HEAD Rush

So Ira and I have organized this new HEAD Society. We are not traditionally organized people, but, hey, this involves food, booze and history so it practically organizes itself! Anyway, most of our outings are going to be well planned out, thoroughly researched excursions. Key word here is most. Last week Ira was looking for good baseball bars in the area and he stumbled upon the fact that "Gino and Carlo Cocktail Lounge" on Green Street in San Francisco had been voted the "best bar in the City to watch the Giants play road games". I don't know who votes on these things, probably the people who drink there, but we decided to give the place a try.

Bright and early last Sunday morning, we got up showered and dressed, then headed (HA!) over to BART and up to the Montgomery Station in SF. Our goal was to get to the bar (which opens at 6 am.) about 10:00 so we could see the whole game and maybe squeeze into a seat. Our boys were playing in Miami, and the game started at 1:10 their time so...10:10 local. Vogelsong was pitching, the Giants needed a win, we were ready! We tromped through the Financial District to Columbus. The Fin. Dist. is weird when its deserted as it is on a Sunday when all the money grubbers are in bars watching baseball games, but I digress. Up Columbus to Green which was easy to find because we had pizza at Tommy Boys' Pizza when we were in the throes of our Pizza Quest and its on Green. Right next to Gino & Carlo!

Ever since that movie, everybody talks about their "bucket list". What was the name of that movie? Well I have a bucket list which mostly involves working at See's (just one day - please - they let you eat all the chocolate you want) and visiting Ireland. However, there are a few lesser things I'd like to accomplish. One of them is to be pointed out to a tour group as an attraction. I was in my complete Giant's mufti ( hat, sweatshirt, Lincecum tee, and orange and black shoes) waiting for Ira to take a picture of the bar when a tour group went by on Segways. I was  staring at the group, mouth agape, trying to come up with a word for just how nerdy you have to be to take a Segway tour when the tour guide gestured at me and said "There's a Giants fan". I smiled serenely and waved, kind of a royal wave, kind of a "Damn, I'm waving at a Segway tour " wave. Then Ira finished taking his pic and we entered the bar.

Another thing on my bucket list was have a drink in a dark bar. I always wanted to go into one of those bars that looks like night on the inside even though its high noon and sunny outside. Gino and Carlo is just such a bar.  Inside there were several men with Duane Kuiper hair hunched over bar stools, a "rode hard put up wet" looking bartender, a box of free donuts (!), several tables, Ira and me. The only light came from two very nice flat screen tvs mounted high on the wall at either end of the bar which were beaming the Giants vs. Marlins into our midst. It was heaven. In fact, if I wasn't already married, I'd have the ceremony in the pool room in the back and the reception in the bar during a Giants/Phillies game where the G-Men crush the Little Ponies. Hey, our 35th anniversary is coming up...!

Squeezing in didn't end up to be a problem - not many people will go to a bar that early, I guess, but its their loss - the Bloody Marys were delish, the people were bleary-eyed but nice as can be, and the Giants won the game. Plus there were free donuts. We didn't have any, but we did share a couple of Anchor Steam beers, which is on tap in G&C and tastes a lot better that way. I also finished the crossword puzzle and read the New York Times during the commercials. Pretty high end for a dive bar. Which this place totally was. With good tvs and free donuts. I want to live there.

After the game we stopped for lunch at Caffe Greco on Columbus - delicious pannini and salad - then headed back to BART and home. We had a great time, I'm calling it a HEAD rush since it was so impromptu. Future HEAD trips will be engineered for more planning time  - like our burrito - a - thon
in September - See you then!