumbled something about an expired liquor license, but couldn’t quite understand her.) Still feeling a little bummed about the lack of cocktails, we managed to get through our meal with great conversation and full water glasses. (If you know me at all, you know how important this is to my dining experience.)

Catching up with my cousin was great. She filled me in about being married, I gave her the scoop on the single life. We were having so much fun chatting that we decided to wander up the street for a drink. Too lazy to bring our doggy bags back to the car, we decided it would be only semi tacky to carry them with us. We walked half a block and into the first place that looked remotely like a bar that we came to, which happened to be Orrapin Thai Cuisine, how ironic. We thought it was a bit rude to bring our leftover food into another Thai restaurant, so we tried, giggling, to tuck the offending noodles underneath our chairs. One Vodka Diet and one Vodka Tonic later and we were feeling much better.

But just as a took a refreshing sip of my drink… BAM!!! The live band started up. It immediately became so loud that Aly and I were forced to shout at each other to be heard. Our conversation went from fun childhood reminiscing and drunken stories to “What? WHAT??” in a matter of about five seconds. Finally Aly’s frantic motioning and screaming in my ear translated… “Do you want to leave??!” Yes. Trying to actually get out the door was another story. The bartender couldn’t hear our pleas to close out our tabs, so we tried a method of sign language; Aly waving her credit card and me making a frantic cutting motion across my throat. The bartender immediately began to make us two more drinks. “No, NO!” we shouted in vain. He finally got the picture. Maybe it was bad karma because of those leftovers.

Not about to give up yet, we headed up the street, bound for the Hilltop Ale House. However, we were disappointed to find that the bar only serves beer and wine. Now, after an evening of stuffing my face with noodles and rice, I was not about to dump more carbohydrates into my body. Beer was not an option. Moving along, we were slightly encouraged to see the Paragon, with no live band in view. Finally, peace, quiet, and liquor. I picked up the drink menu. Oops. Not a drink menu. A listing of weekly live performances!! And on Wednesday nights… taking Britney Spears requests!! I immediately turned to the waitress. “Do you guys have live music tonight?” I asked. “Oh yes!” she responded enthusiastically, like her comment would make my freaking night or something. “It starts in about 10 minutes.” We were out of there.

Standing dejectedly on the sidewalk, Aly and I briefly considered walking the 6 blocks up to Sapphire, but since we weren’t sure about the live music situation there either, we decided to give up and go home. I mean seriously, how hard is it to go out and get a drink in peace in Upper Queen Anne? Much too difficult, in my opinion. Now don’t get me wrong, I like live music as much as the next person. But does it have to be so mind numbingly loud that the bar patrons are forced to scream at one another? Queen Anne is in serious need of a live music revamp. Or at least a couple more bars.

Bottoms up.