I want that blue stuff...
For all of those who didn't read my last entry, let me start it off by saying that Mrytle Beach sucks something hardcore. Alright, now I can leave that behind and go into the only truly spontaneous and awesome time in the last 1.5 weeks. The night before Diego and I were supposed to fly out to S.Carolina, we decided to go out and explore the nightlife in the Mission District. I had hoped to get off work early that day, but like always that never happens. Whenever I wish for a quick day, I get stuck doing some project that is too stubborn to give me good results. Either that, or my bosses lay on some last-minute tasks for me to do, preventing me from running out the door at 4:30. As a result, I land smack-dab in the middle of Friday afternoon traffic on the 101 with the sun blasting me in the eyes the whole way over the San Mateo bridge. Which also reminds me, I need a new pair of sunglasses...the $7 ones I got in a pawn shop in Charleston aren't cutting it. They're these Elvis-style black aviators, but only half the lenses are dark enough to lessen the suns rays. I should've bought those brown blue-blockers at the Piggly Wiggly, dammit.
Diego ended up getting to my house at around 4:30, and ran into Alex on her way to the gym. She decided that she wanted to take him up to Twin Peaks (NOT a breast joke, you perv-o's)to take advantage of the awesomely bright and clear day. I'm sure Diego got a great cell phone camera pic of the view, and I was slightly jealous of his luck as I inched my way through the 5pm traffic. Philip showed up around 7:00, and we all started to make dinner-- Alex's famous stuffed Manicotti (also, NOT a sex joke...you guys are sick). Eric and Ellen came over a little later, and we played a couple of the new records I bought on West Portal and chilled out. Before that, Diego and I made a beer and mixer run at the 7-eleven on Ocean Ave., where I bought him a sixer of Fat Tire and some random sodas. We all got primed on some mixed drinks and a horrible round of margaritas (Eric was right, that mix DID taste like Bile). Around 9:30, we left the house and headed out to our first stop, Double Dutch. I had heard about this bar before, in an article in San Francisco magazine about cool bars around the city. It had a definite 80's hip-hop decor, with a DJ booth lined with old boomboxes and pictures of Run-DMC, Big Daddy Kane, and graffiti art all over the walls. My favorite part were these neon chandeliers. My least favorite part was the Men's bathroom, which smelled like three types of aged urine sprayed all over the walls. Upon telling Ellen were the bathroom was, I was sure to add "Dude, don't fall down in there." The music in there was pretty sweet, all old school jams that brought me back to 3rd grade. I'm sure if it was more packed, the floor would've been going off with people dancing. Alex, Diego and I had a round of SoCo limes and rum and cokes, then headed out the door to our next stop, The Elbo Room.
I had passed this place a couple of times while hoofing around the Mission, and was always curious about it. I thought it was mostly a music venue, but it turned out to have a Red-room lounge-y vibe...but without the cigarette smoke. Kris, Jen, Lauren, Bernardo, Roger, and Kisha met us there, where we quickly pounded shots of Petron and Jagermeister. During that time, Diego and I toasted our Long Islands and chilled out talked about friends and school. It was his first time out at the bars, at least to my knowledge, and I could already tell he was starting to loosen up and socialize more with my friends. It wasn't the alcohol talking, I just like to hang with friendly people. Plus, I didn't want my brother yakking on the SF streets, or on the plane tomorrow. Elbo Room is a place I definetely want to go back to, especially if there's a cool music act going down. Our last stop was this club called Blondie's, where we proceeded to "get it on tha Floor". Deegs was on the floor, too, trying to keep up with Alex and showing off his patented moves without falling over. It was hella funny, the DJ had a hype man in the form of an older looking black dude spinning around a towel and checking coats at the same time. On my way to the bathroom, I decided to take a shortcut across the stage to avoid the dance crowd. The way there was cool, but on the way back, I tripped over the first step and made the record skip HARD. I quickly ran off the stage and towards Roger, who greeted me with "It's all good, dogg, nobody saw, nobody saw". At one point at the bar, and asked Diego what he wanted. He pointed at a bottle of Blue Bombay Gin, and said "I want that blue stuff". Alright, son, a Gin&Tonic coming right up. Diego's face scrunched back after the first dry gulp, and he looked thourougly confused as to why his drink wasn't a blue color. I explained to him later that only the bottle was blue, not the alcohol inside. Rookie mistake. Alex was breaking backs on the dance floor, and I took a break outside to get some fresh air. Berns and Phil met me out there, and we B.S'ed for awhile until everyone else came out. No night would be complete without a Nation's run, which hit the damn spot (Mmmm, grilled cheese sam'mich). We got home at around 3am, tried to sleep for 2 hours, then were awakened by Phil who drove me and Deegs to the airport. I've never had a 6-hour hangover, but I'm sure the cramped plane ride didn't help.
