Best of Life, Part I

The Strand at sunset is a great time to cuddle up.



Best first date

The Hermosa Strand - A walk on The Strand might sound boring at first, but it actually offers a few perks that other first date spots lack. First of all, the scenery — ocean, beautiful houses and people — is hands down gorgeous. Secondly, if romantic sunsets don’t make you wince with their triteness, The Strand offers a front row view of some of the best sunsets in the United States. Third, awkward first daters can walk off some of that nervous energy while they talk. Fourth, The Strand runs by a number of restaurants where the more forward dater can upgrade a Strand walk into lunch or dinner. Finally, you have some place to run if everything goes horribly wrong.

Runner Up: Sushi and sake bombs

If walking doesn’t float your first date boat then maybe lots and lots of drinking will. Sushi and sake bombs are the drunken man’s version of a taste of the East. Your date will immediately recognize your worldliness and if you say anything stupid nobody will remember the next day anyway. – Cynthia Dizikes



Best place to act like you’re still in college

Hermosa’s Pier Plaza -

If you want to recapture the best of your college years all you have to do is head down to Hermosa Pier. There are drinking specials everyday, live shows, cheap greasy bar food and screaming droves of inebriated young people.

Sangria is located at the entrance of the Pier walkway and boasts; appropriately enough, that it offers a great glass of Sangria. An outdoor patio, two large dance floors, DJs and jazz bands attract large crowds. There is also live Flamenco on Tuesday nights.

Sharkeez, decorated in a Polynesian theme, offers daily 2-for-1 drink specials from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. Since March Madness began, Sharkeez has been packed with college grads watching their Alma Maters on 60 flat-screen TVs. But, what put this bar on the drinking map was its Shark Attack special — an 85 ounce bucket of booze.

Hennessey’s is a Pier staple and the view from its roof-top patio is one of the best in the South Bay. Get a Guinness and watch the sun set, or dance to the Irish band that comes in on the weekend. There’s never a line, which is a rarity on the Pier.

Hennessy’s owned Lighthouse was one of the top jazz spots in the ‘40s and ‘50s and still has live music, which includes ‘80s cover bands and reggae.

Across the Pier walkway, Cantina Real makes a great margarita and has an outdoor patio, which is perfect for taking in the sun and people watching.

Another great patio can be found at Fenner’s Fishshack Saloon. Fenner’s is cozy and casual and has an outdoor area that looks down on the Pier.

Patrick Molloy’s is an Irish-style pub on the Pier. A restaurant by day, Molloy’s turns into something of a dance club by night. There is live music on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a DJ spins on other nights. Beers are $1 on Friday and $.50 on Monday. Thursday nights are Coyote Ugly night. Starting at 9:30 p.m. girls dance on the bar every half hour. – Cynthia Dizikes



Best way to be Unproductive

A Hennessey’s Sunday - There are many ways to waste your time — to put off doing that project or not write that paper. But there are few ways more fun then heading to Hennessey’s on Sunday morning to start drinking $2 Bloody Marys.

Whether you just woke up or never went to sleep, Hennessey’s Bloody Marys are an eye-opener. They come freshly mixed and as spicy or mild as you want. Plus they are so cheap that drinking a few and getting breakfast won’t break your checkbook.

Runner-up: Start a blog. – Cynthia Dizikes

Best of life, Part II

Best thing to do with a hangover

Hair of the dog - If you rise out of bed only to be flattened by a skull-crushing headache and an overwhelming need to puke, can’t remember last night or where all those bruises came from, and don’t know who is in your bed, then chances are you have earned yourself one hell of a hangover.

Now, while your new morning mantra may have become, “I’m never drinking again,” or “My God what have I done?” most of our BOB readers are thinking, “I should keep on drinking.”

So when you feel that hangover coming, jump off that wagon, raise your glass to the sky, and remember this limerick to keep your spirits high.

I once met a man from the Bay

Who drank all night and drank all day

He’d wake in the mornin’,

With a hangover formin’

And shoot some Beam to chase it away. – Cynthia Dizikes



Best place to go to the bathroom

Manhattan Country Club - If you look like you belong there and don’t make eye contact, no one will question you as you walk around the back of the building to the men’s locker room and duck inside. Then you’ll say “Wow! If this is only the men’s bathroom, I wonder what the women’s is like?”

