Phil's

For the past two nights in a row I have found myself doing the exact same thing, and it is a thing that is totally out of the ordinary for me. On both Tuesday and Wednesday I went to Phillip's Continental Lounge at Grove and Libbie. I had never been there in my whole life. In fact, I worked less than a block away for over six months and yet I never even knew the place existed. And not only did I go to Phil's (I don't know if people really call it that, but I imagine they do) two nights in a row, but both nights I watched my only episodes of American Idol this whole season. The only episodes in my whole life, actually. How bizarre is that?

Phil's is a diner-type restaurant and bar in the near West End that has been there since the 30s. It's full of old black and white pictures of Richmond. The first night Justin and I walked in and there were some guys sitting at the bar staring at us who looked like small town regulars. Finally they stopped staring and let us know we could pick any table we liked and a waitress would get us some dinner. It was eight o'clock, so the TVs were both tuned into American Idol, and they even turned up the volume so the whole place could listen in. A small crowd of middle aged and gray-haired folks crowded around the bar to watch. I was a little astounded at the whole situation.

Tonight I ended up going there after potluck with Jennifer. Again, American Idol was turned up, though one of the workers had to keep turning the volume even louder to compete with the radio still playing in the background (when I googled the Lounge I found this: "More Reasons to Go: There is background music while you dine.") There wasn't quite as much of a crowd tonight, but I imagine it's because everyone was joining the millions of other Americans sitting in their living rooms and biting their nails over who would be their new Idol.