Lazy days in Barton

Sam and I have been taking it pretty easy in Barton the last few days.
As Sam has recovered from a nasty bug she picked up recently, we've been sleeping in and experiencing the nightlife in Barton.
With Sam in bed early Friday night, I went out with Sandra and Vern's youngest son Ian to a handful of pubs in Barton.
Going out on the town in England isn't much different than going out in the United States.
Since it was Friday night, many of the pubs had DJs with dance music playing, mostly by American artists. In fact, if you glanced into a pub on Friday night in Barton you could have mistaken the pub for any number of bars in the U.S.
There are some differences though.
For one, when you order a beer in England, it will, of course, come in a 20-ounce pint glass. You can't go wrong with the size of the drink that you get in England, especially if you're a fast drinker like me.
With a 20 ounce glass, there's enough beer to steadily enjoy yourself but not too much that the beer is warm by the time you get to the bottom.
The second noticable difference on a Friday night out in England is the dress, or lack thereof, of the local girls.
I'm not sure the word skimpy is in the English vocabulary.
Granted, not all the girls out on the town last Friday were wearing next to nothing. But a vast majority left little to the imagination.
Ian and I stayed out pretty late Friday and we really enjoyed ourselves. We met up with some of his friends, who were more than happy to have a conversation with an American.
The English are a very friendly people that try to make you feel right at home.
I never had my doubts, but it's always nice to feel welcome.
With Sam feeling better on Saturday, she joined me, Ian and his girlfriend Beth, Ian's brother Kirk and his fiancee Tracy and their family friend Luke for a couple of pints after dinner at a local pub, the Wheatsheaf.
The scene that night was much more laid back.
As we found out, Friday night is the big "going out" night in Barton while Saturday is a much more subdued "couples night." That was fine with me as I was still feeling the after effects of a late Friday night.
Sam got to catch up with Ian and Kirk, who she's known since childhood, while I discussed the differences between English and American colleges.
For instance, graduates of English universities don't have to start paying back their student loans until they make a certain amount of money. In the United States, of course, students typically have to start paying off their student loans six months after graduation whether they're employed or not.
Since I'm looking at three years' worth of loans to pay for law school, I'm a little envious of the British way of dealing with student loans.
The highlight on Sunday was going out to dinner at one of the local Indian restaurants. Sam and I both love Indian food and are quite jealous that Barton, a town of about 9,300 people, has three sit-down Indian restaurants and two take-out only places.
You have to drive to Kansas City from St. Joseph to get to the nearest Indian restaurant.
We'd be pretty spoiled if we lived in Barton.