LIGHTING UP THE PATIO

Music on the patio, 7/30/20. Photo by our own Jeff Hodgeman.

Thursday night in Lower Village. It’s a warm summer evening on the patio. Rob Bellamy and Mike Pierce field request after request for classic cover tunes. A happy lot of locals and tourists, including a visitor from Michigan whose generous addition to the tip jar later will later convince the band to play an extra set. 

Rob and Mike’s dialed-up version of an earlier request draws an excited fan to her feet, saluting the boys with a virtual lighter on her iPhone. Others follow suit, some finding that Zippo discontinued their popular app. (Curious as to why? Read this.)

The Mixologists, Old Vines whiffleball team, celebrating their [pre-COVID] “win” at the 2019 Tommy McNamara Charitable Foundation fundraiser.

Our team is in their groove, too, savoring short blasts of air conditioning as they channel a steady stream of small plates, wine, and cocktails out to the patio. Two water glasses fall from a server’s tray and shatter on the flagstones, adding just a bit more rhythm to the moment.

We watch from inside, as friends smiling behind masks (we assume they were smiling) stop by to say hello and offer up an elbow bump. Face masks, arrows on the floor, and a bar without bar stools .. it all seems so strange. 

Yet Thursday night, for the first time all summer, things felt ... normal … and totally worth the time and energy it took to get here.