Happy Birthday, Phil, Texas Style!

Last night was the surprise birthday party of my sister Terry's husband's brother Phil. His girlfriend Trish told him they were going to the birthday party of someone else and we all showed up at his favorite bar. Phil has lived in Kountze for a long time now and has developed a deep and abiding love for a little bar called Laverne's and I know why. Everyone cooked a bunch of food (chicken wings, sandwiches, red beans and rice, two cakes) and it was all delicious.


Here's our little group: Front row: Elda, Phil, Susan; Middle row: Terry, Christi, Trish, Laurie; Back row: Dan, Jimmy.

Notice my bottle of Tanqueray Sterling vodka on the table. Any bar that lets me bring my own bottle is a friend of mine.


Did I mention that Phil has a piglet? Someone shot the mother while hunting and distributed the piglets to interested parties. That's her up there in the little pink dress. The plan is to fatten her up and eat her, little pink dress notwithstanding. Any bar that lets livestock roam freely is a friend of mine.

Did I mention it was raining? It wasn't just raining, it was pouring. Sheets and sheets and sheets of rain on an unpaved and muddy parking lot. Any bar that doesn't mind that you're tracking mud in all over the place if a friend of mine.

Did I mention that the lights went out about twenty minutes after we got there? Phil went to WalMart and bought candles. One of the men pulled his pickup truck to the front door and shined his lights in so we could have a little light on the food tables. One of the guys stood his flashlight on the floor aimed at the disco ball for a more festive affect.

For weirdness, the song on the jukebox that was playing when the lights went out was Credence Clearwater Revival "Put a Candle in the Window." I swear I'm not making that up. When the music came back on, I SWEAR TO YOU, the second lyric we heard was "...as long as I can see the light." It was beyond surreal.


To add to the surreality of the night, the lights were out for about an hour and a half and, when they came back on, the television began televising news coverage of the execution of Saddam Hussein which occurred an hour or so later.


At about 10:30 p.m., Jimmy decided it would be a good idea to go to a club "...about five miles north of my house" which had live music but, because of Hardin County liquor laws closed at midnight. So, we drug our soggy asses outside, sloshed across the parking lot and headed toward Silsbee.

We got there at about 11:00 p.m. and exited the car in more driving rain in another unpaved parking lot. The band playing was Chris Johnson and Cheap Whiskey and they made me remembered why I used to listen to country music.

Oh, and the Neches Club also let me bring in my own bottle so they're my friend, too.



Soon, it was time to go, and, in more driving rain, Dan got us safely home.

I love a good adventure and this night was full of them. I do love Texas.

(More pictures here.)