Monday, July 23, 2007

Hanging on Central Avenue

After leaving the District, we went to Sauce/Raw, a popular dance club. Sauce has a dance floor, bar, sofas in a lounge area, a projector showing eye-candy, and various art mediums on the wall. It reminded me of a much smaller and warmer Forum. A DJ spun club mixes of top 40 songs.

Inside Sauce, a line stretched from the doorway that led to Raw, the hip-hop club. (Imagine if the doorway leading from Forum to Pravda were closed.) I didn’t wait in line, but from what I could see while standing outside, Raw reminded me of Tilt. It looked long, with a bar and a patio.

After leaving Sauce, we walked across the street to the Distillery Downtown. Think Fox & Hound without the TVs. After leaving the Distillery, we bought water from a hot dog vendor and sat on a bench to people-watch. It was the highlight of our night.

I have never in my life seen so many women wearing shirts two thousand sizes too small and shoes one million sizes too big.

Then there was the guy wearing an oversized suit who looked like he was going to church not the club; two women -- who weren’t a couple -- wore matching denim overalls with one strap hanging down; a man wore a matching shorts and shirt outfit that made him look like a lemon-lime Starburst; a dude walked around with one arm out of his shirt (so not-cool); and a couple of women wore prom dresses for an outdoor concert. Why? Why? Why?

The clubs closed at 1:45 a.m., and I thought the police would rush people home, but they didn’t. Partiers milled about Central Avenue flirting and talking for about an hour. There was at least one fight and one towed car. At one point, an ambulance drove through. The driver politely tooted the horn to get people to move, and when that didn’t work, she said over the loudspeaker, “Move it or lose it.” Wow.

When we left about 2:15 a.m., the police on horses began clearing Central Avenue. The lady cop’s horse stopped to eat branches off a tree, and then several people came up to feed it more branches or pet it.

If we ever get mounted police here, I hope they’re that nice.

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