The company credit card took another hammering in the name of publishing and customer focus/market facing at the end of September with a trip to a conference on design engineering held in Long Beach, California. After an uneventful flight, I arrived at Los Angeles LAX airport and waited for a shuttle to the hotel. Before boarding my carriage, I fancied a drink on American soil however, in order to 'break a note into change' so went over the road to the Encounter bar which looks like something out of the Jetsons as it sits on stalks in the middle of the airport. An elevator will take you to the top of the futuristic tower where one can have a nice look at things going on around you. The interior is very swish too as can be seen from the photo below. They had a couple of pumps though in my jet lagged state I elected to have a bottle of quite expensive Sierra Nevada Pale. Well worth a visit though just for the novelty, and full information is here. I was somewhat dessicated so missed the toilet, however there is a picture here.

On arrival at Long Beach's Hyatt hotel, I thought that it might be an idea to beat the jet lag by staying up late and could think of no better thing to do than have a brief look around town. It wasn't actually that big there, but I did notice a pub-like establishment called King's Fish House which did a bit of food and beer. I sat at the bar and had a nice pint of cold American ale, and a clam chowder as I felt a bit peckish. The beer selection was quite good in the end despite its temperature and it was quite tasty. I had a quick half too to wash the dinner down then decided that it was late enough to go to sleep.

The following day, a Sunday, it turned out that I would not be able to set up the conference stand so instead had to content myself with a tour on Long Beach. It is a quite a nice town, though with not a great amount going on there. They have a number of free bus services which I got excellent use out of, and I had a look at the Queen Mary liner which is now moored there as an hotel. Some pictures are given below of the sights. It was still hot even at the end of September, so this thirsty work needed a reward. A shitty fast food joint called Extreme Pizza was selling cold Budweiser at a very cheap price, and as there was no compunction to purchase food at the same time, I thought that I should take andvantage of this. Uninspired but refreshing. A faux Irish pub, the Auld Dubliner, was around the corner and this had a much more interesting array of beer - I think I had one called Fat Tire (sic) - though the prices were a little more. The pub was actually quite nice and they even had an Oxford University Lincoln College Boat Club Blade from about 1986 mounted to the wall which was a nice touch. Feeding time again and what better place to go than the massive Rock Bottom Brewery Company. This pub was in a style that the Americans do very well; quite dark and with many, many booths, people chilling out and having a good time. I decided to spoil myself and have a nice big steak. It was also obligatory to wash this down with some of their offerings. I tried to obtain a sample set, but they had not enough glasses left, so instead I had to order by the half pint from a range of about 6 to 8 that I cannot remember, but they were all very good. One was a malt liquor at a ridiculous strength. The range seems to have a core set that are on most of the time and some others that are on less frequently, and this web page may help rekindle some memories. I managed to get round most of them before deciding that it would be wise to leave for the next day's early start...

The first day of the conference was a manic one, and I needed a beer or six to help me unwind. This was duly achieved. The conference organisers had given everyone a ticket for a reception to be held in the Grand Salon of the Queen Mary. I went along for the sole purpose of claiming my free drink and did so, a bottle of Bud or something, then bolted a bit of free food before leaving. Not my sort of place, but the interior was very art deco ballroom which was a nice touch. I had been told that the Belmont Brewing Company might be able to sort me out with a bit of interesting ale, so I caught the bus up the road to give it a test. Being a Monday night, there was some sport on their TV, so I decided to sit at the bar. They also had a offer of cheap beer on, reducing from $4.75 to about $2.50 before 10.30pm. I decided to take this one up, and started to plough through their range, which can be seen here. The Crude was very good. Although I had become a little jaded of these beers, the prospect of seeing some Mexicans kicking a football around pesuaded me to stay at the bar for one more, a Strawberry Blonde, which I supped through a thickening stupor. The flavour of this one was poor, tasting very synthetic indeed. Nevertheless, the bar itself is good and well worth a repeat visit should I be there again. I left at about 11pm and stumbled onto a bus back to the centre of Long Beach and my hotel room where I promptly passed out on the bed.

I felt thoroughly shit the next day, and I do not want to blame it on the beer. During the evening I manfully trudged over the road (actually I think I may have got the bus yet again) to the Yard House on the Pier, which was a huge bar, again in the American diner mould, with a ridiculously large selection of over 100 draft beers. Feeling awful, I sat outside for dinner amongst many youngsters who were enjoying themselves. The nut brown beer was not very nice at all - yet again a synthetic taste. This was a pity as the bar was actually quite good. After only one pint, I couldn't face any more, so resolved to have an early night and get ready for the final day of the conference.

Amidst a typical last day of conference feeling of apathy, things started to peter out during the day. I therefore got into the party mood early with a swift one at the hotel bar after lunch. It was some sort of extremely expensive lager served by a young man with slicked back hair named Adolf, who was not in any way a German or Austrian as far as I could tell. The hotel bar is not worth describing in any more detail apart from to say that it is basically part of the lobby. Once I had cleared the stand away, there was time to slot one in at Alegria before getting on the tram back to LAX. Alegria is quite a nice place, with a very Spanish feel. It is also set up a little more like a pub than a diner. Free snacks on the bar too. I had quite a good pint of something moderately interesting from one of the taps. By the time I got back to the airport, there was time for one more, an overpriced Bud at the LA Roadhouse Route 66 or whatever it was called, a typically artifical airport bar. The trip had been a reasonable success and depsite the rather backwater nature of Long Beach with very few bars, I had managed to sample some pretty good ale.