All in all, a successful mission the The Mission. No vomit, no car crashes, no drama, just G.T's all around. A special thanks goes out to Diego's bag of Costco trail mix, that I raided for every single M&M.
Diego ended up getting to my house at around 4:30, and ran into Alex on her way to the gym. She decided that she wanted to take him up to Twin Peaks (NOT a breast joke, you perv-o's)to take advantage of the awesomely bright and clear day. I'm sure Diego got a great cell phone camera pic of the view, and I was slightly jealous of his luck as I inched my way through the 5pm traffic. Philip showed up around 7:00, and we all started to make dinner-- Alex's famous stuffed Manicotti (also, NOT a sex joke...you guys are sick). Eric and Ellen came over a little later, and we played a couple of the new records I bought on West Portal and chilled out. Before that, Diego and I made a beer and mixer run at the 7-eleven on Ocean Ave., where I bought him a sixer of Fat Tire and some random sodas. We all got primed on some mixed drinks and a horrible round of margaritas (Eric was right, that mix DID taste like Bile). Around 9:30, we left the house and headed out to our first stop, Double Dutch. I had heard about this bar before, in an article in San Francisco magazine about cool bars around the city. It had a definite 80's hip-hop decor, with a DJ booth lined with old boomboxes and pictures of Run-DMC, Big Daddy Kane, and graffiti art all over the walls. My favorite part were these neon chandeliers. My least favorite part was the Men's bathroom, which smelled like three types of aged urine sprayed all over the walls. Upon telling Ellen were the bathroom was, I was sure to add "Dude, don't fall down in there." The music in there was pretty sweet, all old school jams that brought me back to 3rd grade. I'm sure if it was more packed, the floor would've been going off with people dancing. Alex, Diego and I had a round of SoCo limes and rum and cokes, then headed out the door to our next stop, The Elbo Room.
I had passed this place a couple of times while hoofing around the Mission, and was always curious about it. I thought it was mostly a music venue, but it turned out to have a Red-room lounge-y vibe...but without the cigarette smoke. Kris, Jen, Lauren, Bernardo, Roger, and Kisha met us there, where we quickly pounded shots of Petron and Jagermeister. During that time, Diego and I toasted our Long Islands and chilled out talked about friends and school. It was his first time out at the bars, at least to my knowledge, and I could already tell he was starting to loosen up and socialize more with my friends. It wasn't the alcohol talking, I just like to hang with friendly people. Plus, I didn't want my brother yakking on the SF streets, or on the plane tomorrow. Elbo Room is a place I definetely want to go back to, especially if there's a cool music act going down. Our last stop was this club called Blondie's, where we proceeded to "get it on tha Floor". Deegs was on the floor, too, trying to keep up with Alex and showing off his patented moves without falling over. It was hella funny, the DJ had a hype man in the form of an older looking black dude spinning around a towel and checking coats at the same time. On my way to the bathroom, I decided to take a shortcut across the stage to avoid the dance crowd. The way there was cool, but on the way back, I tripped over the first step and made the record skip HARD. I quickly ran off the stage and towards Roger, who greeted me with "It's all good, dogg, nobody saw, nobody saw". At one point at the bar, and asked Diego what he wanted. He pointed at a bottle of Blue Bombay Gin, and said "I want that blue stuff". Alright, son, a Gin&Tonic coming right up. Diego's face scrunched back after the first dry gulp, and he looked thourougly confused as to why his drink wasn't a blue color. I explained to him later that only the bottle was blue, not the alcohol inside. Rookie mistake. Alex was breaking backs on the dance floor, and I took a break outside to get some fresh air. Berns and Phil met me out there, and we B.S'ed for awhile until everyone else came out. No night would be complete without a Nation's run, which hit the damn spot (Mmmm, grilled cheese sam'mich). We got home at around 3am, tried to sleep for 2 hours, then were awakened by Phil who drove me and Deegs to the airport. I've never had a 6-hour hangover, but I'm sure the cramped plane ride didn't help.
All in all, a successful mission the The Mission. No vomit, no car crashes, no drama, just G.T's all around. A special thanks goes out to Diego's bag of Costco trail mix, that I raided for every single M&M.