CONTENTS

DMac and I worked a little late one night, so we received late morning privileges the next day at work.  We headed down the coast and arrived in the small coastal town of Encinitas.  We walked through the small main street, checking out the little souvenir shops and stopped off for a greasy burger and fries at a local burger place that tried to cop IN N OUT's logo the best they could.  We were left with just less than an hour to try out the Daily Double Saloon, which was a run down, old fashioned pub on the main strip.  The place had just opened, and we were treated to a fun conversation with Fitzy, the bartender who ate a breakfast delivered from the cozy kitchen next door. 

On Labor Day, the boys and I headed out to Encinitas to catch a few beers at The Saloon to take in the hundred year old wooden bar, complete with non non-functional ice boxes, but it was closed for the day.  Instead, we jumped over to Filiberto's, a late night Mexican joint just up the road. 

The place was awesome - authentic old school Mexican food with a flare for the understated and seemingly held together by the barest of margins.  The cooks ran through the tables in the dining area to a makeshift drive up window, a makeshift arcade circa 1986 held down a portion of the restaurant.  There were the prerequisite Mexican art on the walls - a religious portrait of the Pope and the Virgin Mary, Mexican outlaws and a jukebox that now proudly featured "English and Spanish songs".

The food was outrageously portioned - our dine-in meals were served in take out containers that seemed to weigh in somewhere around seven pounds each.  The food was good, and as we walked past a homeless guy we dubbed 'Johnny Bench', we were full and satisfied.  Still lamenting the closed Saloon, we shuffled across the road to a seemingly dull pub that seemed borderline sports bar like.  

The interior was dark and filled with heavy wood and black leather, five TVs set up over the bar showed various surfing videos, which made me wonder whether they were for the locals or tourists.  After a few rounds of shots and beers, the atmosphere engulfed us and there was a real, fun and realized California vibe in the bar that transcended all of our fears when we initially headed in.

The coolest bar I've ever visited in California.