Give My Regards to Broadway.

I went in to work tonight to give a show of support to my night shift team and help them shut things down. But I've been up since about 5 a.m., which meant that I needed a little bit of caffeine and some beats to keep me rolling. I had a huge coffee, cranked up Wired 96 on my radio and headed to the restaurant.
But when I got there the boys had her all rolling beautifully, and were already well ahead of the game. I helped them with the little bit that was left, and went up to the bar to have an iced tea and visit for a bit.

A couple of the waitresses invited me out but I declined. Again, I like people, but I generally find extended socializing pretty draining. I decided I was a little too wired on caffeine and beats to go home however, and so I left the bar and headed to Broadway.

I've wanted to write this for a while, and I'm in a headspace right now where I'm not sure if I have written this already or whether I only thought about writing it, but I'm too lazy to check, so here it is regardless...or with regards I suppose.

One of my all time favorite places in all of the world to go is Bud's on Broadway. I love Blues, especially live blues, and Bud's has this beautiful layout that really appeals to paranoiacs like me. There are walls you can lean against so that no one can sneak up on you, and there are dark corners, and there are lots of other lone wolves that just want to groove on some sweet riffs without having to worry about looking like they have no friends (which my friends know is not the case with me).

Tonight however Bud's had some cheesy AC/DC tribute band playing, and that wasn't my scene, so I opted instead to walk up and down Broadway a bit.

Broadway is awesome at any time of year, but it's particularly appealing in the fall. It's a great sensory overload, especially if you're like me and really lose yourself in sensory overload.

On Broadway in the fall it's the smells that get you.

Walking past the 7-11 you're hit with the smell of greasy hot dogs and cylindrical hot-dog-esque delicacies like taquitos and cheeseburger big bites and the like. Away from the 7-11 there is this moment when the sweetness of the autumn leaves comes through, almost like a cross between fresh basil and oranges, and then as you approach the entrance to Bud's it's one mind altering substance after another announcing itself. Depending on the crowd it's either the harsh woody smoke of a few dozen cigarettes burning, or it's the sweet burning Earl Grey smell of dope, curling thick and syrupy through the cool night air.
Passing the doors it's all beer and rye and sometimes smoke machine fog, and then moments later you're passing Nino's getting nosefuls of pizza; fresh pizza dough and bubbling tomato sauce and oregano and garlic and cheese and it's all pouring out as bright and strong as the yellow light through the open kitchen window where the radio is blaring and the cooks are shouting and laughing.

Awww shoot. I'm getting tired now.
I was going to tell you all about the fresh baked bread smell coming off of Subway, the high priced bad coffee aroma from Starbuck's, the popcorn smell oozing like melted butter from the Broadway theater and yellowing the old marquee and the strong bitter burning aroma of good low priced (not cheap coffee, low priced...you cut your own hair, that's cheap) coffee roasting at the Roastery.
I was going to tell you how after you pass the Roastery and you're away from the exhaust of the traffic and the smells of the bars and the pizza places and cafes you can smell the season changing along the river trails; the sweet rot and the mud and the wet, and you can smell the riverbank with its icthy-ravinous earth-fish smell and you can feel the cool coming off of it and the lights seem somehow brighter now that the nights are getting darker and sounds are sharper now that the nights are cooler and you exhale in a deep whispering 'Haaaaah" checking whether or not you can see your breath yet because it's that time of year just about and it feels like you should be breathing out fog because your fingers are a little cold and your nose is starting to run. But I'm getting too tired to tell you about that stuff, so I think I'll just go to bed instead.
Maybe another time.