Hotel bar

I am staying, during my work-week travel, in a fairly nice, moderately upscale hotel. Attached is a full restaurant/bar. Given that I don’t have a lot of energy to wander too far after a 12 hour day that does not include maintaining my 4 online classes, I have spent a good amount of time in the bar. I choose the bar because it is not as conspicuous to sit alone on a bar stool as it is to sit at a table.

Anyway, I have been noticing quite a range of interesting people who, it seems, are hiding out just like me.

• three sales guys drinking and talking loudly how every single person in America has the same opportunities and that they should just build the fence already…and that each seemed to have a disturbingly large cache of weapons and ammo at their house.
• A portly and rumpled aerospace engineer from England (Royles Royce) who hit on and then left with a portly Hispanic woman
• Loud groups of lawyers complaining about the partners (who apparently wasn’t there and who probably wouldn’t have liked to be maligned in that way)

Other observations:

• Single women are not to be found
• Groups of women talk far more quietly than groups of men
• It is the sour in a Long Island Iced Tea that burns about half-way through, which can be mitigated by an increase in tequila and a reduction in mix
• One can get a good filet mignon outside of the Midwest
• Clos du Bois (2002) is still one of the better merlots I have had—see filet above
• People on expense per-diems tip the worst (source: pissed off bartender); reason: they drink too close to their limit to accommodate a good tip
• Local wine is usually about two steps below the better stuff…which seems counterintuitive…or maybe I haven’t been visiting the right places
• Even upscale bars have the game on, loudly
• 10:00 p.m. is not a good time to eat a full meal, but sure tastes good when one has to