Illadelph Halflife

As a lifelong fan of the Eagles, Sixers, Phillies, and Flyers, with no affiliation to the city of Philadelphia other than my love of its sports teams, I was long overdue for a trip up 95 to the City of Brotherly Love. So when my boy Kevin gave me the heads up a few weeks ago that he wanted to celebrate his 28th birthday in Philly, I was all over it. For two weeks I had been mentally prepared for a nice, decadent time, and I was not disappointed.

So after week # 2 of my tenure at the NASD concluded on June 2nd, I made my way up to Arch Street to meet up with Liam and Kevin who were already there. First up was dinner at Cuba Libre a Cuban restaurant/lounge in an area that is vaguely reminiscent of Adams Morgan. Kevin's friend Didier manages up there and he was able to hook us up with some pretty sweet comps on our bill, which also led to an intriguing debate on how much to tip when you get a discount on your bill. Liam and I were of the opinion that you take the amount that you would have tipped if the bill had been full price and add another 10 or 15% to that total. That way the server is happy because he gets more than he would have ordinarily, and we save ourselves some money as well. Kevin, a veteran of the service industry, felt that the tip + the reduced bill amount should equal the total that we would have paid with no hookup (i.e. our bill should have been $140 and we would have left a $30 tip to equal $170. However the bill was reduced to $80, but Kevin thought we should give a $90 tip to pay a total of $170). I don't think that makes much sense because A) It was Kevin's birthday, and B) what good does it do us to still pay the same amount? Just a thought. Regardless, the Blue Fin Tuna was great, as were the Mojitos and the overall ambiance. I highly recommend Cuba Libre if you're in Philly.

After CL, we had a typical night of debauchery. Didier joined us afterwards and led us to the Suede Lounge and another club above a sandwich joint that I can't remember the name of which was pretty tight. Finally we ended up at Blue Martini where our table reservation awaited us. A decent place overall, although I would never go there without a table and bottle service - its way too crowded to linger in the common area. The music was 95% hip-hop, sort of like Modern on M Street I guess. Some highlights included the inebriated girl who helped herself to a shot of our Grey Goose, the 3 girls from Houston who came with us to 125 afterwards, and the "Billionaire" who paid for our bottle for some unknown reason. 125 was a good spot, mostly house music and cute girls. Late night someone decided that our potato chips would look better on the floor which made for a nice decoration and I somehow managed to get grease on my favorite Guess shirt. All in all a good time, although I guess I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that for the 2nd time in 3 weeks I ralphed on the side of the road on the drive back. Good times indeed, but never again will I take a shot of Grand Marnier...ever.

Top 5 Things to Look Forward to this Week:

5. Capote coming to me on Netflix

4. NBA Finals start Thursday

3. Sasha & James Lavelle @ Fur on Saturday night

2. Premier of Entourage this Sunday

1. World Cup kicks off on Friday