You can imagine the fit I pitched when Kyle told me the big anesthesia conference he wanted to attend this year was in San Francisco - and that I could come. But I dutifully followed and did my part as the lone sight-see-er while he was getting all smart in some stuffy conference room. :)
Allow me to give you a little tour. Unlike the conference he (we?) attended in Banff last summer (which was more like 7-12 each day) Kyle was hitting the books until 4-5pm while in SF - so I had plenty of time to hit the streets by myself. (Don't mis-hear me: there was plenty of lazy hotel-room-ing too...)
Welcome to China Town
These two people were doing a Budhist meditation-type-thing (in unison) called Falun Dafa/Falun Gong to raise awareness about the persecution of a people group in China who are being targeted for organ harvesting/selling on the black market. I know - that's heavy. Again - this is right at the entrance to China Town and had me intrigued from the beginning. China Town has this crazy combination of cheesey/touristy stuff right next to the continuation of real traditions (that I am told by some Chinese friends are practiced more faithfully there than even back in China) right next to people and posters drawing attention to serious political/human rights issues in China. Fa-scin-ating!
The speak-no-evil monkey. (?)
Chinese street performers. Can't say I found the music beautiful, but impressive that he could make so many sounds come out of such a simple instrument.
Love this - Far East, California, US flag, Chinese flag.
The many hats of China. On gringo mannequin heads.
For some reason its strange to me to see the mixture of touristy stuff for sale (above) and the goods actual residents of China Town would purchase - bamboo for cooking - $.70/lb.
Then and Now.
There are actually little Chinese women holding up these signs (hiding?) - proclaiming in no uncertain terms that the Chinese Government is straight from the devil. Written in English and Chinese. Definitely gets your attention.
Moving on from China Town...to Italy in the Renaissance. Well, not exactly, but I did see a bunch of ladies dressed in full regalia and I followed them in hot pursuit but couldn't ever quite catch up (crosswalks/lights, etc.)
Following them is what lead me randomly to this fun little alley fair. I wish I knew where I was but I don't - only that there was a really cool looking bookstore on the corner
that I later figured out was locally famous...but I don't remember the
name.
That evening Kyle and I met up in the Little Italy / North Shore area for dinner. (I learned there that the ladies from earlier had been participating in an Italian Heritage Parade.)
Washing Park - Free Advice.
Kyle trying on uber-hipster hats in an uber-hipster hat store. And yes, I got him to buy one! Not a fedora, but still he's pretty cute. And of course, when chatting w/ the check-out guy, find out that their other store is in SoCo (that's South Congress for all you non-Austinites.) So, we're too cool for school now.
Later that evening (and then by myself the next morning - hence the change in daylight you might notice in the pics) - we made it to Fishermans Wharf (which runs along a road called the Embarcadero and contains the famous Pier 39).
Pier 39 Seals. Or are they Sea Lions. Shoot - I should know that.
It's basically a carnival along the
water. If we had traveled with our kids this is probably what we would
have done every day.
And maybe taken a tour of the decommissioned ship and sub.
Just down the way (along the Embarcadero I guess) is Ghirardelli Square - where the famed chocolate factory got it's start. Wish I could say it still smelled like chocolate (like they say Hershey Pennsylvania does) but it doesn't. It's still a cool little area - but mostly just shops and chocolate-eating-venues.
One morning my big outing was a Blue/Gold Harbour Tour which took me past lots several of the most famous landmarks. You can see Ghirardelli Square there.
And that big building is the Palace of Fine Arts. Which is 1) not a palace, and 2) not a museum housing fine arts. More on that later...
Alright...this is the good stuff. Alcatraz. Named for los alcatraces (pelicans) that inhabited the island before the soldiers, military prisoners, federal inmates and Native Americans. (Confession: I couldn't understand anything the tour guide over the boat loud speaker said other than it was named after the pelicans...so everything I know about Alcatraz is from Wikipidia.)
Does it make you want to go kayaking?
Light from a beautiful sunset doesn't make it any less creepy.
