So Robnoxious and I found ourselves in San Diego this past weekend. We were there for our day jobs of course, but that didn't stop us from trying to squeeze in a little fun at night.
Rob seems to have a perpetual woodie for micro-brew pubs. So between his GPS he brought, the map of brew pubs that resembled a pirate's treasure map, and our rental car (some kind of Chevy P.O.S. I think) we were on a quest to find locally brewed beer on what most people would consider nights to stay home (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday).
We actually did find a few good places. Watching the Chargers give their fans hope Sunday night at the Rock Bottom Brewery in La Jolla was kind of fun, because the atmosphere was pretty wild for a while. Then of course reality set in as the home team lost. The honey porter beers were great and to the wacky ladies we ended up talking to at the end of night - hope you got home alright, because you were getting pretty sloppy by the time we left ...
We hit the San Diego Brew Pub the next night. It was "80's Night" and I won a shirt for correctly guessing the song playing when the contest was yelled out from the bar. "Ladies Night" by Kool and the Gang - come on, that's a piece of cake. Or maybe I'm just old?
After failing to find a few places open on Rob's magical map, we ended up at Gringo's in Pacific Beach for some of the finest tequila I have had in a while (El Tesoro Paradiso was worth every penny). Then we spied this place across the street, that just said "Tuesday Night is Game Night!". Intrigued, we wandered across and entered. The place screamed "Fun" (yes, with a capital "F") as soon as we walked in. People were playing pool, checkers, connect four, old school Nintendo Techmo Bowl, and the bartender was playing chess vs. several people at once while serving drinks. We were immediately asked if we wanted to join the Beer Pong tournament that was going on. Having never played before (Rob had), of course we said yes.
We quickly dispatched our first opponents, a lovely couple who explained a lot of the rules to us. Beer Pong is a great game, make no mistake. Our strategy hinged around mostly me drinking all of the penalty cups and trying to leave Rob somewhat sober. I managed to beat the bartender in chess after that game, but I think it was largely due to him playing two games at once. He seemed to be a solid chess player good and a pretty smart guy in general. I never did mention I was captain of the chess team in high school (yes geek alert!). The bartender also had a super iPod playlist going with an excellent music selection.
Our next opponents were two young ladies who seemed to know everyone there. They were very nice and we had some fun smack talking going. They kept reminding us that this was "their place, so it was their rules". Ok, I get it, you're regulars here - you come here all the time. We had a really good time chatting while playing. We managed to win again.
It was getting late, and it was thinning out. All of the staff is now talking to these girls on and off. So as it turns out, they DO own the place. They are working together as recent college grads and small business owners. Who needs an MBA when you can get real life experience right?
So if you're ever in town, make sure to stop by the 710 Beach Club. It was a lot of fun in the winter, so I can only imagine how rocking it gets in the summer. It was easily the best place we visited while we were there ...
