Night Moves. I don't write much about Peekskill's vibrant nightlife because I'm not really a part of it. I don't drink, so I rarely frequent the bars, and my severe tinnitus (from years of frying my hearing playing in Broadway musicals) keeps me from enjoying loud music and thus mostly out of the clubs. (Even with earplugs, my ears can ring for days afterwards.) There are Peekskill artists I barely know because they only leave their lairs at night.
However, on Friday afternoon, when my neighbor Annie told me that The Quiet Man was having country music and line dancing at 10pm, I knew we had to go. I've always wanted to do line dancing! The Quiet Man is literally 10 steps from our front door. How could we not go? We did our best to dress country (Annie much more successfully than me) and headed over.
It's always a little bit of a shock for me to walk into one of Peekskill's boisterous bars and realize that all these people are partying nightly, in multiple locations, within a stone's throw of my loft. The bar at The Quiet Man was crowded, with a continuous stream of new people coming in. I ordered a ginger ale as we waited for the DJ to set up. Soon Alexis and her friend joined us. The bar was jumping - we had to yell to converse.
Finally - line dancing! I can't remember the name of the woman who taught us the moves, but soon we were stomping and shimmying to "Sweet Home Alabama." It was huge fun, even with some of us forgetting the steps, going the wrong direction and smashing into each other. We finished, breathless and laughing.
I had four shows the next day so I couldn't stay late; I was home by 11pm. (My friends stayed and partied hardy.)
It was a total blast. Maybe I need to get out more...
