Brewers vs Giants in San Francisco

After the game, we walked downtown and went to this very swanky and upscale bar. It was one of those places that served specialty drinks that have very European sounding names, like cosmopolitan. For appetizers they had crap like spring rolls and sushi. It's the kind of place my Uncle goes to because he can afford it. They served my beer in a champagne like glass (think Stella Artrois) and I was way out of place in my Brewers jersey. If they served High Life there, Wendell Middlebrooks would have taken it away for sure, and forevermore revoked their High Life privileges.

We took a taxi over past the Fisherman's Wharf area to go to a bar called The Buena Vista. From this area, you got a pretty nice look at San Francisco's most recognizable landmark  - the Golden Gate Bridge. It was dark and gloomy today, but so was I after the Brewers loss. The cloud cover didn't allow for much visibility, but the goldenrod orangish color of the steel helps the Golden Gate Bridge stand out among any background Mother Nature throws at it. I've previously walked about halfway across this majestic beauty, but in my 2nd trip to San Francisco, this would be the closest that I would get to this architectural wonder. But unless Aliens or Terrorists blow it up (I hope not, as I cross my fingers trying not to jinx it) I will for sure be able to see it again on my next trip out to this West Coast vacation spot.

We went over to a bar called Shanghai Kelly's, and judging from the name and the shamrock clover, this was a Chinese Irish bar. I thought it was weird combination, but I refrained from asking questions and happily chugged my beer. My Uncle Gary knew the guy who owned the joint, which is why we stopped by, but sadly his buddy was away on vacation. But that didn't stop us from drinking.

There's some history about The Buena Vista, and it claims that America's first Irish Coffee was made here in 1952. Now, I don't know how factual that claim is, but since they dedicated a plaque to that claim, I'm going to go ahead and believe it. Coming soon - a plaque stating that the World's Smartest and Best looking man has lived here since July 2009, to be posted outside of my bedroom door. It's a metal plaque - so it must be true! Why would they have taken the trouble to create and post it if it was all a lie?

Home

When I went to The Buena Vista's website, I found out that the bar owner once had the perfect Irish coffee at Shannon Airport in Ireland, and desperately tried to recreate it back home in the states. When they finally perfected the recipe, people like me could enjoy the S out of it some 50 odd years later. It really was damn good, and it was damn strong too! A couple coffees and I was good to go.

We spent a few hours talking + laughing, but in between the jokes, we had a great heart to heart conversation. It has been a long time since I have had a real conversation with my Uncle Gary, and we aired out a lot of our thoughts + feelings about things that have happened over the last few years. All in all it was a great night. We were talking with a guy who owned a nearby bar, and when he said that he graduated from UW-Madison, we instantly became buds. He wanted us to check out his bar, so we did. When we got there and they had PacMan + cans of Hamm's, I knew that this guy was for real. We stayed out until nearly 1:00 am, then took off for the long drive (roughly 1 hour) to San Jose, which was where my Aunt and Uncle were staying. When we got there, I talked with my Aunt Cari, but not for too long because it was after 2:00 AM. I was pretty tired, because so much had happened today, but nothing could prepare me for the craziness of tomorrow.