Or maybe she had been there earlier. Like many of us she probably fears encountering people not wearing their masks (they're "special"). During curfew days in SF, people get up earlier. Them and their dogs.
Me, I'm wide awake just before dawn these days. Gotta pee, and my leg hurts. Which last does not stop me from talking walks. With a pipe.
First smoke at around eight.
If it weren't for tobacco I would get little exercise, and someone might ask me to babysit their kids. Tobacco is a godsend.
Yesterday when I walked past the Occidental I saw Thomas inside smoking a cigar. He too probably avoids babysitting duty. And rightly so; if they're not your own offspring, your tolerance is far less.
[Occidental Cigar Club, 471 Pine Street, San Francisco, CA 94133. 415-834-0485.]
So you'll probably be pleased that there is, once more, a place where you can hide from other people's brats and the disapproving eyes of your neighbors. Telford's now can allow smoking on the patio, with some rules from the health department about social distancing.
You might want to call first.
[Telford's Pipe and Cigar, 664 Redwood Highway, Mill Valley, CA 94941. 415-388-0440.
A ton of cigars, and some pretty darn good pipe tobacco blends made on the premises, particularly: Golden Gate, Nob Hill, North Point.
Hours: 10AM to 6PM daily.]
The weather is nice enough that outdoor smoking no longer requires dressing up like an arctic explorer. Take advantage of it.
Many parts of this country are no so blessed. San Francisco's only indoor smoking place has not been allowed to re-open yet, and the private club several blocks above street level is entirely out of the question for the foreseeable future.
Things were different once. Benaderet's closed their doors back in 1980 because the owners retired, then Jim Mate's disappeared a few years later, Dunhill on Union Square was gone by the early nineties, Telford's said good bye to the city in the later nineties (relocated to Mill Valley), and Grant's shut down eight years ago. All the Tinderboxes (a franchise that used to be all over) have disappeared too.
Before Covid 19 it was lovely to head over to Chinatown every non-work day around mid-afternoon. Grocery shopping, lunch with a cup of hot milk-tea, and load up a pipe. But I can't do that anymore.
Restaurants that are open are strictly to-go.
Which is far less appealing.
One of my friends in Maine is a little less fortunate. He's relegated to his own porch. His local tobacconist would normally also have burgers and espresso, and was the last place there where you could light up after eating, without people screaming about their lungs and their kids.
CALABASH CIGAR CAFE
425 Western Avenue
South Portland, ME 04106.
207-774-8673
Tough nowadays. They're still in business, but things being what they are, it's a slog. Ali Bahmani and his staff have my full support, but I'm on the West Coast, so there is little I can do. One of these days I'll get my hands on a pouch of Dear Watson to try.
By the way: to any of my readers in San Francisco, I remain available for babysitting, provided they're housebroken, capable of keeping still, and won't rat me out for lighting up my pipe.
The smell doesn't linger much.
They'll love it.
TOBACCO INDEX
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