"I love shit-to-do papers," Kevin Thompson said Friday. "Creative Loafing tells me what to do and where to go, and I go."
He wasn't the only one who had heeded the paper's advice. I couldn't move through Dunedin Brewery without blocking someone's view of The Sugar Oaks onstage or stumbling into a conversation.
Bar-side, Travis Kriger repeatedly offered to serve me free drinks while Shannon Butler asked if I wanted to take a picture of her jugs (and I thought I was the only one fond of juvenile double entendres). I felt like they had mistaken me for someone important, someone like a bar critic, but I suspect they treated all the patrons with such courtesy. It was harder than usual to say no to the free beer. This wasn't tin-can swill but hearty microbrews on tap: Beach Tale Brown Ale, Redhead Red, Apricot Wheat Ale, Raspberry Wheat Ale, Celtic Gold Ale and Piper's Pale Ale. These were the kind of drinks that listed their impressive alcohol content beside their price. The argument could be made, at least in my mind, that a few beers would enhance my work performance, given that my job entails finding something in common to discuss with drunk strangers. Then again, with a crowd as easygoing as the
Dunedin crowd, I didn't have to be too bold.
After she finished playing, I introduced myself to singer Katherine Kelly on the excuse that a friend suggested that Katherine was the female version of me.
"It's the eyes," Katherine said. "We both have tired eyes."
