It can be tough when traveling to have a Big Night Out since you're constantly in different places and don't know the "scene".  That's why it's important to talk to the locals and find out what's up.  One of the best ways to do this is to start the evening out at a hip bar to grab a drink and talk to the bartenders/owners.  This usually starts you down the path of where to have dinner, where more talking with the wait staff leads you to your next destination, etc.

Our evening started out at Ginger, what beyond any doubt was the best cocktail bar we have ever been to.  The drink menu was nearly 50 pages, and each one looked amazing.  Here we met Alex, the owner, and managed to sample 6 of her wonderful concoctions.  She told us all the best hidden bars and clubs, and even drew us a map!

After the drinks we wandered up and down the rest of Brunswick Street, which is eerily similar to the Mission in SF.  A very eclectic mix of upscale restaurants, cool bars, and low income housing.  Definitely a hot area (literally, since it was 95 degrees that night).

A few more drinks, a few more bars and we were back out wandering the street.  That's when we saw a weird little stairway up to the second floor of a building simply called "Rust".  When we got up there only a few people were sitting around on couches so we turned around to check out the next place.  That's when somebody called out "what are you afraid of?".  Naturally, we turned right back around and headed in.

We ended up hanging out with Anton the owner, and Ash one of his friends.  As well as a host of others, as by the end of the night the place was completely packed.  It was a blast, and we finally felt like we had a group of friends again.  We're really missing that!  Towards the end of our evening  the 3 Minute Angel that we met at Ginger even came in!  We wrapped it up with what is apparently a Brunswick Street tradition of a doner kebab at 3am.  Just like having a burrito in the Mission.  Delicious!