I must say that I was expecting a slow motion weekend, but it turned out to be one of the best non-holiday kicking-it experiences I’ve had in a while. I’m going to give some of the credit to how it kicked off. Friday afternoon I stopped by Shift 58’s The Social weekly happy hour at Lola and felt like I was smack dab in the middle of an all-black adaptation of “Cheers”. Everybody knew everybody else, and those who didn’t introduced themselves and joined in the casual conversation and soaked up the drink and appetizer specials. And while I have a feeling Lola’s Creole crab cakes will make a difference when the time comes to zip the back of my 25th anniversary commemorative Salute to Excellence in Education gown, the entire evening was totally worth it! The social goes on from 5-8 p.m. every Friday.