Sam’s bachelor party went off without a hitch.

I met up with Sam, Alexis, Josh and Junko in Brooklyn, where we had breakfast at Bill’s Restaurant on Halsey Street – a greasy-spoon that fed all five of us for less than $20. After that, we all headed to Manhattan to check into the hotel that would be home to Sam, Josh and me. The Wolcott Hotel is a nice find: centrally-located and undergoing renovations, they supplied us with a great suite with three twin beds (brand new ones, I might add), two TVs, and two well-tuned air conditioners. The place is still rough around the edges (the elevators are old and creaky – not confidence inspiring), but it’s quite the bargain for midtown. Sam and I went shopping at J&R, where I picked up a new digital camera (a Canon S1-IS, which was not taken with us for the night’s festivities). Josh stayed behind to sleep, as he’d arrived early in the morning from his new home in San Jose, CA.

The whole shebang began with dinner at Peter Luger Steakhouse, which was wonderful (best steak I’ve ever had) – though we dropped $500 on food alone (with tip). In a word: ouch! And the cab ride to Luger’s was harrowing, to say the least – our cabbie topped 62 miles per hour on narrow streets in order to get us to the restaurant in time for our 3:45 reservation. At least we were all sober at the time….

The bars were good, and Sam had a great time. I stuck to my “best man” title: made sure that he didn’t hurt himself or get himself arrested. All seven of us kept Sam well “watered” – I managed to stay ahead of the game with stretegically-placed water/Gatorade breaks. The shoulder also held up well – I wore my sling for a good half of the night (good for one excellent gratis shoulder rub at Flashdancers – and that’s the total extent of my involvement with said portion of the night), and I managed to make it through without getting any major bumps or pulls on the gimpy wing.

We moved on to another bar, this one in Restaurant Row/Hell’s Kitchen. One thing I always love about NYC bars and restaurants is that they’re smoke-free. It’s wonderful to not feel like you’ve walked through a coal furnace just to get a drink. This bar was great because they had Magic Hat #9 on tap – such a treat! But it ended up being a little pricey for repeated drinks, and it was lacking a pool table – a requisite feature for the night.

The last bar of the night was a treat. The Ale House on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village is a fun little dive: a small basement space (possibly one of the former folk clubs from the days of Pete Seeger) featuring a pool table, a well-stocked jukebox and some of the best drink prices in Manhattan, the best part of this bar is the bartender. Jenny slings drinks with the best of ’em, she rocks out to the more rocking songs, and she knows how to keep all of the bar patrons happy. We ended up spending at least two hours at the Ale House, playing pick-up pool games with NYU students and locals, working on tag-team 1-up games of Galaga, sharing stories with folks at the bar, and singing along with all of the Stones songs as they blared from the speakers.

And while Sam did drink too much, he also had a wonderful time with good friends.