The Daytime, of the Night

Not three days after deciding more adventures were needed, Alyssa rose to the challenge and gave me an insiders view of nightlife in SF.  Jaymi came into town for a brief vacation from her challenging life as a ski resort rental shop supervisor, and we spent a few days eating popsicles, tanning in the backyard, and making whiskey sours.

After one particularly fun/late/wine filled evening I awoke feeling, as the lay people say, "like absolute shit."  Jaymi was also feeling a bit sick (from a cold however) so we spent the day watching quiet TV and drank a lot of water.  She convinced me somehow that a trip on BART was just what I needed (it was not, it was the worst 20 minutes of my life this year minus getting fired while standing in a petsmart) and we made it to the other side of the Bay without me emptying my stomach contents on any nearby passengers.

A slow walk to Bush Street later, we met up with Alyssa at Akiko's, my favorite sushi place up here.  2 hours later I was actually feeling better and the two of them were feeling like drinks.  So we tried Tunneltop, a bar on top of a tunnel.  Truly a mystery how they came up with the name I know.  But it smelled of pee and was cash only, so we were unprepared and left.  Next, some walking around led us to ATM's and Union Square.  Remebering a place nearby, Alyssa led us to The Gold Dust Lounge.

Easily the most kitsch bar I have ever entered, The GDL is like the bastard child of a steampunk saloon, Scarlet O'Hara's drapery dress, and art from the Renaissance covered in glitter.  It's pretty fantastic and awful all at the same time, a lot like the $3 margaritas they sell (according to Alyssa, I was obviously not in the mood for drinking.)

Post GDL we took to the streets, a cupcake here, a jaunt up corded off stairways there.  Finding artwork and nice views wherever we turned.  We snuck onto the back section of the Ferry building and watched as the barges passed by in what seemed like stealth mode.  Everything was so black except the bridge and for once it seemed almost peaceful in the city.

By 11 though, it was time for Alyssa to get home and Jaymi and I to take a much less awful BART ride back to our side of the Bay.