If it weren’t for baseball, drinking could probably be America’s favorite pastime. It most certainly is in Germany, at least during Oktoberfest, when beer flows as strong as the River Danube.
The beer industry is a thing unto itself in San Diego, where more than 100 breweries exist in the county alone.
Heading down to the city during the weekend of Oct. 1 and 2, it was never our intention to spend most of our time at drinking establishments, but that’s how it turned out.
Of course, San Diego has much more to offer than booze, such as enjoying views from the Sunset Cliffs, exploring La Jolla Caves, watching a Padres game, eating a carne asada burrito, or sunbathing at one of its many beaches—all of which we did, minus the baseball game and the beach.
After arriving by train by noon on Saturday, Oct. 1, the first thing we did was grab a bite at a downtown Mexican restaurant, where I was served a most exquisite burrito smothered in red sauce.
We—all five of us family and friends—then proceeded to tour the rest of the city, with me acting as the tour guide. Our first stop was La Jolla Cove, where we searched for a parking spot for at least 30 minutes. The cliffs here are amazing, and I can see why swimmers would want to leap off of them into the water. I could also see why doing that is illegal, not to mention highly dangerous.
It was getting dark, so we headed to Sunset Cliffs and soaked in even more scenery before the sun dipped into the horizon.
What to do next? It was time for a beer—many of them. We couldn’t waste time deciding, so we settled on Stone Brewing Company’s Liberty Station brewery, which was located on a former Navy base in Point Loma.
Stone is one of California’s biggest breweries, and its beers are found worldwide. The brewery even has a location in Berlin.
Several beers later, we made our way back to the hotel located in the Gaslamp District. It was a Saturday night and people were crowded onto the streets.
We continued our imbibing expedition to Prohibition Lounge, a speakeasy-style joint that’s in the basement of a nondescript building on Fifth Street. The front entrance is disguised as the door of a law office of Eddie O’Hare, Esq. Unless you know where to look, good luck trying to find the place.
We simply couldn’t walk in. A bouncer guarded the door and told us the place was at capacity. He gave us the option of not paying the $10 cover charge by waiting in the upstairs bar and putting our names on a list.
Given its name, the bar plays on the whole Prohibition-era theme with hipster-looking bartenders in handlebar mustaches who whip up craft cocktails from a set menu. There’s no bottom-shelf liquor in this place.
It’s also very dark, save for a few dim orange lights behind the bar, and this makes it almost impossible to take a picture. After a few Old Fashioneds, I downed a double of Jameson Black Barrel whiskey and called it a night.
Funny enough, the next morning I wasn’t hung over. Even if I was, it wouldn’t have stopped me from enjoying several raspberry mimosas at a brunch joint by the name of Werewolf on Fourth Avenue the next morning. With an iconic photograph of notorious Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson pointing a long-barreled handgun on the façade of the restaurant, it’s hard for a person such as myself not to oblige the picture.
Once finished, we hopped a train back to San Luis Obispo, and I slept the entire way back.
Sun reporter David Minsky is not an alcoholic. Reach him at dminsky@santamariasun.com.
Correction: In the original version of this article, Stone Brewing Company’s Germany location was erroneously reported to be Munich; it’s located in Berlin.
This article appears in Oct 13-20, 2016.
