{"id":3106,"date":"2014-05-19T10:51:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-19T18:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=3106"},"modified":"2014-05-19T10:51:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-19T18:51:00","slug":"closing-time-at-sea-05192014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=3106","title":{"rendered":"Closing Time – At Sea – [05\/19\/2014]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bartender\"We\u2019re drinkin\u2019 and we\u2019re dancin\u2019
\nBut there\u2019s nothin\u2019 really happenin\u2019
\nAnd the place is dead as heaven on a Saturday night<\/em><\/p>\n

A long time ago, back when I was a very different person, when I was only just taking the first steps into becoming the woman I am that so many of you know, there was a bar\u2026<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t much of a place, calling it a hole in the wall would probably be an understatement, it was a dive in the classiest sense of the word. But the music was just loud enough to realign your heartbeat when you needed it, and the bartenders knew your order before you asked. The shooter bar in the corner served everything from JD to custom mixed drinks that were made up on the spot and always ran the risk of tasting like too many more. The dance floor was big enough to actually dance, and the speakers were high enough to jump up on if there was no room on the floor \u2013 which ,back in the day \u2013 there often wasn\u2019t. It didn\u2019t matter if you didn\u2019t know anyone, it didn\u2019t matter what you wore or who you loved, nothing that happened in that tiny space was judged or held against\u2026.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re in the Moulin Rouge babe, dance your heart out, your next month\u2019s rent depends on it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lines were crossed, bridges were built, firsts came and lasts went. Lives changed. Friendships grew, friendships fractured. The Crew changed and ebbed but the core of us remained the same over the years. And which corner we were at sometimes shifted, but no matter where we were, no one ever contested our ownership of our table in the corner. I lost track of the number of times a round would appear in front of us without asking for it\u2026<\/p>\n

What are we toasting to?<\/em><\/p>\n

For our sins baby, for our sins\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Always to seal a deal or seal a fate\u2026<\/p>\n

There are shadows in my life I am not proud of \u2013 such is the case with everyone\u2019s life \u2013 but I don\u2019t like to think of who I might have become without that place to escape to. I don\u2019t like to think what might have happened if I hadn\u2019t had a place where the music was louder than the roar of the dragons. And somehow, even though it had been going steadily downhill for years since it was renovated, even though the most loyal of us could hear the death rattles underneath the thump of the speakers\u2026we never thought it would actually disappear\u2026<\/p>\n

But too many of us grew up, too many things changed, and last night when the last person walked out those nondescript doors and heard the thud of their locking at their back\u2026it was for the last time.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m one of those that has grown up, ships have changed me, life has changed me ,and for those of you who have at one point or another smirked and said that you wished you\u2019d known me back when black was my favourite colour \u2013 the truth is you probably don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

But for my part? I just wish I could have been there to say goodbye\u2026.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s to the Johnny Walker wisdom runnin\u2019 high\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re drinkin\u2019 and we\u2019re dancin\u2019 But there\u2019s nothin\u2019 really happenin\u2019 And the place is dead as heaven on a Saturday night A long time ago, back when I was a very different person, when I was only just taking the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,17,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-below-the-waterline","category-reflections-below-the-waterline","category-vacation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3GtNE-O6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3106"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3108,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3106\/revisions\/3108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}