Sign of the Whale

In the quaint fishing town of Point Arena, CA, there was mysterious bar which looked tattooed & dive in stature, but when we gave it a chance, and entered.  We were transported.  (All dates should be like this.)

Hmmm....or maybe I should start like this:  three Indians walk into a bar.

Nah....I know:  "THE DEVOLVED MARGARITA"

Yes.  Those words were scribbled on the mirror behind the bar (along with a cartoon face which had a cool twisty moustache, which was soon replaced by a REAL face, with even a MORE REAL (& cooler) twisty moustache).
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So on a windy April coastal night in Northern California, my brother, one of my sisters, and I were camping at Manchester Beach(<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/manchester-state-campground-manchester#hrid:tJxOSFDktnoKU9wTKeeDeA">http://www.yelp.com/biz/…</a>).  We just finished eating s'mores.  The stars sparkled down on us.  A lighthouse pulsed at us.  For some reason, we should be blowing up Thermarests and tuckering in for the night.  Instead we jumped in my brother's pony, listened to 80s music from space, and walked up to the bar at Sign Of The Whale.

We assumed it was a simple dive bar, but when we sat at the bar, we could tell there was magic....and chemistry.

I had to know what a "devolved margarita" was.  

The barkeep twisted his moustache with his fingers.  "Are you ready?  OK.  Give me a sec to set you up."  Before I knew it, I had a pint glass in front of me.  Twisty Moustache then put an aqueous solution of some type in the glass (he mentioned a chemical compound, but I can't remember).  Then a strainer was placed on top of the glass.  Then a pink gooey glob was dropped on the strainer.  "Ok, give this a few minutes and watch."  

Whaaaat????

The gooey glob slowly & literally dripped through the strainer.  Each drip splashed into the clear liquid and maintained it's spherical form.  The drips looked ever the staring role of Alien.  Over minutes a pile of these little spheres piled in the bottom of this glass.  What were we witnessing?  

!!  The birth of Cointreau Caviar  !!

After we had enough Caviar, they were taken away.  And then I was presented with a plate which contained:  

o Small sake carafe of tequila (& shot glass)
o Dehydrated orange slices
o Saucer of Cointreau Caviar

If I am recalling this right, I believe the procedure was one would take an orange slice, spoon a few caviar onto it, eat it, and then drink some tequila (and then probably pray to some sort of god).  

I was blown away by the entire experience.  It all seemed like a dream.  We were supposed to be sleeping on the beach.  Instead we were having some of the most interesting drinks we've ever had.  There was another notable drink which involved burning something in a glass skull and a liquor was then placed in the skull and then the skull was shaken to infuse the smoke into the liquor.  Everything we had sent us to some molecular chemistry lab.

Totally unforgettable.  We drove back to our tents on the beach mesmerized and pleased.  Our evening was just capital (<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DSvufVjnGv9A&s=04f2ca1566b6437547250ed617c6a95031b2165650a771b78f7fc38dab19e2f8" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/w…</a>).
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Or maybe it was all a dream.

The place has character. Brian the bartender is a good as you would find anywhere. Very friendly. Good service. Restaurant had the best food in Point Arena. Restaurant is called Area51 located in the rear of the bar.

HORRIBLE SERVICE !! Man behind the bar would not serve us as we were from out of town and told us so to our faces! We sunk 30 bucks into the juke box only for him to promptly turn it off and tell us it was now broken!  We were staying at the INN in town and only went up to play some pool and have a few drinks  but quickly left after such a horrible experience! It was also dirty the restrooms were disgusting.
Though I will say the peopl inside were sympathetic and friendly and were flabbergasted by the bartenders attitude with us. They tried to explain that he was grupmy due to a divorce but WOW to treat paying customers in such a way was un called for and just plain rude.  I believe the bartenders name was John but he could have been lying for all we know!
DONT BOTHER WASTING YOUR MONEY HERE GO ACROSS THE STREET!