James Bond got it right.
When drinking on a train, wear a suit. It makes it classy.
A hot date couldn’t hurt either.
So when the opportunity comes up to spread your classyness to new cities, you’re all over it. After all, you’ve done the Hollywood bar scene, made several stints at The Standard and Edison in Downtown, and ventured into West Hollywood for fruity cocktails. Even K-Town with its cheap drinks and karaoke bars is starting to sound repetitive. You’re in need of new drinking grounds. You need… San Francisco.
The City by the Bay with its long history of two fisted drinking is just waiting to be conquered by your credit card and open tab. Until recently, you never thought of going to San Francisco on a whim. I mean, no one likes going to LAX and SFO isn’t even in San Francisco proper. But that’s soo 2012.
You and your friends want to hit up some new bars. So you each pack an extra shirt and toothbrush into your briefcase and call up your buddy who got transferred to San Francisco last year. Arrangements are made and you buy tickets on the new high-speed rail line. You duck out of work a little early and meet up at Library Bar in Downtown LA for some after work sustenance and drinks with your bar hopping buddies. By 5:30pm, you’re enjoying some great sandwiches and beer while you wait for your train that leaves in an hour. By 6pm, you are ready to go hop on the subway at the 7th St. Metro Center station. By 6:15, you arrive at Union Station. You walk through the tunnel to the platform and board your waiting train. Within a few minutes of settling in to your seat the train pulls out and begins speeding through the basin and the San Fernando Valley. You’re on your way to more alcohol. But that doesn’t mean there’s a pause. By the time you’re in Bakersfield you and your friends have already made your way to the cafe car where you enjoy some craft beers from California breweries (or wine like Bond. This is California, after all.) while watching the great agricultural fields pass by in the sunset.
Around 9pm, you arrive at the San Francisco Transbay Terminal in the heart of Downtown San Francisco. Your buddy meets you at the terminal and you all walk over to his new digs in SOMA to drop off your bags. By 9:30pm, you’re on your way to the Irish Bank and Bar where you reminisce of the good old times while downing Jameson on the rocks and a Guinness while staring at a wall of Jack Kennedy photos. By 10:00pm or 10:30pm (time is starting to get a little fuzzy) you are ready for a new place. So you hail a cab and head over to Bourbon & Branch, San Francisco’s temple to proper, classic cocktails. You order a round of Old Raj martinis and gather on one of the plush booths. By midnight, you have totally forgotten that no less than six hours and three bars ago you were in Downtown Los Angeles.
Don’t worry. Tomorrow you’ll be back in LA to save the world from poker playing terrorists … or whatever it is you do in Downtown LA.
Are you jonesing for the ultimate bar hopping experience? The California Legislature has already approved funding to begin the first phase of construction of the nation’s first true HSR system, but you can still help turn this bar hopping dream into a reality. Let people know you still support the California High-Speed Rail project. Help bring a time-tested and environmentally friendly alternative to bar hopping in cars and planes in California.
Besides, why should the Spanish, French, Italians, British, Germans, Japanese and Chinese have all the alcohol?
And I’m pretty sure Bond fought in all of those countries…
You can learn more about the California High-Speed Rail project here. You can also read my take on some aspects of the project at my other blog: Playing With Politics.
The Sauce 
Posted on July 31, 2012 by Roobs
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