A Night to Remember

My friend A.J and I decided to spend New Years Eve in Santa Barbara, located about one hour away from home. I was very excited to go out because it's been a while since I've gone out to party. We left Santa Maria (home) about 3:00 PM so we can have a good parking spot, and some time to walk around, get something to eat, etc. Anyway, after parking the car, both of us failed to remember the street name. This turned out to be a big mistake. First we ate in a Peruvian restaurant. I had Aji de Gallina, and A.J had Bistek a la Milanesa. Then we decided to go to Sharkeez to get some drinks, and it looked like a good place to spend the night, and so we did. I danced and drank moderate some White Russia, and some Rom and Coke, my favorite drink. At 2:00 Am people began to leave the place because Sharkeez was closing for the night. It was then that we realized we had no idea where the car was parked. But it wasn't a big deal; after all, we've had a good evening and a little walk to find the car was no problem. The night was a little bit cold, but it didn’t matter to us. We started walking and laughing to all the good times we had at Sharkeez that night. After walking for about one hour, we realized that we are walking in circle, but we have not yet found the car. Also, after one hour of walking, we discovered that our shoes were not really made for long distance walking. We couldn’t split up to look for the car because A.J left his cell phone in the car. I said to myself: I have lost the car, I don’t want to lost my wing man as well. But after almost three hours of walking, we decided to split up but only one block away from each other, so we don’t get separated. In order not to lose the other, we decided to stop on each interception and scream our names from one block to the other telling each other that it was ok to continue walking one more block. The temperature was getting colder; we were getting tired of walking and running out of options, but we still have not found the car. Then I noticed that there was one small street we have missed because it was hidden between two major streets. Once we start walking on the street, everything became familiar, and finally, after three hours and a half, we found my car parked just were we left it. First thing first, I run to it, open the door and took my shoes off. We laid there just resting for about one hour before driving one hour back home. We arrived in Santa Maria about 6:30 in the morning, tired and exhausted, not from partying all night, but from walking. On those three hours we probably walked about 15 miles in a two mile radius looking for my car. All of this happened because we did not memorize the street name. But like I said:I always learn my lessons in life, and this will never happen to me again. But I guess all was part of receiving the New Year right? I mean, some people probably drank until they couldn’t drink anymore, others danced until they couldn’t dance anymore. I just walked until I couldn’t walk anymore. Definitely, it was a night to remember.