Maybe my standards have sagged from taking sink baths at the Shell station across from my flophouse in Torrance, but I could live in this Country Club bathroom. It’s expansive, well lit, and the cold and hot running sinks are stocked with every manner of product to make you look and smell great.

On a recent trip I took full advantage, shaving my face and cologne-ing myself into perfumed beauty. Then I noticed the showers, and thought what the heck. Whipping my shower cap from my back pocket, I disappeared into hot steamy luxury, scrubbing my underarms and singing “Genie in a Bottle.”

After an hour or so I made my escape, but next time I’m going to hide until they close for the day. Party at my place!

Runner-up: Alley behind Pier Plaza

Private urination is safe, legal and hygienic, but where’s the thrill? Out in the open air, that’s where. If you really want to hang with the stand-up guys of public urination, head for Hermosa’s sparkling Pier Plaza promenade on a non-school night. Now step out of the bright lights into the alley. There you’ll find sweet relief under the cover of semi-darkness, with at least a faint musical accompaniment wafting over from the bars. I mean restaurants. – Robb Fulcher



Best place to come out to your family

Olive Garden - Why the Olive Garden? Because when you’re here, you’re family! You’ve seen the ads.

Sure, your dad might crush the breadstick he’s holding into dust, but he can’t come across the table at you, because he’s in a public place and you’ve had the good sense to wait until he’s slowed himself down with that never-ending pasta bowl.

A tip: While you’re waiting until late in the meal to out yourself, enjoy three of four filled-pasta dishes. The overeating will flood your anxious body with calming serotonin, and it will cause your family to worry about your eating habits, throwing them off the track.

And when you’re ready to finally drop the G-bomb, the buzz of happy conversation in the family-friendly restaurant will lend your words a festive tone. Although you’re already pretty festive, I guess.

Bon appetit!

Runner-up: The dinner table

Surprisingly, a lot of our readers thought it would be a good idea to break the news at the scene of countless family fights, where the tension of yesteryear can surface in a flash, and everyone’s armed with a cutting utensil. Oh well, if you use the element of surprise maybe you can relive some good times by making your brother spit milk out his nose. – Robb Fulcher



Best place to come out to your friends

Pacific Theaters El Segundo during “Brokeback Mountain” - Our readers might be ambivalent about their sexuality but they weren’t ambivalent about where to come out! The hands-down favorite was the spacious, comfortable, well-equipped movie house at Rosecrans and Nash, during a screening of “Brokeback Mountain.”

And why not? It’s a way to say I’m not ordinary gay, I’m Heath Ledger gay: mysterious, manly. A guy all the ladies want to be with, and all the guys want to be. With.

Anyway, the movie’s strengths—its scenery, brilliant performances and able direction by Ang Lee—give you another advantage. You can come out to your friends in the twilit intimacy of the theater, and if it doesn’t go so well you can tell them later you were just swept away in the moment, like when you cried during “Dodgeball.”

A word to the wise: nervousness can give you cottonmouth, and you don’t want to fumble your words on this one. So before you hit the theater stop at the snack bar and pick up a thirst-quenching beverage. Bottoms up!

Runner-up: Quiet spot on any beach

How romantic! – Robb Fulcher



Photo of eric fonoimoana - tk

Volleyball players are the Kings of the Beach. The good ones, like Olympic gold medalist Eric Fonoimoana know to take care of their subjects, which is why he’s hosting his annual Dig for Kids fundraiser on April 7 at Sangria in Hermosa Beach. The program offers athletic and academic help to inner city students. For ticket info call (310) 376-4412.



Best way to make rent and still get sun

Pro volleyball player - If you’re over six-feet-tall and have a killer spike you just might be able to make rent in the South Bay and still get sun by becoming a pro-volleyball player.

Home to some of largest AVP series in the country, South Bay summers are filled with tall tan athletes practicing daily at the beach nets for the nationally televised, grand-stand tournaments.

Runner-up: Waiting tables

If, however, you don’t happen to be so athletically endowed, then according to BOB readers, waiting tables is the next best way to make rent and still get sun. While not nearly as prestigious or well-paying as being a pro-athlete, at least you get a free meal every now and then. – Cynthia Dizikes