The year was 1953. The war in Korea was winding down. I was in the Navy, but not for long. My enlistment was due to expire in ten days. We had been at sea for more than two months and the crew was thirsty for booze and horny for women. As the ship passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, entering San Francisco Bay, we lined the rails, happy to see the United States again.
Liberty was granted that night and my buddy Pete and I were dressed in our best Dress Blues, shoes shined and pay in our pockets. There was some scuttlebutt about a bar in Tracy, California, a town about 60 miles inland, that was hot and filled with horny young women. Some guys took a bus, but Pete and I wanted to save our bucks for beer. We hitch-hiked. Being in uniform we had no trouble getting rides to Tracy. When we got there we were all disappointed. The place was quiet and the few women that were there were the Kennel Club Grandmas. All the other guys left for better pastures, but by that time Pete and I were on our second beer and there was no stopping us now.
"Hey Ted," Pete said. "The beer is cold; the drinks are cheap, I'm happy to have my feet on dry ground. Let's stay here and see if we can drink this guy out of all his Budweiser," aiming his thumb at the bartender. "Two more over here pal," Pete yelled, "and keep 'em coming."
We played the juke box, listening to all the songs we missed, and drank beer after beer. About midnight the bartender called last call.
"Shit Pete," I said, "we gotta go."
Pete turned a bleary eye at me and said, "That skinny broad is beginning to look good to me."
"You're out of your mind," I said, "she's just as ugly as she was when we came in (I seemed to be holding my beers better than Pete), let's head back to the ship."
Leaning on each other, we headed for the road, singing some old song as we weaved our way to the highway. A big rig took us to the outskirts of San Francisco and the trucker wished us luck as he turned onto another route. We walked (stumbled) along with our thumbs held high, hoping to catch another ride.
It started to rain, lightly, kind of a mist. "Shitaroony Teddy, we're gonna get soaked," Pete said as he looked at me with crossed eyes.
As luck would have it, a big Buick pulled up and a guy rolled down the window and, hollered, "Get in you guys, before you get those nice uniforms all wet."
Without hesitation we went for the rear door. I opened it and Pete fell in, plop! I helped him get in and seated and I jumped in behind him.
"You headed for the Navy Yard?" The driver asked.
"Yup I said. Can you get us near there?"
"Do better than that," the guy said, "We'll take you right to your ship. You guys are off the carrier that just pulled in today, right?"
"Yeah, thanks," I said.
Pete was soon snoring with his white hat down over his eyes.
After we were rolling toward the ship, one of the guys asked where we had been.
"We heard that Bar in Tracy was a hot spot, but it sucked," I said. Peter continued to snore.