Nights at The Castle

Most of my friends here know that I am not really much of a nightclub or dancing person. If I'm going to go out, I'd much rather go to a dirty bar with dim lighting and a band playing on the stage. Camera in one hand, sometimes a drink in the other, and just rocking out. However, ever since I've met Juan, it seems that my main Floridian hangout is a strange place called The Castle. I've had many memorable experiences at this place over the last few years, and on this trip, I spent more time there than I had in all my previous Florida trips.

The first night we ended up at The Castle on this trip was Tuesday, for what had to be the coolest Castle night I've ever been to. It was a trip-hop/lounge/cocktail night. Gregg invited us out for this one. It was a weird event that you needed to know the password to get into (sidenote: we also had to put our names on a mailing list, and I now know the password for next week's event!). Also, on this night, they had 2 for 1 martini's, so Amy and I enjoyed some delicious Cosmo's. At around 1am (clubs stay open way later there - until almost 3), Juan ended up joining us, and Gregg left. We also met Juan & Gregg's friend, who took some pretty sweet shots:

Two nights later, after The Hold Steady show, we ended up back at The Castle. That night, we ran into Juan's friend Andy (who I had actually met there on a previous trip as well), and he bought us some drink that involved Red Bull (one of my "bad girl" drinks, that I usually avoid), that had me dancing all night! Me. Dancing. Yup, that's why I don't drink Red Bull. There is photographic evidence:

The next day, Gregg and I ended up back at the Castle yet again! We started the evening at this really cool place called The Orpheum. At one point, they played a medley of MGMT songs, so I was definitely digging that. That night, we also met Gregg's friend Harold, who was both hilarious and probably insane, and had me laughing all night long. After the boys got tired of Orpheum, we went over to The Castle. However, the Castle on Friday night is like nothing I've ever been to. It was goth night at The Castle... and I was dressed in a very frilly/girlie skirt & top with heels. Definitely did not fit in on this particular night! Yet, it still turned out to be a great night all around!

Oh, and just in case I haven't properly described what this place is like... here's an excerpt from article I found while googling for the club's url:

In the dark of night, the masked man soars across the Howard Frankland Bridge, his cape streaming behind his Batcycle.

"Batman!" people yell when he enters the Castle nightclub in Ybor City. He gives a fist-bump to the near-naked Senator, an Ybor veteran often seen in lingerie. He catches up with Peter Pan. And he poses for pictures with drunken women while showing off his retractable wings.

(On my multiple trips, I have met all of the aforementioned characters!)

Good times!