Ann Arbor Wants YOU!

Though they both don the name 'Cafe', there is nothing at either 'Rick's American Cafe' or 'Touchdown Cafe' that has anything to do with food. They are labelled by Ann Arbor's 25+ age group as the Kid's bars, where college coeds go to swill cheap beer, dance to a decent hip-hop and top 40 set, and solidify their chance to get laid somewhere between the playing of Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer and Kenny Rodger's The Gambler. The locals often avoid these two places, aside from the occasional alumnus rehashing the past, or the unavoidable dirty old man looking to get just enough mental material to make himself feel young again. Astonishingly enough, I think I find myself falling somewhere in the middle of those two types of people, and yet I am far from what would be known as a frequenter of Rick's or Touchdown's... or perhaps I'm just in denial.

Somehow, some way, though we promise ourselves time and again that THIS will be the last time we go there, we inevitably find ourselves there again, usually after midnight, and almost always already drunk enough that we should have just gone straight home. This weekend, we made our way to BOTH Rick's and Touchdown's, a practice that is normally reserved for homecoming and/or football weekends. But we had just cause. Emmanuel and Rochelle, friends of times past, tied-the-knot on campus on Saturday, bringing with them friends from their Texas lives as well as their Michigan lives. By early Friday evening, we had all meshed into a giant group that clicked as if we had known each other forever.

The usual suspects were also on hand, people known better here on UMTailgate.com by their nicknames than their real names. Crazy, Trouble, Kissest, and Resmer made it out both evenings, and help capped off the weekend with a reflective barbeque on Sunday, reminicing of houseboat trips past and sharing stories from falling out teeth to run-ins with the Manchester police.

A solid weekend of old friends and new friends striving to realize that our inhibitions are alcohol soluble. We take our daily lives, add vodka and shake vigorously, creating scandal cocktails for everyone. Screw it...who wants a shot?

Congratulations to Manny and Rochelle, and thanks to everyone for coming out. Ann Arbor and I enjoyed having you...see you in the Windy with Lisa and Cindy. There should be 27 candles on my cake.