WB in town

WB and I at Louise's West on Friday night.

Great to see my college roommate and my best man at my wedding, Will Baxter, back in Lawrence for a few days.

WB lives in Bangkok, so I'm lucky if I get to see him once a year.

I was flattered that this year, he booked two days in Eudora to hang out with me. Considering his other U.S. stops were to see his brother in Chicago and his mother and oldest brother in Austin, I thought that was pretty cool that he made time before flying back over to stop here for a bit, and just hang with me and see my family.

***

We started off the journey with a trip to Funky Monkey in Eudora. Sadly, FM is going out of business. How can I tell? Well, the first sign is pretty common: cash only. The other signs are more rare: all the booths had been sold off, leaving only tables and chairs... all the taps were empty, leaving only bottled beer... all the TVs were off, meaning cable has been cancelled... and 100% of the staff were either no-shows or new hires, meaning the regular staff had already seen the writing on the wall.

Too bad. We enjoyed the place, though it didn't last very long.

From FM to Rick's, where Willy and I only had a few beers, but managed to play all the bar sports. In a controversial ending, Will tried to declare overall victory, despite the last game of shuffleboard ending before all the pucks could be thrown. On to Red Lyon, where we played darts (WB beat me fair and square there.) On to home, where we played Texas Hold 'Em and drank tequila into the wee hours of the night. And yes, I did take all of WB's baht (Thai cash) that night. It's probably worth $5, total.

***

Friday morning we ventured on to the golf course (Eagle Bend), at 9:30 a.m., despite my inability to concentrate, speak or walk from all the tequila the night before. Ande Parks met us out for golf. We walked 18, walking a total of 6.5 miles, according to Ande's iPhone app.

Golf was awesome -- a great day, weather-wise, to be on the course. And a good cure for a hangover. Also, I hit some really nice shots. The game is coming together.

From there, lunch at 23rd Street, then a much-needed nap.

WB, Arnett, Jones... at Rick's.

On to Rick's, to meet Arnett. Then we went to Rick's actual house, to see how he was recovering from his brain surgery (progressing nicely, it seems.) Then Louise's West (pictured) for $2 schooners and for old time's sake.

From there, Johnny's, where both Copy Jesus (Eric B.) and Ted (Ted) stopped by to say hello. A few other friends were missing, apparently the victims of "the dog house," whatever that is. Beers and pizza there before heading BACK to West and Rick's, telling some old stories, the bullshit meter reaching peak bullshit, and then closing it down.

Left the bars in fine enough shape to get back to Eudora, Kan., where I then took WB down in another game of Hold 'Em, earning me another 2,000 baht (approximately $3). Then, sleepy time.

***

WB and I watched the kids in the morning so Adro could garden on what turned out to be a SPECTACULAR weather weekend. Then Boyd and I took WB back to el aeropuerto.

BJ fell asleep pretty fast into the car ride. He was a little dismayed that Will was gone when he awoke, especially after declaring that Will was his "best friend" that morning. (Boyd has many best friends, it seems. Or, maybe, his 2-year-old brain doesn't quite grasp the concept yet.)

All in all, a fun weekend with WB. I look forward to his next visit. And I thank Adro for

WB and I at Red Lyon. My T-shirt, btw, is a  LeBron James/CLE shirt.

understanding that the guy literally flew around the globe... might as well take him out for a few cold ones!