I will admit that when I saw this structure on the island I thought: what a cool place to throw a big party!
Love the signage.
Kyle and I had plans to take a tour the afternoon he was off and while I would very much like to blame the fact that we didn't on the government shutdown (which did close Alcatraz), we wouldn't have been able to anyways because apparently you have to get tickets like a year in advance. We're planners, but that's not happening.
In this one you can see Alcatraz Island w/ the Golden Gate Bridge peaking out in the background. Which brings us to our next famous landmark.
Couldn't hear a darn thing the tour guy said - but its not necessary to appreciate how strong and beautiful "she" is. :)
From up on a look-out hill the next morning with Kyle.
Here is my man demonstrating his patience with me as a fumble with my tripod and camera settings in an attempt to get a photo of the two of us actually together. Exposure - all wrong. Dance moves - all right. (Oh, that's the hat!)
The lovely couple.
Oh, and one more - bridge w/ that decommissioned ship at sunset.
Children of the 80s and 90s!!!!!! What does that billboard (minus the chinese writing) make you think of? Full House!!!
Here we are! These victorian houses (locally called "The Painted Ladies") are the ones we were all made to believe that Danny, Joey, Jesse, DJ, Stephanie and Michelle lived in. Oh, the life.
(Sort of seems like they're facing the wrong way for the best view.)
Big thanks to Kyle for authorizing a pricey cab ride just so I could take a picture of a house. That's my guy. :)
On our way home from this neighborhood to find a sushi restaurant we had been recommended, we found another sushi restaurant that looked awesome so ended up eating there (to find out later its well known as the one where the chef's come eat chili) - our foody friends would be so proud. Then we found this little gym - Smitten Ice Cream. Tell me these folks don't need to come to Austin! They make 3 flavors of ice cream each serving immediately to order because they use dry ice which freezes the cream/ingredients in about 90 seconds resulting in an incredibly smooth finish. I am going to be their ATX spokesperson. And they operate out of an old shipping container. See--they already fit in here.
Speaking of pricey cab rides (before I rambled about ice cream)...here was another.
This is Lombard Street - the Crookedest Street in the World. The name sort of implies that its a natural wonder, but its just a street that could have been straight that somebody decided to make really really curvy. And now its famous. And the houses along side it are CRAZY expensive.
Cars going down a night. Weeeeeeeeee!
The view from the top of the street looking out (not down) is pretty great - that is the Bay Bridge.
Coit Tower. Missed this on my tour so not exactly sure why its famous, but it sure is pretty at night.
My fourth pricey cab ride on my own was to this place. Tartine Bakery. I have several friends (including my mom) who are very familiar with the city so it was great to get their recommendations on places to eat and things to do. As you'll see by the end of our little tour I was able to hit most of the to-see/do things. Restaurants was harder. I'm learning that while I like good food I have a hard time stopping my Rick-Steves-mode-exploring to make it to a specific restaurant (that probably requires a reservation and therefore a lot of commitment). Hence no reservations at the French Laundry or Ad Hoc or Chez Panisse...BUT when several people all told me about a baker that I had to go to I listened. Welcome to a Tartine - a little whole in the wall with no signage in a not-so-great little area of time. Baked Heaven on Earth.
The Morning Bun
The Case
Seriously worth every penny of my $23 cab ride (he got "lost").
One of the challenges I found in getting around SF sans rental car was that cabs were super easy to get in the center of town (Union Square area) where our hotel was, but harder to find once you had taken one to a more residential area (probably the case everywhere). I never quite figured out the bus system so that means I would walk. A lot. Trying to make my way back to the hotel and/or find a cab. Saw this one one of my cab-hunting strolls...Did you call your mother today? (Me: Probably.)
One morning I stayed closer to "home" and took a peak inside this incredible dining room at the Palace Hotel (because my mom told me I had to). Beautiful. Ate my starbucks breakfast on the street though. (Did I mention to you that SF literally has a Starbucks on EVERY street corner?)
