Bastards by the Bay Bastards on the Barbary Dinner and Tour! Friday July 17, 1998 7 - 10 p.m.

I have seen purer liquors, finer tobacco, truer guns and pistols, larger dirks and bowie knifes, and prettier courtesans, here in San Francisco, than in any other place I have ever visited; and it is my unbiased opinion that California can and does furnish the best bad things that are available in America.
- Hinton Helper, 1855

Enjoy an evening exploring San Francisco's exotic and historic Barbary Coast. Savor a taste of the International District, home to the Latin Quarter of the 1850s, Little Italy since the 1880s, and the stage for turn of the century Bohemians and mid-20th century Beatniks. Start off with a walking tour featuring Lotta's Fountain, where survivors of the 1906 earthquake meet each year to mark the anniversary of the quake, and stroll along the many other attractions highlighted by our knowledgeable local tour guides.

Starting at 8 pm dine family-style at the New Pisa Restaurant with a four course meal in a private dining room, including a salad, minestrone soup, choice of entrees, desert, and unlimited beverages (including wine). New Pisa at 550 Green. All-inclusive $25 per person. Please RSVP with your registration or by Thursday, July 16th.

For dessert it's on to Cafe Trieste at 601 Vallejo (at Grant) (415/392-6739). The "Espresso Pioneer of the West Coast", since 1956. This is where coffee is the desert. This is the cafe where the Beat poets & artists gathered. First Italian style cafe in California.

If live music and dancing is your thrill, you'll find Blues at places like The Saloon, the Lost and Found, and the Grant and Green (all within one block of the New Pisa restaurant). There's jazz at the Gathering Café, and flamenco at La Bodega.

The Saloon, San Francisco's oldest surviving saloon was founded by Ferdinand Wagner in the Fresno Hotel at the edge of the notorious Barbary Coast in 1861. At the time of the Great Earthquake of 1906, The Saloon was so popular among fireman that precious water was deployed to save it while most of the neighborhood burned. Today, it's a blues bar, and a thumping one at that.

If your Celtic roots need to be itched, check out O'Reilly's. O'Reilly's Irish Pub & Restaurant features 20 beers, stouts, ales and ciders on tap at all times, and a wide range of bottled beer is available, including imports and microbrews. The 20 taps which are clustered at intervals along the bar are solid brass and mounted on tall green pedestals. The Saloon has also been hailed as THE place to get Guinness on tap by the "home office" of Guinness.

If you prefer to dig into the literary history of the area, you can visit the City Lights Bookstore, which is open till midnight. The history of City Lights is also the history of the Beat Generation. Founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, City Lights originated as a small press to publish the works of Ferlinghetti's literary pals such as Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and Gregory Corso. City Lights soon became a welcome haven for cultural rebels of the 1950s, 1960s and beyond. Tucked neatly into a tight North Beach corner, City Lights is still a de riguer hangout for book and beat buffs. Contrary to popular belief, City Lights does not host nightly poetry readings, though it does hold an occasional book signing or reading by an author, sometimes an alumni beat--incognito behind the microphone. The poetry section is widely considered to be one of the best in the country.

If you want to take a hike up to a view of the city that can take your breath away (and work off some of that Italian food!), take a climb up Coit Tower. Coit Tower, located at the top of Telegraph Hill, marks the point where the first West Coast telegraph sent messages notifying the arrival of ships from the Pacific. Views & spectacular WPA murals. Take in views of Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate, as well as other nightscapes.

All of the above sites are within short walking distance of one another. Groups may return to the hotel by bus or taxicab.

A Bastard Karaoke bar session is also scheduled for Friday night within walking distance from the Radisson Miyako Hotel in Japantown, starting at 10.30 pm. No reservations required - just show up!

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