After the tutorials on Monday, talk on the #oscon IRC channel turned to dinner. Brad, Al, and I decided we should go in search of beer, regardless of what people wanted to do for dinner. After dropping our conference crap off in our respective hotel rooms, we met up at the conference center MAX station. Joining our party was Jonathan, from my San Diego Perl Mongers group, and Alice, Brad’s wife.

We started the night at Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub on the other side of the Willamette. The hostess there was extremely attractive, even if some in our party made note of how young she appeared. As it’s rude to ask a woman her age, I refrained from doing so. After a few beers and sweet potato fries, we needed to find food. So we decided on Italian, and Mama Mia Trattoria fit the bill. Near the end of dinner, I received a text message from Dan. He and his fellow Tierranet attendees were at Paddy’s Bar and Grill. So we made our way over there for a few more pints.

We called it a night before the MAX stopped running, and made our ways back to our respective hotels. Dan and I happen to both be staying at the Marriott and, as we passed by the bar, we saw his fellow coworkers. Not only that, but the barmaid, at that very moment, announced last call. Not wanting to pass up such a coincidence, Dan and I sat down for another pint.

Not satisfied with the early hour, Dan and I decided to walk down to American Cowgirls, a bar across the street from the Oregon Convention Center. Unfortunately, the bar is closed on Sunday and Monday, so we ended up calling it a night and heading back to our rooms.

Ah, but it’s only Monday night, and OSCON runs through Friday. It will be a good week.