Nine Fine Irishmen

Hey all hows it been going? For today I thought I would share a story with you. I'm fairly certain I've told you all before that I love to write stories and things like that. Well I wrote a memoir for my English class about a year or so ago and I thought I would share it with you. It's about one fun night in Vegas on my 21st Birthday. Be sure to let me know what you think of the story and my writing.

TNT
Words by Ali

Nine Fine Irishmen


A birthday is something you should always remember. Not forget it three or four years down the road. My last birthday was certainly one I’ll never forget. Not just because it was my twenty-first and I spent it in Las Vegas, or because we saw the most amazing performance of Phantom at the Opera at the Venetian hotel.

Although, those moments were pretty unforgettable on their own. It was the Friday night at our hotel, New York New York, that I’ll remember most of all. Earlier that day as we went through the casino I had seen an Irish pub, Nine Fine Irishmen.

When we got back to the hotel after dinner my mom and I decided to check out the pub. There was a short line to get in at the door, so we waited. When we finally got up to the door the guy looked at me and asked, “Can I see your I.D.?”

I already had it out so I just handed it over to him. He looked at my licenses then at me. He looked at it again then giving it back he said as he stamped my hand, “Well happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” I replied as I put my licenses back in my wallet and moved into the pub.

The place was packed, almost from wall to wall people. After it seemed like I’d just gone through a maze we made it to the bar. Of course I had no idea what to order. My mom suggested that I get a Tequila Sunrise, so I did.

My mom ordered her drink as well as mine. As the lady behind the bar was pouring her white wine she kept looking over at me. She slid the wine to my mom and as she was getting the things to make my drink she turned to my mom. Tilting her head towards me she asked, “She already got her I.D. checked right?”

My mom laughed, “Yeah, she’s twenty-one today.”

The bartender poured the tequila into the shot glass, dumped it into the glass and she just kept on pouring the tequila. At least ¾ of the glass was filled already. There ended up being hardly any orange juice in it at all.

As my mom was paying for the drinks I noticed a band getting ready to play on a stage at the back of the bar. Don’t ask me what the name of the band was, because I already forget. There were four of them and they were Irish. I could tell they were for two reasons: 1.) the name of the band. I don’t remember what it was but I do remember that it was something Irish. 2.) They had Irish accents. Those are kind of hard to miss.

I took a sip of my drink and the second I did it was like I took a bite out of a lemon. Only ten times worse. My mom laughed at me, but I could tell she felt bad. She took the glass from me and drank some of it so she could get more orange juice put in it.

“Oh, wow, that’s strong,” she said as she drank some of it down.

As the band started playing the two of us made our way up to the stage. When we got there everyone was having a great time dancing and drinking. Six guys in particular. They were partying harder then everyone else there. Later my mom would find out that they were Marines and were shipping out the very next day.

The band began playing their next song and that’s when I first noticed her, a little Asian lady. She was about four feet tall, maybe a bit taller, and looked like she was in her 50’s. She was wearing a short teal skirt and the exact same colored jacket. She was also wearing black fishnet stockings and black knee high boots that laced up the sides. To top it off she had green glitter all around her eyes. She was dressed for Saint Patrick’s Day and it was December.

The outfit wasn’t the only thing that caught everyone’s attention. During every song she was dancing, but not just dancing. The whole time she was dancing an Irish jig. She was certainly a highlight to what was already turning out to be an unforgettable birthday, and it was only the first night.

The band kept on playing and after every song it seemed as if one of the Marines was buying the band a round of drinks. The band seemed fine with the drinks at first. That is until they got to the fourth or fifth round. All the boys in the band were starting to look a little nervous.

They finished the song and the lead singer looked wide eyed down at the drinks. He sighed and said to the crowd, “Well I think you need to slow down on these drinks. We’ve only just started our first set. We’ll already be drunk by the time we start our second.”

That didn’t slow anyone down though. They still bought them down though. They still bought them drinks, and every time the lead singer saw the drinks set in front of them on the stage he’d roll his eyes.

I continued to enjoy the authentic Irish rock band as my mom went to get herself another drink. More then five minutes went by and she wasn’t back yet. It turned out that she was talking to the wife of the Marine who was in charge of the group. That’s how we found out that they were Marines. It’s also how thy found out that it was my twenty first birthday.

First one of them decided he wanted to dance with me. Another one decided he needed to buy me a drink. After the drink I still hadn’t finished though nothing sounded that appealing.

When we left the bar the night was far from over. Although, I think the story of playing blackjack with four men who’d been playing, and drinking, since ten in the morning is a story for another day.