Christmas Eve in Birmingham
Christmas Eve should have been called whiskey Eve this year . I know I’m running it back a few days as I’ve been too busy here but I’m gonna try playing catch up today if I can .
The day of Christmas Eve here started with my cousins meeting me at the Trocadero which is a pub down the road from where I’m staying . Steven and Paul were supposed to meet me at noon but I was hoping an earlier start as I have a few others to fill into the schedule for the day . When I called them at 9 they were already on the bus to arrive at 10 . That’s too early so I said I will meet them at 11 . When I arrived they were standing outside the pub awaiting my arrival . We had a couple pints then had to say good bye and hit the road to the Jewelry quarter to go hunting for some scotch with Reece Evans who is a friend of mine .
We met at the place called Hard To Find Whiskey and unfortunately they didn’t have the hard to find whiskey i was on the hunt for . I’m a Johnnie Walker collector so I’m looking for this Jane Walker bottle and if I could find a Johnnie Blonde that would be a nice add or anything from the explorers blend I might be missing but these bottles only end up in select airports . Super hard to find but this shop was class ! So many cool bottles I’ve never seen but totally out of my price range and nothing I was actually after . Need to save room in bag for that special bottle .
All this whiskey shopping is making us thirsty so we head over to a pub called The Button Factory which was really nice and had a good selection of drinks . Kathleen and Reece had never met but are getting along so I asked if he had plans and wanted to keep on with us for the evening and he was game . So after a few drinks we popped in my hotel then went to meet Ritchie at the Chinese restaurant for dinner . That restaurant was called The Pepper Chef and we feasted on chinese food . Had a couple beers then got a ride from Ritchie to his better halves pub she works at …. The parking lot where his car was had some great graffiti so we took photos !
Amy works at the Craft Inn Bearwood and they are closing early for holidays so we snuck in a few beers and a whiskey to boot . Ritchie and Reece were getting along having a few laughs and it’s a really good time seeing people I know all getting along together in the true spirit of Christmas .
When Amy and her coworker finally closed up the pub we wandered down the road to our last pub called The Midtown ? I think that’s what it was called ….
By this point the beers were really flowing and I’m not even sure if I paid my bill or what was happening but it was slowly closing in on I gotta get to my bed time . Everyone we had met out on our adventure were in high spirits and it was truly everything I had wanted in a night out on the town with friends I had not seen in too many years .
We had done a gift exchange and I was super happy to get a box of football cards that I wouldn’t be able to get back home . Probably will keep them boxed and I hope everyone we brought gifts for enjoyed theirs also . It’s tough bringing luggage and hockey gear with gifts unfortunately. Maybe I should invest in a big red sack like that jolly fellow on the sleigh .
Not sure if I slept at all in the Uber ride home to our hotel but I do know I had a great night out and tomorrow is a very chill day so I’m sleeping in …. If I can :)