Debauchery in SD

Well, the riding didn't go so well this week with the sensation of minor tears in the gut and getting what felt like a "cup check" through half my workouts - but nothing helps you wash your worries away like good friends, coastal air and a little vino. Warning, not much about bike riding in this report...

Rosa and I headed down to San Diego yesterday to celebrate my college buddy's engagement. We went to he and his fiance's house first for a late-afternoon BBQ and then headed over to the Hillside neighborhood and a place called Wine Steals for the official party.

Any entrepreneurs or restaurateurs in the Chicago area should take note of this joint. It's a wine-tasting bar that includes a small retail section of unique but reasonable priced wines ($5 to $40). I'd never seen 90% of the labels before. Then in the "tasting area" (80% of the space) they serve you any wine they sell in portions ranging from the "mini-taste" (just 25¢!) up to a full bottle, and local beers, coffee, tea and all sorts of hors d'oeuvres (although they serve an enormous cheese-focaccia-artichoke bread that's a pizza by any other name). They have a standard, brass-rail bar for tasting, but otherwise the place is packed with big comfy couches and coffee tables. Folks can browse the immense chalkboard menu above the bar or walk through the retail section, pick out a bottle, and grab a spot for an hour or two. The place was packed from 5 in the afternoon until closing time... errr, at least I was told they were packed until close.
In addition to the main seating area, there's a room off to the side for private parties up to about 40 people and filled with more couches, loveseats, and a big tasting table. The only thing required to reserve the room is the guarantee that you'll run up at least a $250 tab. Yeah, I think our party of 45 went from $0 to $250 in 2.8 seconds.
The entire place had a great casual atmosphere without the "dingy-ness" of a bar, any wine-snob pretentiousness, and a more laid-back feel than a coffee shop.

Bless Rosa for stepping up as the evening's d.d. as we chatted it up with friends old and new well into the night. The ladies even did a little bit of dancing, which energized Rosa enough to drive the two hours back to LA so we could avoid traffic and crash in our own bed.

Today I actually had a decent ride in spite of the aforementioned pains. They're still there but they aren't getting too much worse. I see my doc when I get back to Chicago on Thursday so he can tell me what the heck is going on and how much I'm allowed to push it. If he keeps me in the holding pattern I might just focus the energy I would have spent on Superweek into opening a fun little cafe of my own in the Western Suburbs.

I'll keep you posted.