Downcity Date Night: Fail

Last Friday night, T and I had planned to have an official date night before I took off for the weekend. We made pizza at home to cut the cost of a sit-down dinner at a restaurant. The plan was to do a little Christmas shopping on Westminster Street, stroll the area enjoying the light displays, and possibly grab a drink or dessert. Well, we didn't leave the house until 8:00 so our chances at a parking space within five blocks of Westminster were pretty much shot . We did eventually find a spot but realized as we locked up the car that it was probably going to start pouring at any second.

Eddie loves pizza crust.

 Not to be deterred, we marched onward towards Westminster and approached one of the first shops we saw...closed. Everything was closed. It was super disappointing but also a lesson in checking store hours. Our spirits and coats dampened, T suggested we just grab a drink somewhere. Easy enough, right? Wrong. I wasn't interested in a drink at one of the pizza places towards the end of the street because I wanted to sit in an actual bar, in retrospect I was definitely being a brat. The next place we tried, Tazza was a cafe and a bar and while the seating looked comfortable enough and the crowd was around our age, the music was entirely too loud for easy conversation. The sign at the front of the restaurant requested that we "see the host" but we waited....and waited....and saw no host. So we left. Perhaps another time, Tazza.

T on Westminster St.

The rain really started to come down now but we kept walking, hoping to encounter a cozy hole in the wall. Eventually we did have to turn around as we found ourselves heading farther and farther from the car. At this point T suggested we just go up to Harry's which we love but have also gone to about six times since we moved here. I insisted that we go somewhere that we hadn't been yet, for fear of getting stuck in a routine. We stumbled upon Ale House Cigar Bar on Pine St. but we don't smoke cigars and T wasn't interested. Now soaking wet and very much in need of a drink T spotted The Congress Tavern in the distance. Sanctuary!

Congress Tavern: Gastro Pub

While I was thankful for a warm, dry, dark, bar with sparkling shelves of pretty bottles and tens of taps lined up on the counter, I was more thankful for the double IPA that was shortly in front of me and T was just as excited about his #9 from Magic Hat in Vermont. Not to be a downer all night long, but the service was a little unprofessional. There weren't too many people in the bar and the bartender serving us was also serving some of her friends down the counter. While that's cool that your friends can come see you at work, its not cool that they were a hot mess and that the service suffered as a result of the attention being paid elsewhere. I don't think we'll be back but we appreciate the refuge Congress gave us from the rain that night. Our next attempt at a Downcity date night will be better.