A few hours after leaving Atlanta Carnival, we (Janelle, Nevis, Paris, Nevis’s friend Jason, and I) piled into Nevis’ car and headed to Stone Mountain---Caribbean central of metro Atlanta---for a post-Carnival party at Club Intrigue, which was located in a mall of mostly Caribbean clubs, that included Club 426 (my party destination during my first night in town), Party Room, and Safari Room (an African club if you couldn’t tell from the name). Later, I would learn that Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain, like Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, is a major destination for Caribbean products and people in the Atlanta metro area. If you want to find Caribbean clubs, restaurants, or businesses in Atlanta, you will find all of them (ok maybe not all of them but definitely most of them) on Memorial Drive.
As we approached the club, we were met by a throng of cars heading towards the parking lot that served the clubs in the mall. It looked as if everyone in Atlanta was on Memorial Drive, trying to party at one of Stone Mountain’s Caribbean clubs. There were so many people, and cars, there that the parking lot was full. The parking attendants were directing cars to the nearby gas stations to park. I will tell you that before that night I had never seen people park at a gas station to go to a club. In fact, the only time I had seen people parking at gas stations for an event had been during game days at Fenway Park (Go Red Sox!!). Anyways, we parked at the gas station and walked over to the club. As you might have guessed already, there was a long line of people standing outside of the club. Luckily, Paris knew someone at the door so we went directly to the front of the line. After showing our ids and paying the $20 cover (yikes!), we all entered the club.
Inside, Club Intrigue consisted of two rooms: a large main room and a smaller room on the side near the entrance. We entered into the main room, where the DJ booth and the bar were located at opposite ends of the room. Immediately, we headed towards the bar to order drinks. Partygoers were lined up in groups along the bar, so we had to split up to find an empty space at the bar. It took me about a minute to find an empty space at the bar to stand and order my drink. Once I got a space at the bar, I had to wait what seemed like forever to get the attention of a bartender. With a drink in my hand, I turned away from the bar and scanned the room for my party crew. A few seconds later, I spotted Nevis and Jason standing a few feet away from the bar. I walked over to them and was soon followed by Paris and Jenelle. Standing in a semi-circle, we watched the crowd and sipped on our drinks.
The club was filled with people, from the bar to the dancefloor. The sounds of reggae, soca, and dancehall filled the club. People were whining down, jumping up, and backing it up. The vibe in the room was good---bacchanalian. After few minutes in the main room, Paris suggested that we move to the smaller room because it seemed to have more room for us to dance and socialize. We followed her to the smaller room where the party really started for us. We danced, laughed, talked, and had an overall great time. About 2 hours later, we were all partied out and ready to go home. It was a great end to Carnival day.
