It's always a draining experience entertaining houseguests for a weekend.
This task becomes exponentially harder, however, when those same guests view a weekend in Austin through the eyes of their first adults-only vacation away from their son, who is nearly two years old. And while my mind can certainly wrap itself around blowing off steam, it's the body which can only be pushed so far before it rebels.
Ignoring the physiological ramifications, this past weekend was an utter success. The weather was perfect. Traffic was still manageable ahead of the South by Southwest madness. Nobody got hurt.
Unfortunately, the ramifications of an all-day drinking session followed by an all-night concert can no longer be easily shaken off. When you couple the latter with losing an hour of sleep due to Daylight Savings Time, you create a recipe for physical disaster that I am still paying for as I sit in my office and drink coffee this morning.
Things began to turn sideways almost immediately after work on Friday. I slipped out early to meet my wife and our friends at a wine bar downtown around 4 p.m. This was only a brief stop-over before we navigated our way to an Irish pub a few blocks over where we set up shop for several hours. 
Many rounds of Guinness were ordered and consumed as my brother and other people stopped by. At some point we decided it would be far cheaper to retire to the loft, so we split into factions with very specific tasks:
1) Get a ton of barbecue - brisket, sausage, potato salad, turkey, ribs, beans, bread and sauce
2) Get red wine to match the barbecue
3) Get cases of Shiner Bock
4) Chill 2 bottles of champagne
Luckily, everyone could be trusted and everyone kept their end of the bargain. So, we ended up running through pounds of barbecue and mixing some brutal drinking combinations to accompany the food. It started with red wine, progressed to champagne and ended up with Shiner Bock over the course of the next six hours and only ended when the last drop of alcohol that remained was a lonely Spaten bottle that had been sitting in the back of my refrigerator for nearly a year. 
Ugly.
I am no longer equipped for all-day drinking bouts. By midnight, simply walking up and down my stairs was a journey which required extreme preparation and I knew that mistakes had been made. The next day was nearly unbearable as the sun shined brightly, and I felt like a poisonous bullfrog had died in my mouth sometime during the night.
After consuming two breakfast tacos and a vat of Cuban coffee, we decided the only reasonable thing to do was to sweat some of the toxins out during a 5-mile walk around the lake. This masochistic activity nearly beat me and I only considered hurling myself into the lake ten or twelve times during the trek. 
Everybody made the course, however, and after taking them for a celebratory lunch of chicken fried steak and cream gravy, we went back to loft and napped for several hours.
Then, it was time to get ready for The Scabs concert at Antone's, a semi-famous Austin club near Sixth Street. I still felt like hell, but rallied as we spent the next five hours standing, dancing and drinking at the show. When the set ended at 2 a.m., we realized it was actually 3 a.m. due to the time shift, a piece of knowledge that depressed everyone in my car and seemed monumentally unfair. 
I haven't abused myself like that for a long time, and it seemed like utter bullshit that the universe would chose to punish me so suddenly by stealing away another hour. It was instant karma.
Nobody got to bed until after 4 a.m. due to the consumption of the remaining barbecue, and I spent yesterday changing clocks and cursing myself - more specifically my body - for betraying me when I needed it the most.
"I've given you years off of doing this kind of thing, and this is how you repay me?" was my mantra, a sentiment which fell on deaf ears.
Now, it's Monday morning and pouring rain in Austin. My head feels swollen and the clock in my car remains an hour behind the times.
I desperately need a weekend to recover from my weekend.
-BDS
I've had a few weekends like that myself. Well, as you said, "Nobody got hurt."
Sounds like it was fun but I empathize with the price. As I get older, I just can't handle alcohol like I used to do. Have some ice cream today, that always made my hangovers go away for about a minute. But it was desperately needed relief.
Heff - Exactly. I think that's the best thing going when these things happen. Most of us have been there, and survival is at the top of my list of success criteria.
Getoffmylawn - That's something I actually haven't tried, but will. Hell, I'd try anything to help because as you noted, the body stops being able to get rid of alcohol as you get older. This is one of the best reasons I can think of to curtail because I loathe feeling like roadkill.
Sounds like an awesome weekend! I'd be exhausted too though. Sleep well over the next few days and you'll be back to yourself before you know it.
It feels like I'm always moving my clock ahead an hour, and very rarely moving it back an hour. Somebody's messing with us...
15 years ago I would have considered that a right rollicking weekend but I found myself cringing all the way through this post at the memory of such weekends.
I wholeheartedly sympathise with you my friend. The demon drink can bring a body to its knees once we have seen past our younger years.
