South Bay Singles Day: A Beer Garden, The Slip & Partying In Redondo Beach
The South Bay Beach Cities of Los Angeles always looks forward to the year’s good party events and one of the best is Super Bowl Sunday.
In starts with the annual Super Bowl 10K, a race through the streets of seaside Redondo Beach, hits an early high note with a post-race beer garden, then turns into a succession of small bar visits and winds up at house parties.
Naturally, this is a potentially field day for the many singles in the South Bay. Here’s a pictorial look at Super Bowl Sunday 2016, most of which for PubClub.com took place in Redondo Beach. There were plans to do a little house party hopping but that never quite happened.
The weather was spectacular, super-sunny on this super day with temperatures reaching 80 degrees.
The 10K Race
With the sun out and it even warm enough at the start to remove the long-sleeve tee, the 10K race started at 8:30 a.m. (There was a 5K at 7:30.) By the time one reached the first mile, it was hot; shade on Catalina Island was welcomed by the runners.
Costumes included a group dressed as Elvis (they ran the 10K in the white jump suits), salmon swimming upstream (a 10K tradition), referees and ladies in rock star wigs.
But the best idea of all for a costume was a guy dressed up as a red solo cup. PubClub did not get his photo because he was in his upper 50s, had an exposed hairy chest and appeared to be wearing nothing other than the red solo cup. He was also, well, solo. But what a great idea for a group!
PubClub had somehow forgotten how much of this most of this race is uphill, or at least on an incline. The first two miles were all running up some type of hill or slope, so much so that when one group of spectators were handing out beers from a cooler, it was tempting to grab a couple and sprint over to a bench on the Esplanade to enjoy them.
But beer was coming soon in the post-race beer garden.
The Beer Garden
Ahh the beer garden. It’s the whole point of the 10K, of course.
What better way to spend a Super Bowl late morning than standing in sand on a cloudless warm and sunny February day than drinking free beer!? Well, it’s free after paying your $40 entry fee anyway.
For many, this is the highlight of the day. And why not – it’s lively, it’s a party and it’s fun! It winds down at around 11 and on a day like this sunny day, it was certainly hard to drag yourself away from it.
But there was the promise of more beers at the bars.
The Bars
Normally after the race, Team PubClub goes to the VFW club, but this year we changed that plan and went instead to a new and fun bar on the Redondo Beach Pier, The Slip Bar & Eatery. Good call. You need a place to go that’s close after the beer garden and The Slip wisely offered drink specials ($2 Michelob Ultras, the race sponsor) for those with a race bib.
Next door, several people also packed into the King Harbor Brewery tasting room. PubClub even ran into a group of Redondo Beach natives on the patio at Captain Kidd’s who offered a cold beer and a warm, fun time full of cheers.
Normally, the beer garden group of PubClubbers goes in mass after the first bar to the Hermosa Beach Yacht Club, that lovable little dive bar a few blocks away on Hermosa Ave. But this year, the group split up, some going to HBYC right after the beer garden and others not making it at all.
With our routine broken, we eventually all scattered. But we wound up at the same house party.
The House Party
Thanks to Smiley for throwing another fine Super Bowl bash! By the time the Broncos won the game, at least half the South Bay had made an appearance at this party.
Lots of food was devoured and lots of alcohol consumed. There were as many empty bottles at this house party as their was confetti on the field of Levis Stadium after the Super Bowl.
So it was another fun party day in the South Bay!
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