Demon Rum

Another tale from Hermosa Beach…(as well as I can remember it and mostly reconstructed from tweets, FB updates and pictures).

We spent Saturday morning/early afternoon walking around Venice Beach and looking for a place to have a beer. That was harder than I expected it to be. We finally found a German place a little before 11 and ordered beers while waiting for them to start serving off their lunch menu. I had an Anchor Steam then switched to Hefe. Pretty much everything on their breakfast menu was egg related and eggs and I do not get along.

First beer of the day.

We had a nice lunch, more beers and Dawnie made friends with some local types who ride their bikes up and down the beaches every day. We actually sat outside after we ate because it was nearly warm enough to do so. No sun, though.

Just before we decided to leave, a couple asked if they could sit at our table. They were from Switzerland and I told them that's where my Dad's family is from and I told them my last name. The woman told me about a famous singing act in the 1950s called The Pfister Sisters. Apparently, they were a big deal in the remote homeland. If you ever heard me sing, you'd know that I'm not related.

We called a cab and headed back to Hermosa Beach where, oddly enough, we decided to do some pub crawling.

Go Steelers!

Our first stop was Shark's Cove. It's a Pennsylvania bar with the emphasis on Pittsburgh. Lots of Steelers and Penguin stuff up. Our drink of choice was Miller Lite. As it was early afternoon still, the place wasn't crowded so the bartender had plenty of time to BS with us. Nice guy who told us a story about going into the Patriot's place, Fact Face Fenners Fishshack and not getting served because he was wearing a Yankee's baseball camp. While I thought that was rude, I couldn't help but think it was justified. The Yankees are ick.

Mojito, anyone?

Next stop was Sharkeez. Our drink of choice was the Mojito and they were quite yummy. It was a fun place and we were entertained by watching a table full of "young" folk play quarters.

It was soon on to Patrick Molloy's for a pitcher of beer (pretty sure it was Miller Lite) and some bar food. We had wings and Spinach Artichoke Dip. I think that counted as dinner. Once again, we had some entertainment from the other patrons. They were playing some sort of dice throwing game on the floor next to us. I think distance mattered more than the numbers? I'm sure if we had stayed, we would have gotten involved because that's just how we are.

But, we left and went to The Lighthouse Café. This is where the night went downhill and fast.

They all looked tasty.

We decided to order some of the house specialty drinks. I ordered the Miles Davis. I think Dawnie ordered the A-Train and it looked like a normal drink. Mine was not normal. It was a full carafe of rum and fruit juice. Being the trooper that I am, I finished it and also drank a glass of water with it. Lewie taught me that drinking water while you're drinking leads to less drunkenness and less of a hangover. Unfortunately, Lewie wasn't with me so I only had one glass of water. I don't think it helped much.

I'm supposed to drink all of this!?!?

We actually had another round there. I had a Miller Lite that cost me $5.50. WTF? Really? It chaps my hide when one beer costs more than a six pack at the store. Dawnie had a Bloody Mary with a beer back.

Scary Bob, the band.

They had a great band playing there. They did a lot of old, fun music and their bass player was a chick. An old chick, too, and she rocked. It made me think about playing my bass again. That thought didn't make it home with me, though.

Looks like a dive but felt like home.

Our next stop was The Mermaid. The Mermaid became my second most favorite local bar (after The Horse in Ogden) within a short period of time. Dark interior with lots of cool knick knacks, one crabby bartender (who did warm up to us) and one adorable bartender (both were over 60 years old, btw) and a bunch of laid back people.

It was surprisingly easy to tell time on this clock.

For some reason, I decided to continue with rum so I had rum and diets there. And, who knows what else because it became a very fuzzy evening. That was clearly evidenced by the degradation in spelling and grammar usage in my texting.

Poop Deck?

I think the The Poop Deck was our last stop. I'm going to guess it was back to Miller Lite. We chatted with the bartender a bit and Dawnie wanted to buy her brother a tee shirt but they were $35. The dude wouldn't budge on the price.

By this time, I was a goner so we cabbed it back to the hotel. Dawnie had Round Table pizza delivered and I stayed awake to eat a couple of slices before passing out.

Some day, I will learn to pace myself, stick to just beer and avoid the demon rum. Clearly, that day is no where near.