A few months ago, I started a new day job which forces me to arrive every morning at the God-awful hour of 7 a.m. I have discovered that the sun is indeed up that early and that other people are awake. In fact, downtown is bustling with activity around 7 a.m. At any rate, it’s been a difficult adjustment, and I had to compromise with my fellow bar buddies who had become disappointed in my disappearance from the Sunday-Thursday late-night scene.

I started to feel like I was missing out on the entire Barfly weekday world (wake up at 6 a.m., work until 4:30, come home, run errands, clean house, in bed by 10 p.m. and then repeat). But then, one evening, we had the idea to hit Baja Betty’s for their “Tostada Tuesday” special. Yes, every Tuesday, those fabulous little tostadas are just $1 (and you have a choice of bean, chicken, carnitas or beef). On this particular Tuesday, we arrived around 5:15 p.m. and found out that the tostada special began at 6. But we were smack in the middle of “Papi Hour” – Baja Betty’s version of happy hour, served up every Monday-Friday from 2-6 p.m. They have some fantastic drink and appetizer specials, and a fabulously fun atmosphere. Check out www.bajabettyssd.com for more information.

As we were enjoying the end of “Papi Hour” and transitioning into “Tostada Tuesday,” it dawned on me that we could start going out to happy hours around town to spice up what had become a pretty mundane weeknight routine.

One day we decided to take a walk. I realized that Hillcrest has several venues that aren’t just open at night and offer great specials throughout the afternoon. Calling ourselves the “Happy Hour Hos,” we started out at the eastern border of Hillcrest at Numbers. Yes, Numbers is actually open every day of the week and they open early in the afternoon. We popped in for a few drinks, played a game of pool and chatted it up with some hard-core barflies. The “Numbers Grill” is even open on some days out on the patio if you come early enough.

After a while at Numbers, we continued our journey. Of course, we stopped in at Baja Betty’s again, and then stopped next door at one of San Diego’s hottest new spots: Bite. In the building that used to house the Living Room Coffeehouse, the place has been completely transformed into a clean “mid century, modern industrial” style bistro and wine bar. They have an amazing selection of appetizers, food and cocktails. If you haven’t checked it out yet, this place is a must. Bite has an excellent “Champagne Happy Hour” held weekdays from 5-7 p.m. My hos highly recommend this new place. Visit www.myspace.com/bitesd for more information.

Continuing our trot down University Avenue in typical ho fashion, we walked just a few doors down to the Alibi. Claiming to be one of San Diego’s oldest bars, the Alibi is a dive bar that has a certain appeal to the hipster crowd. It’s really never been considered a gay bar, but the happy hour crowd was friendly and didn’t seem to mind us gays stepping in for a few drinks. The Alibi is plain and simple, but has great happy hour specials until 6 p.m. and a nice patio area in the back. And, if you want to get a really early start on your happy hour, they open at 8 a.m. The Alibi is located at 1403 University Avenue.

A couple blocks down the road is one of my favorites in town: Flicks. They actually open every day at 2 p.m., and happy hour is seven days a week until 7 p.m. Happy hour includes $4 Finlandia cocktails and complimentary pizza from Taste of Italy at 6 p.m. You already know Flicks is a great place to hang out, so why not stop in after work one day. Information about Flicks can be found online at www.sdflicks.com.

After Flicks, there are quite a few blocks before hitting the next bar. My friends just couldn’t seem to make the distance without a drink, so I suggested grabbing a cocktail inside one of San Diego’s iconic restaurants, City Deli. Amid the many tables serving a great selection of food, there is a full bar. We stopped in for a drink, popped a quarter into one of the tableside jukeboxes and jammed to some old school tunes. A fun little pit stop. City Deli is online at www.citydeli.com.

We made a turn onto Fifth Avenue to complete our walk. We stepped into #1 Fifth Ave. and went straight out to their patio. This bar has one of the most underrated patios in town. It’s a great place to sit or play pool, especially on a summer afternoon. The bar opens daily at noon, and they have great drink specials that vary each day of the week. The bar is located at 3845 Fifth Ave.

Our final stop was at The Brass Rail Nightclub and Lounge. The recently renovated club still remains at the top of my list as one of the swankiest lounges in town. With all the wonderful renovations at The Brass Rail, one thing that hasn’t changed is their front patio, which is the absolute best in town. Right on the intersection of Fifth and University, the patio gives you the perfect viewing opportunity to watch all of the interesting characters (and hotties) pass by. The Brass Rail has a comfortable atmosphere to enjoy an afternoon or early evening drink, whether you lounge on the comfortable couches inside or sit out on the patio. Check out the Rail’s Web site at www.thebrassrailsd.com for more information.

And then it was time for bed. That was six bars in just under three hours! We got our drink on, met some nice people and got exercise while doing it! And I was able to get home by bedtime. Try it out! If you want to become a Happy Hour Ho or to simply send me information about your event or venue, I can be reached via editor@uptownpub.com.