Category Archives: san francisco

A Lot of Pictures

I am sunburned. Walking around for three days straight has left me rather red, and my face matches my hair.

I started the day at the corner of Haight and Ashbury. It was interesting going into all the little shops, and overlooking the city. However, after two hours I headed back in the direction of Telegraph Ave.

Of course I decided to walk the 4.5 miles there, and got lost on several occasions, making the trip more like seven miles.

Yet, getting lost in San Francisco is more like a treat. The buildings are gorgeous.
I got to the top of Telegraph Avenue, climbing all of the steps, and this is the view:
I have never been a full four days without the kids before. It is weird not having them with me for this long. I miss them. But I needed this trip. I stopped at the local toy store and bought them a few keepsakes. They are toys, but a bit more special. I need to teach them to take a little more care with them.
I got this for Ducky:
For Ally, I got a pretty fairy with butterflies. She likes that sort of thing.
Then I went to the Beat Museum. It is a small little venue, mainly dedicated to Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, among other beat poets and writers. Even though I initially planned on going to three other museums, there just wasn’t enough time. I looked around their shop for a bit and bought a few things.
I didn’t buy this, but I found it amusing:

I got this other magnet for my daughter. I can’t wait until she is old enough to come to San Francisco with me. Only another year or two and I can bring her to the most beautiful city. Ducky, unfortunately is still a few more years away.

In the meantime, I hope to instill the above sentiment into my daughter. I hope she makes history.

I bought these magnets for myself.

I am only ever one of these things at a time.

The gift shop also had this:

A bathtub full of books. Yeah, I may have squeaked.

Here are some pictures of the museum:

I ended my evening by going back to The Hidden Vine for dinner. Tonight they were open. For a Saturday evening they were rather empty. Maybe they are a little too hidden. The girl working the bar informed me it had to do with the holiday weekend. But that’s alright, I got a giant lounge area all to myself (where I actually took the above pictures of the things I bought for the kids).
The food was amazing, and I continued with what has recently become my normal diet as of late, flatbreads with champagne.
The whole place is very ambient. I enjoyed sitting here for a while.

This weekend was just… beautiful.

Amazing

I am on vacation and I am blogging. I know, I know. But after a very full day I need to unwind. And I just washed my hair, so I can’t go to bed yet.

I arrived into the city late this afternoon. The picture below is of me driving across the Bay Bridge.
Unfortunately when I originally planned this trip I had not taken into consideration that it is Fourth of July weekend. There wasn’t a terrible amount of traffic, and no more people than usual, but a lot of the places were closed. I am terrible at navigating all the one-way streets, so I parked somewhere in the middle, and walked everywhere. I was originally going to to go to The Hidden Vine for dinner. They have amazing reviews, and the pictures look gorgeous. They too were closed. I will try them again on Saturday. Every coffee and pastry shop within a five mile radius was closed. A lot of the tinier, but wonderful, restaurants were closed.
After having driven all day, and at this point had been walking for over an hour, I was famished. I was about to pop into any restaurant that looked decent. I stumbled upon the Colosseo Ristorante. It was a charming little Italian place, and I had amazing ricotta and spinach ravioli.
The view was very nice. I didn’t take a picture of the view since there were a lot of other people sitting directly by the window. But it was nice. Just trust me. Yes, I brought a book to dinner. Why not?
I ended the evening going to Fisherman’s Wharf to watch the fireworks. But I was not really feeling it, so after having staked out a good spot, I left. I walked around for about an hour before returning to my hotel room.
Parts of the city at dusk.
Walking in between buildings.
My hotel room isn’t great, but they have some very nice amenities. And by amenities, I mean their shower. Oh my God I just had the most amazing shower ever!! And the shampoo! I felt like one of those girls in the Herbal Essences commercials. I need to find out what brand they use. Then buy a tub of it.

Logistics

I am currently trying to piece everything together. It is slow, but coming along. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle that somehow need to fit together and it takes a lot of planning. I think I have found a solution to one part, and then I realize it doesn’t work with another part. The logistics of everything are very confusing.

I think my upcoming trip next weekend will help me clear my head and figure everything out. I remember the first time I ever went to San Francisco. The first night I spent there. I stayed in an old Victorian style house converted into a hotel, much like the one that Tanya had her wedding in. It was lovely, but adjacent to railroad tracks or something. The entire thing shook all through the night. I was terrified.

The very next day I moved to the Holiday Inn that overlooked the giant pyramid like building. I still don’t know what that building is, but I love it. Maybe this time I will go there and find out.

It was late August, but very cold. I wanted to go swimming on the roof top. I did, but only for a little bit. These things I am sure happened. The rest, having been there so many times over the years, are blurred. I remember things, but I don’t know which trip it was. Sometimes I superimpose the memories, and they all drift into each other. It is like a panorama that encapsulates all of my visits, not distinguishing between years and times.

The only other time I have definite memories of was for Tanya’s wedding. It was beautiful. And it was a very busy week. We split our time between Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco. Busy, busy week.

I remember grocery shopping at Piedmont’s. And getting coffee at the Whole Foods down the street. Peet’s at every corner.

Book stores and whimsical shops. Beautiful architecture, and plenty of things to discover. I can’t wait.