Dude, you need a weekend from your weekend. Impressive, however. BUT, it sucks when you realize that the body AND life no longer permit those "Lost Weekends" of our youth... drinking by the pool at 10:00 a.m. while.... oh, sorry, I forgot where I was.
Happy Monday - go drink some water.
Yikes!! I can't believe you all went for a walk after a night of debauchery!!
And then drank the next night at the bar.....you must love to torture yourself.
I would have slept in and left them a detailed map of where to take a walk....with a DO NOT WAKE me note.
Grace - It was sporadically awesome, and sporadically painful. Ha. I finally feel half-way decent today, but doubt that I will be 100% until Wednesday. I feel you on the clock thing - those bastards.
Gypsy - Agreed. I cringed when I wrote it. It's sometimes worth the stories and memories (if any remain) of days/nights like these, however, it is not easy to make it through them at the time. As you noted, the demon drink will make you pay in spades once you cross a certain threshold - for me it was past 21 and things were all downhill.
Anonymous Boxer - Yep. Those all-day sessions floating on a raft by the pool or lake would usually lead to crazed antics and lost weekends. Ha. They can be fun, but they were a lot less painful in my late teens/early 20s. Happy Monday and I've been mainlining water since yesterday - it's just now starting to help.
Miss Ash - I know. I didn't mention that before the walk, we hiked up to Mt. Bonnell for the views. Ugly. There is a masochistic thing going on here, but my problem is almost Pavlovian too - I cannot be at a concert without having a few drinks. It's instictive. Ha.
I'm sure it was the walk that nearly killed you.
Oh and I see the tourquoise tablecloth has reappeared haha!!
Sounds like a delightfully painful weekend. I posted once that I could no longer keep up with the Drunken Viking, were the opportunity to arise. I can't imagine a weekend where the Drunken Viking is done in. Amazing to think we did this kind of thing to our bodies on a regular basis, isn't it?
I feel your pain BDS. Every weekend.
Nobich - No doubt. Ha. I know I felt like a dead man walking. Ouch. Terrible pun.
Miss Ash - Dammit. Look - it was the same day as the other pics you made fun of. They weren't mine (neither was the loft at the time), and I'm not posting anymore old pics from here on out. Happy?
Bostonpobble - I know. The body is an amazing thing, and it can adapt to almost anything - especially when you're 18 or 21. After that, however, it becomes horribly wrecked if you try to treat it the same way. Ha. And don't sell yourself short, you could probably keep up for the day/night with the Viking - it's the next day that's hell. Trust me.
Upset Waitress - No wonder you're so Upset. Ha. I would be pissed at the world as I felt like mowing people down in the streets by Sunday. I would have if I could have left the couch.
I have a hangover just reading this! Sounds like a blast, been there, done that .... paid the price. The almighty equalizer is sleep, hope you get some soon. Good times!
I am one of thso0e parents who wants to make the most of time away from the kiddos so i know how your guests felt. It did sound like a great time! you seem like awesome hosts. And yes, as we age, the bounce back factor is simply not there. I applaud you for doing the 5 mile hike the next day. My guess is give it a month and another viking post will be made. You are still young....and no kids. Kids add about 7 years to your actual age. Just kidding....(kind of)
Linda - That's good as I was trying to capture the spirit of the weekend. Ha. You are 100% accurate on the sleep thing as that's what really messes you up. My sleep was terrible, and now it's just catching back up to a normal speed. It's the only real cure.
Vivavavoom - I understand too (or as much as I can w/out kids), and it was a good time in the moment. I love that term, "the bounce factor," as that sounds perfect for the phenomenon and I'm going to file it away for later use. That being said, I'm a little scared of this 7-year thing.
I know you probably hate the South by Southwest festival, but I'm definitely going to try to make it out there for it someday. It seems to get bigger every year, so I may have missed out on some of the best ones already.
I spent most of yesterday slowly dozing off in meetings because of a busy weekend. Good times!
Cxx
oh, crap. i gotta change the clock in the car. there is one more thing that sucks since it requires me pulling out the manuel and reading completely obtuse directions.
(and i can only say, by the title of your post, great minds think alike.)
Native Minnow - I'm actually fine w/ SXSW in general (though I've never been myself). I like the entire idea, I just loathe the traffic and not being able to get a burrito on S. Congress during the week without an hour-long wait. Ha. You should definitely check it out sometime as I plan to one day, although it can get pretty damn expensive.
Claire - I can relate completely. Luckily, everybody seemed off because of the time change, so my lethargy went unnoticed. Ha. Lucky for us all I suppose. Then again, a power nap does make the meeting go faster.
Cats - Agreed. I saw your title, and knew that I concurred without hesitation. Ha. And yes, my car clock is in the same state as yours (for the same reasons). I might just leave it until the time changes back.