Train Cocktail Hour
Going out to dinner, particularly with friends, is a wonderful human experience. But when we think of this outing, we think of plinking forks and passing plates and catching up. We’re dreaming about the “out.” Out is exciting, serendipitous. Where-to next? Anything can happen – we’re out.
“Going,” however, conjures a dreaded fight through traffic, or crowded subway ride, or a walk that your date said is “super easy” but leaves you sweating through your thrifted Hall & Oates tee.
What if we could imbue the going with a bit of fun in its own right? Beyond “I-Spy” or “slug bug” – let’s create something that’s equal in the experience, something exciting and enjoyable to help pass the time while we’re en route to out.
Imagine: it’s the L train Bushwick, or the Lyft ride to the Arts District. You slide into a seat, your friends across from you or squeezed beside you in the back seat of a Corolla because you didn’t want to splurge for the XL. You’re all on the way to try a new Thai place, or the Senegalese fusion spot that got rave reviews. But you’ve mapped the route -- 45 minutes away. And the driver is listening to AM talk radio hosted by someone named The Fuzz.
How – pray tell – can we survive the jostle of the train car or The Fuzz’s best attempts at indoctrination?
Try out The Hydration Hider’s Happy Hour.
Inside your portable water jug (a Nalgene or a Hydro Flask perhaps) awaits a potent potion, the water long replaced by gin, vermouth, and olives. You dirty dog, you made a martini. One of your friends mixed a margarita in hers. These surreptitious sips, expertly disguised in overpriced REI bottles, begin to grease the wheels of the evening.
The three of you ramble along, now taking confident, swigs. The pace and volume of conversation increases, the laughs come easier, images of Pad See Ew or blackened fish with jollof rice appearing in bubbles above your heads. Your chauffeur this evening might be Robert from the MTA. He has a steady hand, for he’s piloted this route a dozen times today. The plastic seats soften beneath you, and the world takes on a rosy hue as you clatter towards your stop.
In this moment, you’ve accomplished a righteous act of experience. You made the going a worthy companion to the out. You forgot about the destination enough to relax and enjoy the journey. You were present in the here, the now.
Feeling suitably enlightened, you arrive at your stop and leap onto the platform or unfold from the backseat of Steven’s Corolla. As you walk to the restaurant, empty Hydro Flask in hand, cool breeze on your skin, friends recounting arguments made by The Fuzz, you feel a pang. You actually miss the ride.
Bring your next pre-dinner happy hour to the train, the cab, the walk, or the guided llama ride. It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey, man. Simple to execute, both in theory and execution.
Simply take a metal water bottle and portion out a drink or two. Keep it cold, avoid bubbles (messes with the seal), and rinse when you get home. You’re welcome to venture through some trial-and-error, or you can heed the lumps we’ve taken. A few cocktails lend better to this process than others.
Stogna Bologna’s got all his favorite travel proof sippers, and with the help of Faccia Brutto’s amaros and apertivi, the list goes on and on…