The party continues

I know everyone was just dying to see this photo of Damon Wayans long lost cousin, so I figured I'd share. Truthfully, I'm thinking this is Reggie (the insult comic) from The Nutty Professor. If you haven't seen the film, it's worth the $2 at Blockbuster.

So now that we have that mild banter out of the way, let's get back to the Nick Kerzman story. We survived the first night at Ruby Skye, the farting homeless dude, Reggie with the blue hair, and the cool cab driver from Afghanistan. We then spent the next day, Thanksgiving, eating.

Oh, but don't think it was all glutney. First thing Thanksgiving morning, Kelly, myself and Nick had to peal 20 lbs of potatoes. Why 20 lbs? Cause we wanted mashed potatoes and our appetites were obviously much larger than our belly. Plus we were cooking for about 20 people for which we would join later that afternoon at Greg and Tiff's. The day was festive, the food was great and we had enough leftover potatoes to feed a small army.

I then took the next day to show Nick all over our great cities. We drove through downtown Oakland, cruised into Hayes Valley for a latte and did the usual tourist bit around SF. I took Nick up Nob and Russian Hills, down Lombard Street and over through Fishermans Wharf. We drove by Crissy Field and up through the Presidio to get some views of the Golden Gate.

After a whirlwind tour of San Francisco, Nick and I set out his last evening in town in search of House music. This is where the story gets fun, depending on which club you own.

We started the evening by driving by Suite 181. The line to get into this place was probably 200 deep and the venue is right in the center of the Tenderloin, the worst in SF. There wasn't any parking nearby (there's never any parking nearby in SF) and I wasn't about to leave my truck in some dark lot. Sorry guys, your club isn't worth a stolen vehicle.

So we drove back up Market to Bambudda Lounge where we could park right across the street. Again, it's still not the best of locations, but it was slightly better, specially considering we could see my truck from inside the venue. This time there was no line and after spending a few moments inside, it was clear why. Before you start thinking the worst, let me say that Bambudda is a nice little lounge. It's located in the Phoenix Hotel, which is a trendy version of the 60s mod motel. The lounge is decorated nicely with dark woods and soft colored materials and opens to a very cool patio out back. The patio is flanked by a pool and several cabannas in the courtyard.

The crowd was thin and there was no live DJ. The sound system blew and everyone seemed more concerned about their next destination. It certainly didn't help that the bar staff was as slow as if there were 200 people waiting for drinks. Only in this case, there were probably 3, including Nick and I. But Nick noticed the potential in an Saturday or Sunday afternoon house party thrown by the pool. It really does have a south beach vibe going on and it's something that would fit perfect with SF's high style and house love affair. It might even help this lounge survive. But then again, hiring more attentive wait staff can't hurt either. One drink and done was our call and off to Voda it was...

Voda is located in a small alley in the financial district and it's basically nothing more than a vodka lounge. There was a house DJ spinning soulful grooves and the crowd was definitely more lively. One drink and done again, as Nick and I had more places to see.

We walked to the Starlight Room at the top of the Sir Francis Drake and made a quick exit when I saw Lawrence Welk. We then moved over to the Redwood Room and decided against that venue because of the pointless line waiting to get in. Seriously, the only reason for a line at the Redwood Room is for some owner to get a chubby because it's making it look like a hotspot. As we say in these parts...next!!!

We then walked up Geary to Swig. Swig has been one of my favorite starting points, because of the great location near Union Square and everything else. Only this time, something was very wrong. We walked into Swig and were quickly greated by a standing room only crowd and really crappy 80s music. I'm not talking good stuff you like to dance to, but crappy Different Strokes style music. So we proceed to the restroom, hoping things will change after a short break. Oh, were we wrong.

Something died in the mens room at Swig. I don't know what it was, or how it died, but something was clearly festering in that facility. What's worse is the staff at Swig clearly made no effort to clean it up. I know us guys tend to be dirty sometimes. We don't need to sit down when we see a man about a horse and after a few drinks, sometimes our streams go awry. But never does any respectful man deserve to walk into a john with something that nasty going on. No drink, no pause for reflection. We got the hell outta there!

So we finished our night at a new venue on Mission called Duplex. This little lounge was clearly the winner of our night. Frenchy Le Freak was dropping some dirty house music on the crowd and the staff was more than happy to welcome us in and serve us tasty drinks. The crowd was local, stylish, and quite friendly. The design was something from an urban loft, dominated by a bar and dark dance floor. Duplex was fun, and that was what we were looking for. Nick's visit was quick, it was action packed. But we got him to one of the best clubs on the west coast, got him to see our tourist attractions, and got him to hear some classic San Francisco house music. I'm only sorry he had to leave so soon, cause as we found out, there is just way too much to see and do in only a few days. Heck, years won't even cut it. I'm now off to get a latte from my corner coffee shop.

posted by DVS @ 1:27 PM