These are from the Yerba Buena Gardens at the Moscone Center. It was really pretty, but I never quite figured out what to do there. I ended up going back to my hotel room to read (and then fall asleep).
This was the only place that I walked a super duper long way to and then took a cab home (usually the other way around). Welcome to the Palace of Fine Arts - remember the place I told you is neither a palace nor a museum of fine arts. On the visitor map of the city it looks just a few blocks from Ghirardelli Square (which I had already walked to from Pier 39) but I think the scale on the map changed and I didn't notice. It is not close. And I don't even really know what it is other than something about it being built as a temporary structure a long time ago (out of plaster for a fair or something) and everybody liked it so much they had it rebuilt out of real stuff.
Can you imagine the view those houses have?
Two friends I made while I was walking around. :)
Okay, two more biggies that you have to touch on in a virtual tour of SF - cable cars and wine country. We're almost done!
Cable cars are neat. In theory. But the lines are awfully long to get a ticket, then awfully long to get on a car, then they only take you like 3 places. I naively bought a 3 day pass because I thought I'd be hopping off and on just like in the rice-a-roni commercials of my youth but no. One ride, one way, got some picks and I was done. Gotta do it, then move on.
The line wrapping around one of the turnaround stations. All the little boys loved this part.
Views from inside my car as we're heading towards the Embarcadero done some fun hills.
Kyle and I had about 1.5 full days together to explore. Our half day we were planning to go to Alcatraz but couldn't happen, so we rented a car (red mini cooper!) and drove along the coast on Highway 1 and then cut over through some great mini redwood forests to Palo Alto. Even found a great little house for sale in a fun little neighborhood that reminds us of where we live in Austin - only $1150/per square foot! And now we understand why all those California folks move to Texas.
The next day we got a map from the concierge and headed for the wine country. We're usually such planners it was sort of nice to just hit the road and figure it out. We made it to Sonoma first and ate at a great little outdoor cafe right on the square. The Sunflower Something if you're ever up there. Then we headed for Napa. Did two tastings - first at the Frank Family Vineyard where the guy was super informative. I think Kyle and I were a lot more interested in the wine business than the wine flavors and he had no problem talking about that. The next one wasn't quite as good (for discussion or flavors) but was beautfiul - Rutherford Hill. Both are pretty big "wine houses" by Napa standards. And now I'm a snob about anything that comes from the central valley. Hehe.
Some awesome old-timey cars that some guys do wine country tours in. For our next trip - with friends.
Young vines protected (from rabbits) by Welches boxes - the irony.
Not a bad place for a picnic. If only we had had one.
Olives. Kyle's other love.
And now for my not-so-unique collection of wine-country grape photos. I call this series: KYLE - PLEASE FIND ME SOME GRAPES TO TAKE PICTURES OF! (The "crush" - aka harvest - had just happened so these were hard to find!)
The area actually reminded Kyle and I a lot of the Hill Country - its no wonder there is a burgeoning wine community there. (FYI: apparently the crappier the soil and the more stressed out you make the vine the better the wine grapes it makes!)
The view from our 2nd rent car - a very inconspicuous bright yellow camero. If we were 18 year old boys with a thing for muscle cars we would have been stoked. (It was either that or a mini-van.)
Just a fun little drive down a "private" lane to fine a winery that Kyle remembers going to the last time he was here (like 100 years ago).
And I leave you with fine dining a la Bee - "Le Auberge Du Soleil" - we followed my mom's orders and had dinner on their patio - the casual/cafe side where you don't have to be related to Rockefeller or Vanderbilt. Would somebody please have a destination wedding at this place so I have to go back and stay there???
We had a great trip. Kyle learned himself a lot of knowledge. And I got my fill of sleeping and reading and wandering and picture taking and cab riding and walking. We are always thankful for the time away. We are always more thankful to get back home. We missed our little ones!!! (FYI: They had a great week - a weekend with Dahdo/Pam, time with Nana, Marisela our wonderful babysitter, and several days/nights with Bee at our house. Couldn't pull this stuff off without all of them.) Thanks San Francisco - it was fun! Now glad to be home!
