The Retrospective

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The Social Hustle

May 30th, 2008 by

 The Social Hustle

I expected to have a quiet work day at the house yesterday but found myself doing the “social hustle” around Hartford. It’s been cool being home and sizing up the “scene,” or lack thereof, in Hartford. Downtown has always had an identity crisis; attracting and alientanting various demographics and individuals from really partaking in anything hip or, for that matter, fun. Being away and seeing how major cities like San Francisco, LA, New York, and Boston get their party on has really made me look at Hartford with a critical eye. I’ve been spotted around town with my camera snapping away, taking notes and doing a little recon. This kid is back and the family and I have some aces up our sleeve.

Rick scooped me up from the house to head to Palace for the award ceremony for the Webster Theater being given by the Hartford Advocate. For those who remember, the Brickyard used to be there and is probably a gathering place for every jock within a 30 mile radius to come grind up, grope up and bro it up with every drunk college girl who thought they were from SoCal. But I digress, the ceremony was cool; lots of interesting and relatively stylish people floating around and the new venue looks great. They spent a pretty penny trying to give it a more grown up look but knowing downtown Hartford, the clientel there would be like kryptonite to me.

strangler rick

Stopped by Tisane’s to pow wow with Jason. Great venue with so much untapped potential- stay tuned to this place, it might receive a bit more retro love.

The Gang

Headed over to see big brother John Kennelly as Al and he celebrated the opening of their new Plan B restuarant in Glastonbury. A bit far out there but it has a great space and has an equally great vibe.

Plan B Glastonbury

John  and Jen

Did the Vegas BLVD round, this place is beyond a mystery to me. Thursday night attracts every sort of alternative looking kid you can imagine for some boozin, dancin’, and a mean slice of pizza.

Finally popped by Barcelona in West Hartford and I feel like it may be one of the most promising new spots I’ve seen so far. Had a few drinks here with Jason, Rick and John and met the staff (who are really cool). I hope to do some work with them in the future.

…And then I woke up on my couch and pretty much have enough info to start working on. Hopefully I’ll have some sweet projects to guage, so I’ll experiment with the nightlife in Hartford and see if it’s worth doing like… ever. Oh and if you live in Hartford who the hell lives in the new high rise apartments they built next to the civic center and what the hell do they do at night?

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  • 1 Racheal May 31, 2008 at 12:44 am

    Hartford looks fabulous from far away. It’s dead on the weekends. The only people that can afford those high rises are the elite upper class. But you are right about Barcelona it’s the only thing that saves the area, Arugula isn’t that bad either…
    All of the high school/fake i.d. college crowd has moved from Brickyard to the Elbow Room.
    I’ve been doing my own research.