Notes on a Weekend

Friday night we attended a classical choral concert, drank wine in the basement of a Back Bay church, and rediscovered the joy of Uno's — or, more specifically, their draft beer special.

You see, a couple of years ago, fed up with the $5-and-up beer policy of Back Bay establishments, we started frequenting Uno's on Friday nights — where they had $2 Killian's drafts (22 oz. at that) and a half-price appetizer menu. The appetizers grew old real quickly (think lots of fried cheese), but there was something special about spending an entire night drinking downtown, and finally receiving the bill.... for $12.

Word got out and a bunch of us started going to Uno's nearly every week for months, without shame. Eventually, $2 turned into $2.50, Killian's turned into Michelob, and that was that. But it was quite a run; I have to give that damned chain restaurant its props. It's not a half bad bar!

And so in desperation on Friday night, seeking respite for a dozen thirsty people, we turned to Uno's. And what do you know? It saved the day. They've dropped Michelob in favor of Rolling Rock and that's not a bad thing (though to be fair to the Mick, I have been enjoying their new somewhat craftier beers, e.g. Porter, Dunkel Weisse, Amber Bock, etc.), and while the price is now up to $2.79 it sure beats a $14 martini at Vox Populi.

Other points of interest:

• On Saturday night, coming home from a friend's house, we got stopped in a massive state police "sobriety checkpoint." What? Crazy. There were at least 15 troopers and a logjam of cars. We got through just fine, but old instincts die hard... nothing freaks me out like a state trooper at the window. 

• I can't believe how much I disliked Pineapple Express. I mean, I'm a big fan of Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, the whole gang. The previews looked great. It should have been a layup, right? Gave it 1 star on Netflix. 

• We walked for miles around our neighborhood on Sunday and discovered a kickin' park down the street — with an amphitheater! And a pavilion style picnic area with a BBQ pit, gorgeous baseball fields, view of the ocean... the whole works. I was out of my mind delighted about it. Gina kept joking with me not to get so excited that I throw up. (I didn't.)