Beautiful views of the Pacific from Cliff House
Day 5
Friday, Sightseeing in the City
We took our time getting up this morning. After several days with deadlines, this was an agenda-free day. We read guidebooks and discussed how to spend our first full day in San Francisco.
We contemplated getting around by public transit, and finally settled on just grabbing a cab down to the terminus of the cable car line and riding that down to Fisherman’s Wharf. We walked down to 24th and Castro, where an SUV taxi appeared to be waiting just for us. The cabbie deposited us on Market and pointed at the spot where we needed to get on the cable car, and then we saw the line. My gosh! That line would fill at least four cable cars! We decided to walk through Chinatown and find someplace to eat lunch. As we were discussing lunch, we also decided it would be a good idea to take the hop-on/hop-off bus. That way we would learn what buildings and areas we were passing, and just get a better flavor of the city.
We got on the bus—excuse me, we hopped on[to] the bus—at Union Square, then rode to the Chinatown gates where we got off and checked out every restaurant for four blocks. We chose the Empress of China because 6th floor with a view over the city sounded cool. In retrospect, maybe we should have looked at TripAdvisor reviews first. Just sayin’. But the views were good.
After lunch, we walked a little more, got back on the bus, then got off at Pier 39, gazed at the sailboats on the windy water, walked around the pier to see the seals, then wandered around Fisherman’s Wharf. Seeing all the antique arcade games at Musée Mécanique was a lot of fun—look at how we had fun a century before all our electronic devices were invented! We paused for a drink at Alioto’s, then boarded the bus again. The temperature was dropping, we were freezing in the open top of the bus, but unwilling to move downstairs, as the views were great. We took a long ride through Friday afternoon rush hour across Lombard Street, then through the Presidio and Golden Gate Park before exiting the bus and grabbing a cab to get back home.
Friday evening we walked down the block and had dinner at Rin’s Thai Restaurant, highly recommended by our hosts. I am very naive about Thai food, but I had some fried noodles with beef and broccoli that I loved! This Thai was a success, in my book.
Day 6
Saturday, A Beautiful Day in San Francisco
On Friday morning, before leaving for our sightseeing, I emailed a cyberfiberfriend who lives in San Francisco and asked if she’d be in town on Saturday and if we could possibly meet for coffee or fabric shopping. She jumped on the chance to show me her favorite fabric store—Fabrix. Shams, as she’s known in the sewing blogosphere, and I have a lot in common. We both have/had careers as technical writers, we blog (hers is the brilliant Communing With Fabric), we have studied with the same teachers. The more time we spent together on Saturday morning, the more life experiences I learned were shared. She has turned from a cyberfiberfriend into a fiberfriend, to my great joy.
We agreed to meet in Golden Gate Park, where we would be able to easily find parking on a Saturday morning before 10:00. How much do I love that she sent me a selfie of herself and her car so I could find her? Love it totally!! Ten to fifteen minute drive from Noe Valley to Golden Gate Park, easy parking, hand the Jazzman the car keys in case he needed them. Then Shams and I hopped into her car and drove about ten blocks north to Clement Street.
Shams had given me a description of the fabric store, but I was totally unprepared for what I would find. Oh my god. Envision a single bee faced with an entire hedge of honeysuckle bushes, all in bloom and all for its own pleasure. That was how overwhelmed I felt walking into Fabrix. About an hour and a half later we walked out. I was carrying three bags and enough fabric to sew for the next year without buying another piece of fabric. Oooh, stretch purple pinwale corduroy for skinny pants. Oooh, stretch lace covered in sequins (black, of course) to make a tunic top for performances. Oooh, beautiful rayon/lycra prints for tunic tops. Died and GTH!!! (Yes, I did look at my bank’s app a couple of times to confirm there was enough money in my checking account to feed my addiction!)
I was getting anxious to not strand my travel partners for too long, but we took the time to run over to Fillmore Street and snoop around MIO, an incredible ladies’ boutique. I saw garments there that I’ve only seen (and drooled over) online. Oh my god—I petted a Mieko Mintz vest. When our brains could hold no more, we walked over to Eileen Fisher, another favorite designer. And then Shams took me back to GGPark so I could rescue my pals.
How did we live before cell phones and texting? I was able to find my travel companions easily, and we walked over to the De Young Museum’s Café and ate on the patio with cool breezes wafting over us. Then we walked back to the car, drove “home,” and crashed!
Well, we crashed after I showed Marilyn and the Jazzman my new stash. Then I walked to the post office (open until 4:00 on Saturday!!) and shipped two boxes of fabric home.
After so many days of activity, there just has to be a day when travelers crash. After napping, we couldn’t decide on a restaurant and realized there were lots of leftovers in the fridge, so we cobbled together a dinner and just took it easy for the rest of the day.
Day 7
Sunday, Another Beautiful Day in San Francisco
Ever since we had decided to vacation in San Francisco, we’d been hearing about the Sunday morning market on Clement Street. We knew parking would be impossible, so we walked down to Castro again and hailed a cab. The Clement Street market was a more traditional farmer’s market than I had expected—it was fruits, veggies, cheese, honey, and so on. No scarves or fabrics or handcrafted pots and bowls. We walked and admired but bought nothing, as we were flying out the next day.
