back from the left coast
May 5, 2009 at 1:47 pmtravel
We’re back! We spent a long (rainy) weekend in San Francisco, tromping up and down the hills and wandering around the neighborhoods and parks. We arrived midday Thursday to a few hours of sunny weather, which was, unfortunately, just about the end of it for the rest of our stay. No matter. We plopped our bags down at our hotel in Chinatown, and headed out. First things first, needed food. Thank goodness we found Lori’s Diner, one of several in the city, it was an easy choice (given the name) after a little bit of indecision on what we were in the mood for. Though Matt did ask, no, there wasn’t a discount for people named Lori, but the waitress was nice enough to give me a paper diner hat with my name on it instead. After satisfying our hunger we walked around downtown, through an art market in Union Square park, and to the base of the Trans-America Pyramid (thank you Carmen Sandiego computer game from 5th grade for my knowing this building).
Then we sat in a little park, where I fell asleep for a short bit, not surprising going on about 3 hours rest the night before… but once Matt woke me up, we got some coffee and, feeling refreshed, headed towards Embarcadero Plaza on the waterfront. We took a quick browse through the Ferry Building, where there were all sorts of delicious looking fruits, veggies, cheeses, and market-y type things. Then we headed out onto one of the long piers for the view. Took a bunch of photos down here, so when I get more ambitious I’ll have to piece together a panorama… For dinner that night, at an Asian place called Unicorn, we shared two dishes – this really yummy Singaporean Vermicelli, complete with roll-it-yourself rice paper, and giant Sea Scallops. yum.
Then comes the rain: day 2 started wet and soggy/foggy. Just to check it off the list, we took the cable car north to Pier 39. At $5 bucks a ride, it was pretty much a rip off, the only thing making it worth it being all the tourists not knowing what in the world was happening as they tried to jump on and off. Sadly, I got forced to the interior by the cable operator (a job which looks like it requires a bit of strength to lever the brakes down into gear on those hills!) so I didn’t get to hang off the cable car into the street, Full House style. I guess this is ok, since I would have been sopping wet. Anyways, we can now say we rode the cable cars.
So, Pier 39 is pretty terrible. All the tourists flock here, and for what? I’m not sure. Just a bunch of crappy souvenir shops, bad-looking restaurants, and smelly sidewalks and pigeons. Not the real San Francisco, as I guess the locals would tell you. We did, however, sample some chili in a sourdough bread bowl from a food stand, and it was decent. After not finding a single camera store out of about 10 that carried film (how old school!), we got on up out of there pretty quickly. Heading west, though, towards the higher numbered piers we found some good photo-ops of the old ships and maritime history. By then it was pouring, so Matt insisted that we sample the 68 beers on tap at Jack’s Cannery Bar. Two pints later we had thoroughly whetted our appetites for Ghirardelli Square , which was, as far as we could tell, just a good excuse to buy their chocolate. So we did, and it was good. From there, we decided to take the long walk home, which involved several hills and a slippery descent down crooked Lombard Street in the rain. I still cannot get over the angle of the road inclines and the way the cars just look like they could tumble over at any moment. Not a city I would want to train for a race in! For dinner that night we had spicy Volcano sushi, and then caught up for drinks with my buddy and former co-worker Pat. Evening ended at a crazy dive, Buddha Bar, which was only a few blocks from our hotel.
Day 3, Saturday, still rainy. Got on the Muni to head west towards Buena Vista Park, which was indeed a good view when we finally got to the top. Would have been able to see a lot more if not for the overcast day, but it was still gorgeous and lush and all sorts of interesting plant varieties were in bloom. We enjoyed speculating on the prices of the houses, as well as the occupants, that teetered on the hill surrounding the park. All sorts of colors and styles left us with ample fodder to geek out about what architecture we liked and which house we’d live in. We continued walking east on the famed Haight Street, getting brunch and checking out some shops where Matt picked up some new t-shirts. Continued on towards our hotel, all the way through Lower Haight and along Market Street, past City Hall, the BART stations, and all the high-end shopping.
Dinner that night was the one of the trip highlights. Check out the link to see Gigi himself, you’ll get a better idea: Gigi’s Sotto Mare seafood in North Beach, where we shared the best Ciopinno I’ve ever had. Seriously, if you ever make it to SF, this is a must. A huge, steaming silver pot of fresh seafood — crab legs, chunks of fish off the bone, shrimp, mussels, clams over penne… and the sauce was the best part, good for soaking the bread. We sat at the counter, had bibs tied onto us, facing into the kitchen, where Gigi himself came by several times to loudly tell us how we weren’t eating right. “Dip the bread!” “Use your fingers!” Quite a personality. He proceeded to walk about the restaurant to all of the patrons, yelling loudly and adding a lot of Italian flair to the dining experience. Following dinner we stopped by The Saloon , supposedly the best blues bar in SF, around since 1861, to listen to the Daniel Castro Band. They rocked, and the people watching scene was great. Think old biker guys on a barstool next to me and Matt.
Sunday morning we met up with Matt’s cousin Jami, who lives just outside the city. The plan was to rent bikes and pedal our way across the Golden Gate Bridge… but the continued rain and fog made us opt for a car ride instead… probably a good idea anyways. As we drove across the bridge, there were signs warning of high winds and enough fog to cover most of the bridge piers. Not too much was visible except for what was directly outside the car window. Bummer. Anyways, we had a nice brunch at a waterside restaurant in Sausalito, just across the bay. Walked through the cute shops and bought some taffy, MMmmm.
As the three of us headed back into the city, the sky had cleared somewhat, and we could almost make out the top of the bridge. woohoo! thinking we could see something now, we drove our way up to Coit Tower, which would have made a great overlook had the elevator been working… Oh well. We then spent our last few hours in the city at the SF MoMA , checking out some modern art. It’s no NYC MoMA, but glad we went nonetheless.
Follow this link for the entire photo set.
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May 5th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
The photograph is very nice. Reminds me of an old time postcard. I guess not all fun times are fun.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
first of i love the full house and carmen sandiego ref. i as well know where that is! secondly: thank god juxta exposed is back, i thought that maybe you guys had fallen off the wagon. as a result i was forced to actually do some work instead of cyberstalking you. and finally: sounds like SF sucks! good think you dont write for the San Fran tourist board. keep your day job!
May 5th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
EMB WHAT WHAT