We, as most of you Facebook friends know and I’m sure care tons about, are (were, this is taking me awhile to write) in SF. I’ve been to SF many times, but still, any vacation means, of course, a veritable geyser of new. Shall we explore the explosion? Yes, indeed.
Friday, after dropping off our furry kids at our ever-patient and super-awesome friend’s house (thanks Adeline and Bruce!) we headed to the airport to revel in the fact that we no longer work there. Worst. Job. Ever. After enjoying a delightful breakfast at my former place of employment (turns out, eating there isn’t nearly as bad as working there) we boarded our plane and headed for the Golden State.
Ah, San Fransisco. One thing about living in a big city that you forget about living here in lil’ ol’ Portland is the ubiquitous smell of piss. Breathe deep, people. From the moment we boarded the BART, to our last bus ride in SF, the scent of pee lingered omnipresent. Other than that, I had forgotten what a lovely, charming and friendly city SF is.
Lovely!
After disembarking (or, disemBARTing if you will) the BART (HAha!) we lugged our little wheelie suitcase over to the appropriate bus stop, and settled in for a relaxing ride…the idea of which was immediately shrieked out of existence by an entire 2nd grade class who boarded the bus mere stops after we got on. Hell on wheels, indeed. Surviving the ride through pure grit and cheerful conversation with the rightfully sympathetic mothers of the children, we made it to our stop and hopped out into the bright, windy San Fransisco day.
Our Airbnb (click the link if you’re going to SF-great location and room) was only two blocks from Golden Gate Park (told you! Great location!) and after a quick round of introductions with our solicitous host, we headed out to forage for food. We made it one block. Clayton was hungry, and his hunger was manifesting itself in a series of complaints directed mostly at me. Fortunately, the cafe boasted vegan (#govegan) items on the menu taped to the front window. Thank the mighty lord.
Making our way to the counter, the girl behind it (the counter; look, Mom, I specified my pronoun!) looked up and said delightedly, “Oh my gosh! Roz!! It’s Kristal! I stayed at your house!” “Kristal! Oh my gosh! This is so cool!” Yup, 15 minutes in the city and already had made two Airbnb connections. Kristal gave us a hook-UP on food, delicious tofu pies with salad so fresh it was likely she’d just picked the lettuce and strawberries herself (not that likely, really, but damn fresh) plus thick espresso and citrus-y Sauvignon Blanc from the Napa Valley. When Kristal had stayed with us, she’d left her hat, which I had returned to her. She wanted to repay the courtesy and did an excellent job.
After lunch, we strolled through Golden Gate. People lounged about in the warm sun, and Clayton stopped to examine a knotted tree while I snapped pictures of the numerous statues commemorating the founders of San Fran. “Look, honey!” I heard my husband exclaim. “Look what I found!” He held up a small vial. “Bet it’s acid!” Sigh. “That’s great, Clayton, but dude! Why are you touching that? What the hell? List of things on nobody’s bucket list #3: Don’t play with the strange vials of liquid one may find in Golden Gate Park.” Grinning and utterly unmollified, Clayton placed the vial in a small hole in the tree. When we returned to the park two days later, the vial hadn’t been touched. So, if you’re in SF and totally crazy, go to GGP and start peering in tree-holes. Who knows what you’ll find?
Put it back, Clayton.
Despite the adventure of drink-me vials in the park, Haight Street awaited and we were ready for more wine. Wandering on Haight involved pool, chai tea, martinis, an anarchist bookstore, hard ciders, thrift shops, craft shops, new boots (for both of us), a new dress, and more cider. Oh, and, no big deal–Clayton getting scouted for a Levi’s commercial. Yeah, they even called him back yesterday (again, taking me a while to write this). True, the callback was at a hotel in SF in two hours from the time they called, so obviously it didn’t happen, but still, it was cool.
After naps and more wine with our hosts, we went to hear live Irish music at a pub near where we were staying. It was awesome. Owned and tended by a husband and wife duo from Ireland, the conversation was lively and the beer was strong and plentiful (yay, Guinness!).
Saturday began with the most crowded bus ride I’ve ever taken. Towards the end of it, Clayton was seated and I was standing over him, much to the delight of two women nearby. “Girl, yeah! Yeah, girl! You put them big ol’ things right in his FACE, girl!” I grinned. “It’s our anniversary.” “Yeah, girl, you know that’s right! You make him remember why he married you! Yeah!” I couldn’t help but think lack of oxygen on a crowded bus thanks to my ample bosom wasn’t exactly why Clayton married me, but still. The encouragement was nice.
Eventually, the commotion grew to be to much for us, and we wedged our way off the bus and started walking. And walking. And walking. Good exercise, but I would conservatively estimate that 90% of the area covered during our walk smelled strongly of pee. We did get to see a woman standing up, asleep, with her head resting on the top of a garbage can, though, so that was uplifting.
We finally, after stopping at a coffee shop and then a Goodwill (I needed another floppy hat) we finally made it to Gracias Madre. Oh my vegan god. (#govegan.)
Divine.
Not only was the food some of the best I’ve ever eaten, the atmosphere was enchanting. The face of Gracias Madre looks to be another Mission Street hole-in-the-wall (note: nothing wrong with MSHITWs) but the inside of the structure is spacious and reminiscent of a calm Spanish hacienda (or what I imagine a calm Spanish hacienda to be like, anyway). With fresh farm-to-table food and a sunny, open dining room, GM was worth every step we took to get there.
Flushed and full of delicious life, we re-entered the real world to go sort out my mistake. Being the Virgo I am, I’d purchased our tickets to Alcatraz prior to our arrival to SF. That morning, though, I discovered that, rather than buying seats on a cruise on Monday, April 15th I had mistakenly bought them for Monday, April 8th. Which did us no good at all.
