Yelp invited its users to attend a ball in NYC's Midtown neighborhood last night to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama as president. Although we couldn't make it, freelance food and business writer Lisa Lacy did and she provided us with a first-hand account which you'll find below.
"Well, we shouldn't get there too much past 8:00. We don't want to get stuck in a big ol' line."
These were the words of my friend as we made our way to Country last night for Yelp's Inaugural Ball.
But,
alas, before we dared venture into Country, my friend felt her work
clothes were not cocktaily enough and so we made a pit stop to get her
something dressier…and by the time we made it to Madison and 29th,
there was one heck of a line. We despaired. We tried to be even more
high-maintenance by contacting people we thought might be inside and
who could whisk us in like we were minor celebs. But in the end we had
to just suck it up in the cold like everyone else. And even though the
line looked foreboding upon our arrival, it really wasn't that bad in
the end.
We
were also afraid it would be wall-to-wall people – Mashable redux, if
you will – but once we got past the coat check line, we were relieved
to see the space was quite generous. But that's not to say folks
weren't stomping all over each other to get free vodka drinks (I know I
should have ordered the Barack Obama, but I'm kind of a wimp when it
comes to hard liquor and so the Bill Clinton seemed more
palatable…although, then again, I was being crushed by a herd of
partygoers when my crowd-averse friend tossed the menu at me and asked
despairingly, "What do you want?" so the decision was made quickly).
However,
we soon found that once you got away from the traffic jams upstairs and
down, there were some interesting rooms to explore: I heard rumors
there was a champagne room, but sadly I never encountered it (perhaps
for the best); there was also a room with cigars and a guy in a hat.
And for those who ventured further into the labyrinth, there were
manicures to be had…and even *further*, a room that smelled like sweat
but apparently had great beer.
After
exploring downstairs, my friend and I took the elevator back up rather
than fighting our way to the stairs…there, a spirited DJ called out
lots of patriotic things like, "Yay, America!" and a burlesque dancer
strutted her red, white and blue stuff. We asked ourselves if we needed
another free vodka drink…but since it was so close to 10 anyway, we
decided to cut a rug instead and called it a night.
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