We had all but give up on Whitey’s. I had for some time considered to to be “my bar.” It is a wonderful place. Unlike many bar-n-grill types of places, it is spacious. They grill up the best burgers in town. Generally, I like the ambience.

Generally.

It was one Friday night in July. I was to meet Jay and Jessica there for the usual night of revelry. Usually, I look forward to cracking open that wooden door, stepping out of the heat and sitting down at the bar and having a nice, cold beer. On this early Friday evening, though, I stepped into hell.

They had this deejay there, and the air conditioning was broken. This deejay was playing songs and yelling trivia questions to the audience, which mostly consisted of overly-testosteronated, whooping military types. We sat in one of their booths just to be farther from the blaring speakers, and at one time told the guy that we were finding it hard to have a conversation, and could he turn it down just a bit?

Eventually, they turned the lights down and started moving the pool tables and putting up signs that read: “No Moshing Or Aggressive Behavior.” This, to us, was a sure sign that it was time to split. We did, and we swore that we’d never be back. (We ended up at Galaxy Hut.)

We weren’t, until last night. The plan was to go bar hopping in Clarendon. We’d start with some billiards at Whitey’s, in the early afternoon before the hell began. Well, it never did, or at least, not that I remember. So, we never left.

This morning I’m feeling a bit sluggish, but it’s good to know that the bar formerly known as “my bar” hasn’t entirely lost its mind.