San Diego - best lounges to smoke a pipe

jim102864

I'm heading to San Diego tomorrow morning and though I've visited many times, I never sought-out lounges for smoking  a pipe since I'm still basically a newbie.  There are a few cigar lounges in the area that I plan to visit so I assume they're your best bet for pipes too, however are there any locations that are usually visited by pipe smokers?  I'd like to meet some folks who are into the hobby and visit lounges, particularly those that serve booze.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  I'm staying in the city near Gaslamp but I'll have a rental if driving is necessary.  Thanks all!

ghostsofpompeii

Hope you're treated better by the cigar crowd than I was when entering the cigar bar near me in Merriville, Indiana called Karma Cigar Bar. As it turns out the place only sells cigars, lighters, and mixed drinks ... no pipe tobacco or supplies what-so-ever. Not even pipe cleaners. I entered the place recently because before moving to their new location the did sell pipes and pipe tobacco ... but at that location did not have a liquor license. So l guess once they made the transition from tobacco store to Cigar Bar they dropped everything but cigars. And man did they have a nice assortment throughout the establishment.  Very nice longue ... unfortunately I walked in smoking a pipe and was immediately singled out as something of an oddball. There were six gentlemen seated on the four couches and large chairs which made up a square around a massive coffee table - only two of the gentlemen seemed to be together watching some sporting event on the flat screen TV, while the others busied themselves with a variety of activities from reading magazines, to fiddling with their phones or iPads, and one fellow just stared off into space enjoying his cigar. They were as different as night and day ... a well dressed businessman, a gentleman in what appeared to be a hooded jogging suit, a seriously tattooed biker dude wearing a Rock & Roll T-shirt, an overweight gentlemen that took up nearly a third of one of the couches, and the two guys watching TV who may well have been construction workers. I couldn't find anyone at the counter and asked the closest guy to me seated on a couch if he knew if they sold pipe tobacco in the place. He looked up at me as if I'd just shaved his dog and made a grunting sound. I wasn't sure exactly what that meant. Then the businessman who seemed annoyed by my presence looked up from his magazine and said, "Sorry Professor Pepperdine, the lecture hall is in the next building." Everyone got a big laugh at my expense then went back to what they were doing, leaving me to stand there with my pipe in my mouth feeling like a fool. We discussion of pipe and tobacco snobs came up in a different topic ... but now it has me wondering if there are cigar snobs who look down upon pipe smokers. I'll probably post this on that discussion page as well.       

CACooper

Since I haven't been to SD in many years I can't recommend any lounges, but a couple of shops are still there and worth a visit.
Liberty Tobacco:
http://libertytobacco.com/
and Racine and Laramie:
http://www.racineandlaramie.com/

The folks there might be able to help you find what you're looking for.