Fortunately, the nice folks at the Alcatraz tour company let us do standby! SUPER nice of them. I can’t say that all the rich food and two habanero pineapple margaritas made for a particularly pleasant ride over, but once we got there it was totally worth it. I hadn’t been to Alcatraz since I was a kid, and Clayton had never been, and both of us felt appropriately chilled (except for when we saw the family of Canadian Geese. AWWW! Nesting season. SO cute!).
The National Park Service does a fantastic job with the tour, providing audio narration read by former guards and inmates. The end of the tour featured an exhibit about rehabilitated murdered, complete with a section for feedback that was clearly modeled after a YouTube comments section. The biggest thing I took away from Alcatraz, though, were that the cells were still bigger than the cages in factory farms, and that what we do to the worst among our own kind is STILL better than we treat other species. #govegan
Actually, this is way nicer than what animals in factory farms get. #goveganalready
After Alcatraz we took the bus over to the Tenderloin. Another journey well worth it. Golden Era Vegan Restaurant was calm, quick, inexpensive, and the food was delicious. Except the “vegan lamb.” That was actually kind of gross. Tough and salty. New, though, so that’s good. #govegan!
Tired from a day of exploration, we retreated to our Airbnb oasis to watch Animal Factory. It’s a pretty great movie. You should watch it.
Sunday was another beautiful day. We bussed it over to the Mission District so Clayton could experience the rapture that is a Mission Street Burrito, and then went to a street fair where Kristal said she’d be tabling. We failed to find Kristal, but we did meet up with our friend Rebecca. We also saw some women stacking a bearded dragon on a tortoise, but that is neither here nor there, though it should be noted that neither animal seemed to mind the stacking.
Driving with Rebecca is an adventure in and of itself, but after a few nail biting minutes we arrived at the Sutro Bath House remains, and the glorious Pacific Ocean. It was windy.
Windy and romantic!
We also visited the camera obscura, which was, as expected, amazing, and capped off our Rebecca time with a late and leisurely lunch at another Supreme Master vegetarian house. It’s part of our campaign to get Rebecca to renounce meat. (Did I mention #govegan?)
After the restaurant, Rebecca left us and we headed back through Golden Gate park to the De Young Museum. Walking though the well-manicured park peppered with carefree people listening to the dulcimer tones of a classical guitar duo was like stepping into the movie-world of Aeon Flux, without any sinister dystopian implications, of course.
Gorgeous.
The De Young was breathtaking. I could have wandered for hours. Unfortunately, we arrived at 4:00 and the museum closed at 5:15. Thus begun the fastest museum tour I’ve ever experienced. The good news? They let you take pictures! (Of everything but the special exhibit. Which was Girl With A Pearl Earring. I actually teared up looking at that painting. So mysterious. So perfect.) I took roughly 7,000 photos of everything else, though! Want to see some? I’ll take silence as a yes!
Cool bullet castle!
This lady, immortalized!
Crazy throne thing!
Sorry about the weird formatting. Believe it or not, the above is try number several, and it took me 15 minutes to get even that, so there ya go.
After the whirlwind but totally awesome flight through the De Young, we strolled though the verdant and vibrant park, pausing to tip and listen to the guitarists. Sigh. Bliss.
Our eventual destination was Haight Street, where we stopped for a cider at a Milk Bar (intentionally evoking the Clockwork Orange connection) for cider and rest. There was a lonely musician being largely ignored on stage, and cameras everywhere, which the bartender informed us that the owner used to keep tabs on his bar from home. Oh, and Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure was playing. Despite that, we left after one drink to explore Amoeba Records. We finished the day with picnic foods, wine, and movies at our Airbnb.
Monday we met Phil. Who’s Phil, you’re probably wondering (and rightly so). Phil was actually going to be staying with us the day we returned from San Fransisco. Yup, another Airbnb connection. Airbnb rules. Phil took us to this little diner in the mission that serves vegan seitan sandwiches and vegan Guinness shakes. #govegan and #awesome! After some great food and conversation, we took our leave of Phil and went back to Pier 39. The plan was to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. The wind had other ideas. No friggin’ way were we riding a bike at all what with all the gusting and bellowing Mother Nature was doing, much less across a damn bridge. We settled for chocolate at Ghirardelli and wine tasting at Wattle Creek Winery. The wine was good, the server was a racist dick.
The wind had taken a five minute breather for this shot.
Wandering around the Pier 39 area, we were about to cross in to said Pier proper when we hear, “Clayton! Oh my gosh!!! I can’t believe I’m seeing you here!” In a trip filled with synchronicity, we were graced with yet another happy coincidence. Clayton’s mom’s friend Lou was in town for a registrars conference, and was taking a break to explore the Pier. Life is harmonious sometimes.
One last stop at a bar with beautiful 1920s decor and bored, surly servers and it was time to go back for the night. We had an early flight.
And thus concludes San Fransisco new! Thanks for reading! Since almost two weeks have passed since our return, I’m going to blitz some of the interim new.
Tried: Daiya Swiss Slices. BEST. THING. EVER.
Watched: Argo. Did not like it. Also watched: I AM. LOVED it!
Tried: New Gym’s pool. Love that, too.
Tried: New wines. I probably loved them all, too.
Visited: Vie de Boheme wine shop. (Thanks for the Groupon, Matt and Natalie!) Tried pineapple champagne. Loved it!
Experienced: Two days of jury duty selection. Result? I’ll be spending three days next week hearing a case. Details to follow after the trial is over.
Read: Finally started Game of Thrones. The book is even better than the show, and the show is pretty gd fantastic.
Tonight: Going to Rodriguez!!! Got tickets off Craigslist. I can’t wait!!! Newness rules.
See you soon!
rozsnewthing 
