What do The Tipsy Crow, Bub’s at the Ballpark and Moonshine Beach all have in common? Good Time Design. Good time who, you ask? Low and behold, Good Time Design is a hospitality and entertainment group located in San Diego and created by Ty Hauter back in 2006. In just over 10 years, this entertainment group has made quite the impact on San Diego’s nightlife—more than 10 successful venues in just 10 years. I liken this to the impact the Cohn Restaurant Group has had on San Diego’s restaurant scene—more than 20 current restaurants in just over 30 years. Both groups seem to have found the perfect recipe for success in this city where restaurants and bars seem to turnover like they are going out of style.
Heading down Garnet in Pacific Beach, it’s hard to miss the cowboy boots lined up outside of Moonshine Beach. Similar in nature to its downtown counterpart Moonshine Flats, Moonshine Beach draws a slightly younger and more local crowd to this PB hot spot. On most days, the doors open around 7 or 8, so stop next door at Cerveza Jack’s (also by Good Time Design) to fill up on tacos and a margarita flight before the show. Also important to know—at 8pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, you can catch free line dance lessons mixed in with the good old Two Step. Around 10pm, the shows get started, and the dance floor fills with a mix of flip-flop clad surfers, belt-buckle wearing cowboys and a plethora of cute chicks in cutoff jeans and cowboy boots. Not quite your typical night out in PB, but it gets the job done.
When the Brodie Stewart Band took the stage on this particular evening, they said the one name that was on everyone’s mind. Jason Aldean. I reckon half the crowd at Moonshine Beach had tickets for the Jason Aldean concert that was scheduled for the same night down in Chula Vista. One week earlier though, Jason Aldean was onstage when 58 people were killed in Las Vegas, ultimately leading him to cancel a string of upcoming concerts on his tour. Some of our fellow concertgoers at Moonshine had actually been in Vegas at the Route 91 Harvest festival that night. Brodie Stewart and his band paid tribute to those who didn’t return home from the Vegas music festival—a festival so similar to Stagecoach, Coachella, or even our local Kaaboo. Then he and his band went on to play a great concert, bittersweet in the end, but still well done.
Thanks to Katie and Sean for being two of the most enthusiastic line dancers that I know. And thanks to Mitchell for being my impromptu Two Step partner and tearing it up on the dance floor.
