Keep It Moving

After the first true weekend of the new year got rained out last week, my hope was to be able to get out this week and kick off 2008 properly. With a night of different groups and locations, I got just that.

Gavroche’s 9pm ride to the city turned into 10pm, which was alright with me as I was finishing up the Warriors game. Once in the city, the club Gavroche and Justice were supposed to go to was packed, so they joined me at Topher’s in the Marina. Here, Gies, Boyle, Cam, his girlfriend (fight on fellow Trojan!) and JK were assembled. A few shots by their group and we were out the door, fighting over whether we were going to Bus Stop, Notté or some other place. We decide on Notté, even though Gies’s gf and her friends are leaving to go to another bar at the time we’re arriving. At this point, Gavroche and Justice have left to head to their SOMA party at 111 Minna.

Once inside Notté, I feel like a sardine that has been packed away in oil, only to wonder why I’m there, and not feeling too great about the prospect. It’s near impossible to get a drink (1 bar, severely understaffed with 2 bartenders), you can’t move anywhere except the back room, which is not near the bar, and the smug, self-righteous air of people who are better than you saturates the place. I last about ten minutes waiting for Gies to succeed at drink orders before I need to leave. I tell Topher I’m on my way out, and it makes me at ease and glad when he tells me, “I figured you would be.” (At ease because he gets where I’m coming from, glad because there’s no fight about staying...he understands my need to keep it moving.) I had never been to this bar before, and realize now that I haven’t missed much.

I’m out in the street in two minutes (much easier to leave a packed/crummy bar than it is to get in, people always figure there must be a reason it’s so crowded and want to go in, making the out route much simpler), and in a cab the minute my feet hit pavement. It’s off to see part of my new family, meeting E at the I. There, Sa (close to in name, but not to be confused with Za) and some others are pouring back the strong drinks mixed by Dagmar, and the mood is festive, if not a little rowdy. If ever there was a more perfect intermediary stop than meeting with E in North Beach between the Marina and the SOMA/Mission/Downtown jump, I have yet to find it. When I creep around the corner and stand a little down from 15 Romolo to hit the first j of the evening, police conveniently walk past the street. Luckily, Sa is smoking a cig, I see them in time to place it behind my back, but its existence is no secret as I hear one of the officers say, “Jesus that smells strong,” as they go past. They do not return.

In the next hour, I say my adieus to E and Sa, find a new cab and head to Swig. While the music and the crowd are certainly a step up from Notté, the claustrophobic element of the bar and dance floor fail to be an improvement. Here, I meet up with Brie, her girlfriend Montana and McButter. Drinking and dancing continue for about a half hour or so before it’s time for greener pastures and we start out for Bourbon and Branch to meet up with some other folks.

For a full description of Bourbon and Branch, see the Friday Finales post. We get there to have them tell us that last call has already happened and we can come in but can’t drink. I challenge that theory by getting McButter and myself up to the bar quick and ordering. We’re in luck. We pass the time here, finishing drinks, involving ourselves in inconsequential conversations and checking out the library books on the shelves that surround the bar. At around 2, the bartenders hear someone in the bathroom breaking glasses, roust him out of there and then move the party to the door. After four bars, three distinct groups of friends and numerous drinks later, I call it a night at McButter’s where she passes out and I watch Sportscenter until around 3:30 or so when Gavroche picks me up to return me home. A great start to the 2008 party season.

Saturday, after Nini’s, football and relaxation, I pass out in front of the Patriots game, wake up at 1030, and still manage to make an evening out of it at Gavroche’s parents’ place where Jarles, Hessica, Justice, Gavroche and myself drink and hang out until about 3. Welcome, 2008, feel free to make yourself at home! Also, if you'd like a taste of what 2008 is saving for you in the music section, take a look at Evolving Music and see if you're up for the task of beta tester!