Life In Morgantown: Born Day

On January 22nd, I celebrated my 12th birthday in Morgantown. On January 30th, E took me out on the town.

In the past, I used to have something called a Birthday Bash at Buck’s Corner Pub every year. It was really just a ruse so I’d have an excuse to headline my own show; all the drinks and time with friends was an added bonus. The Birthday Bash ran from 2009 to 2012, when I was so intoxicated that I passed out on Willey Street and almost ended up in jail and/or the hospital. I took it easy the next few years, choosing to remain home, but last year I ventured to the Apothecary for the first time.

I don’t remember anything after the Apothecary.

So while I was anxious to do something for my birthday, I didn’t want to go all out like in years past. As I mentioned last week, there was a bit of snow that put the brakes on doing anything remotely fun the weekend of my birthday. E suggested that we get together the following weekend and after some morning errands with the family, I was dropped off at his doorstep.

After he finished his studio session with his band Quie (please check them out. Now. This column will be here when you get back), we headed downtown to JW Thirsty’s, a restaurant he claimed had the best wings in Morgantown. I had my doubts as I’ve always been loyal to local favorites like The Sports Page and Kegler’s, but I wasn’t going to turn down a chance to see for myself.

We sat at the bar and soon E had these delicious Jolly Rancher-flavored-magical-unicorn mixed drinks being put in front of us with alarming regularity. He ordered wings with bucket sauce and parmesan garlic, as well as an order of brew fries. I say this with full confidence that these may have been the most perfect wings I’ve ever had in my life. While I enjoyed their 341 Burger a few months back through OrderUp… if you like wings, go to JW Thirsty’s in person and get you some wings. I could go on but there’s more to this outing than the eating and drinking.

When the dessert menu didn’t measure up to our liking, we ventured to Walnut Street with full intentions of going to the Blue Moose for caffeine and the aforementioned desserts. I was rambling on about something when E made a beeline for the new location of Vintage Videos and Games. I had shopped at the old High Street store since I moved to Morgantown but this would be my first visit to the new digs.

So while Vintage did have the advertised videos and games on display, they had something neither of us expected: vinyl. We settled into crate digging and immediately started finding winners. While I didn’t buy anything, E was able to find several records that he wanted to use for sampling purposes. Vintage even had a record player set up so you could listen to the records and that helped E buy a record or two he normally would’ve left alone. When we were done, we talked with two employees about possibly setting up a future video shoot for I Love Morgantown WV. It’s always cool to find new things in a place you’ve been in a million times.

We ended the evening at the Blue Moose as we planned. We both had our caffeine, E had cake, and I had a chocolate chip muffin. The sun had set by now and since the day had gone so well, it felt natural for us to keep the fun going until the wee hours of the morning. Instead, E paid the bill and we made our way back to the Chestnut Street garage where we had parked several hours earlier. I had to get home to bathe my daughter and put her to bed; E wanted to make an attempt to watch the Cavs game before he fell asleep for the night.

While it didn’t have the grandeur of blacking out from too much alcohol, I can definitely say it was one of the best birthday celebrations I ever had.

Pro Tip: Listen to Quie and go get those wings as soon as humanly possible.

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