We started searching for a restaurant for lunch, maybe something more typical than the Empress of China where we ate on Friday. After checking out everything in a five-block stretch, we settled on Troya Mediterranean Kitchen. Good food, good beer, good choice for lunch. Then we walked down 5th to Golden Gate Park, as the Jazzman had read in the newspaper that Comedy Day, the free outdoor comedy event in the park, was happening and he does love his comedy.
The best part of this adventure for me was the fact that we went to the wrong field first. In order to find the Sharon Meadow, we took lots of little backroad hidden paths through the park. Wow! An absolute feast for the eyes.
The event itself wasn’t so great. There were small-name comedians, but the big names weren’t going to come on until much later in the day, and we weren’t willing to stand for four hours waiting through mediocre performances. Besides, we had reservations at Firefly!!
Grabbed a cab and headed home. Some of us napped while others sat in the backyard working on needlework. (Go ahead. Guess who.)
And then a block-and-a-half walk to Firefly. Now let’s be very clear: I am not a foodie. I have some dishes I like to eat, and even fewer dishes that I like (or don’t hate) to cook. But given the same block of time and the option to sew or cook/eat, I’ll choose sew every time. But Firefly!
Ahhhh, Firefly! This was, hands down, the best meal I’ve had in a very long time. The Jazzman and I shared “Awesome Tomatoes, Avocado, Arugula and Cucumber with Toasty Smokey Nut and Seed Crumble.” Aren’t I lucky that he doesn’t like avocados? I snagged every delicious chunk and popped them right into my mouth. For my entree, I enjoyed (Wait, there must be a stronger verb to describe this experience!) Roasted Delicata Squash, Carrots & Asian Pear with Mustard Greens, Cider Jus and Griddled Risotto Cake. I believe this is a concoction I could eat—happily—every single day.
Oh, wait. Dessert. Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with Cocoa Nib Crunch, Strawberry Cream Cheese Ice Cream, Milk Caramel and White Chocolate Crumble. Holy mother of culinary org*sm heaven. Oh, wait. And this wine: Chardonnay, Arrowood Vineyards, Sonoma County. New Favorite!!!
Honestly, have you ever seen me rhapsodize so over a meal? This was the meal. This meal! Wow.
There was one other thing we noticed about Firefly and haven’t stopped talking about since. The table at which we sat was a long “family style” table. But it was artfully divided with an e-NOR-mous vase and flower arrangement. A) It was stunning, reaching almost to the ceiling. B) We barely noticed the family seated on the other side of the floral arrangement. At the same table! Brilliant use of flowers!!!
And our final day in San Francisco had drawn to a close.
Day 8
Monday, Killing Time until the Red-eye Leaves
We had to check out of our lodging by 11:00, and had already cleaned the kitchen, so walked a couple of blocks to the Diamond Cafe for coffee and pastries. Back at the apartment, we finished packing, loaded the car, said goodbye to our lovely landlord, and headed out for another adventure.
I wanted to experience the ocean some more before we left, so we drove through SF one more time, west past Golden Gate Park, and out to Cliff House. What a treat! Beautiful views. Giant rocks covered by pelicans sunning themselves. Lots of history in that building and the surrounding structures. After half an hour of snapping photos, we headed down Route 1, to approach Half Moon Bay from the north.
My passengers enjoyed the incredible views while I kept my eyes on the curvy road. Once in Half Moon Bay, we stopped at It’s Italia for lunch. Get this: I loved the Italian bean soup so much I’m going to try to learn to make it!! Me—the non-cook—truly approached a dish as a cook!!
After lunch, walking back to the car, I saw a store with “fiber art” written on the window. I found some beautiful Noro yarn, part cashmere, in Fengari, and grabbed two skeins and a pattern for some creativity once we got to the airport.
Then we got back on Route 92 and headed east, this time with San Mateo as our destination. I wanted to see the bay and the ocean in one drive. I got a little lost on the trip across and through the mountains. Oh, the megamilliondollar homes we passed as we struggled to find our way through the hills above San Mateo! And then we were in Seal Point Park. I think we must have stood there for half an hour or forty-five minutes, feeling the wind plastering our hair back. We watched planes approach SFO. We were astonished by the kiteboarders. We watched the cars crossing the San Mateo Bridge. Just amazing.
And then we got back in the car, stopped for gas, and six miles later were in front of the terminal at SFO. Because we were going to check a case of wine (smiley face!), I dropped Mike and Marilyn at the terminal with all the bags, and the Jazzman and I drove a few miles to drop the car at Hertz. After a rail ride, we were back at the terminal, checked in, through security, finding something to eat, and amusing ourselves until 10:00, when we would board the plane.
Four-and-a-half-hours later, we were wheels down in Pittsburgh, waiting half an hour for the shuttle driver to retrieve us and return us to the hotel to pick up Mike’s car.
And since then, we’ve been recounting the vacation to all our friends, telling them anecdotes, and talking about when we’ll do it again.
