Happy Birthday Colleen!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE!  Colleen said she always dreamed of having a birthday on the beach.  Thursday, February 3, 2011 could not have been a more picturesque tropical day.  I picked Colleen up from school with a surprise picnic packed for the beach.  We headed to Wing Beach (one of Saipan's prettiest and most secluded) for a little wine and cheese and presents and sunset. 

After sunset, the unknowing Colleen and I headed over to Cafe Urashima, Saipan's only "foodie" restaurant that we've been anxious to try.  It was perfect...small and eclectic with great food.  To continue with the birthday surprises, I had Elizabeth walk in after dinner with a cake to sing Happy Birthday for dessert.  The cake was awesome, yet in true Saipan form, they spelled Colleen's name "Coleen" and gave us the trick candles that never blow out.  

Elizabeth is a sweetheart and such a great friend.  She waited down the road with the cake
as I repeatedly texted her to delay her entrance when dinner ran late. 

Colleen's done with the trick candles.

Part 2 of Colleen's Birthday Extravaganza: A Chicken Bus Beach Road Bar Crawl.  Of course!  There's a company in Saipan called Big Boyz who operate these infamous Chicken Buses, along with parasailing boats and a car painting shop.  Why not.  Anyway, there are many hilarious dive bars along Beach Road that we've always talked about checking out, so what better way to celebrate Colleen's 29th than hitting up these dives in a Chicken Bus?  Cock-a-Doodle-Beer!

The crew starts to assemble.

The plan was to board the bus at the very north end of Beach Road, head all the way to the south end, and then work our way back north.  There were 8 dive bars I scoped out and added to the list.  I attempted to call and forewarn all 8 that we were coming in beforehand, but (as extra reassurance that these bars were in fact divey enough) only 3 of the 8 bars had phone numbers listed, only 1 of those 3 was a working number, and the lady who answered at that 1 bar told us not to come because 25 people at once was too much.  We showed up anyway.  

Bar 1:  A karaoke joint called Boss.

To keep the bar crawl traditional, we added the "do dumb stuff" game by filling plastic eggs with dumb/funny things that people had to do throughout the night: wearing snorkel gear or fins, singing a duet with the bartender, buying Colleen a Lunchbox shot (Wally's of Waupaca shout out...), wearing a Hawaiian moo-moo, wearing oven mitts, etc.  Good clean fun.

Bar 1:  Boss

Bar 2:  Manic Inn

The February birthdays Adam, Elizabeth, Joey and Colleen cheers a Lunchbox.

Bar 3:  The Flame Tree Lounge...THE diviest bar of the night.

Rachelle had to bartend at Bar 4: Utopia

Bar 5: The Islander Club

Bar 6:  Charlie's

The evening started out a little rocky (the first bar we planned to go to was closed and the Chicken Bus temporarily died after Bar 2...it restarted just as we all piled out to push-start it), but once the Chicken Bus was rolling all bets were off!  So much fun in fact that we only made it to 6 of the originally planned 8 bars, which just gives us another reason to plan a sequel.  Happy Birthday once again to my amazing wife.  Cock-a-Doodle-Beer!