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The Landlubber

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Tonga Room

img_0749_1.JPG Wandered through the tenderloin looking for an interesting drinking hole (which the tl seldom fails to supply) and remembered that we hadn't been to the Tonga Room in quite a while. Though fancier than we usually go for, its definitely worth the splurge, being a great mix of old time tiki and hotel-bar kitsch.

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The pool in the middle used to be the Fairmont Plunge, home to the Fairmont Swimming and Diving Club. From what we've read, the facility was absolutely gorgeous with glass walls overlooking the city and an outdoor deck for catching the rays. Olympic medalists, trainees and Ronald Reagans dove there until its close in 1945.

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The only thing you're allowed to swim in these days is liquor. We like to start off with a Scorpion Bowl.

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Nothing like a bowl of booze.

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Jesse and yours truly.

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The lovely Miss Saelee Oh.

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Round two? The Zombie, of course. Be careful, though, there's a reason its named after a brain eater. Woke up the next morning to find two of these ceramic tiki glasses by the sink and our handbag smelling of rum. Since we didn't wake up in jail, we'll call that a good thing.

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Have we mentioned that the band floats in the pool while fake rain showers down around them?

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Closing time. Strangely, we had a hard time finding our way back to the street. img_0750_1.JPG

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Since we were in full Dashiell Hammett mode we made our way to Bourbon and Branch, hoping for a nightcap in the library. We weren't disappointed. Both the drinks (jesse killed himself with a Revolver) and the locale (a secret room in a secret speakeasy in the tenderlion) were worth the threat of imposing douchebaggery (of which there was almost none, probably due to the late hour). Walls of old books and a Kir Royale. Sometimes fanciness is a wonderful thing.

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Care for another? The Tonga Room resides inside the Fairmont Hotel at Mason and California streets. The very hush-hush Bourbon and Branch is on Jones between Geary and O'Farrell. If you're looking to get a table in the main room with you'll need a reservation and a secret password (which changes daily), but you can weasel your way into the library Wednesday through Saturday nights by ringing the buzzer and saying "books".

categories: Things around and about
Thursday 01.03.08
Posted by Mariah Gardner
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