San Francisco

San Francisco. Where do I begin?

San Francisco, above all things is expensive. We had much difficulty finding a hotel within the city that wouldn't break the bank. My mom however came through and let us utilize some of my parents hotel points to get a room for two nights at the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf! Thank you mom and dad.

BUT....Our first of three nights in San Francisco we actually stayed at the Holiday Inn near the Civic Center. Apparently the Civic Center is a dangerous neighborhood. We saw lots of homeless people but no violence, which we found out after the fact, is very high in that area. Phew for us. And I will just mention quickly that we had a few issues with the Holiday Inn as well as most guests checking in, so I would highly recommend not staying there. Starving from a long day of driving we headed on the bus over to Herbivore for a late dinner of fresh squeezed juice and tempeh sandwiches.

In the morning we went to Fisherman's Wharf and walked along the water seeing the individual piers. We then went to Coit tower and overlooked the city and Alcatraz. Being a fan of Jack Kerouac I wanted to see Jack Kerouac Alley where the writer used to frequent in his youth. The walls are painted with various poetry of the beat generation and it was surreal to know I was standing in the same place where some of the most influential American writers spent their nights.  We then walked down to the Chinatown district where a very crowded street fair was occurring. I felt like we had walked through a time warp and ended up in Asia, there was so much going on, colors, food, and culture! It was great.

Next we checked out the farmer's market which is every Saturday AND all year long! It easily rivaled Pike Place Market and I would guess that 99% of the goods were organic AND local which made us very happy. After sampling some local fruits we hopped on the trolly car to check out the Castro District, San Francisco's famous LGBT neighborhood where the once Castro Camera store (now turned furniture store) still stands with a huge painted mural of Harvey Milk in the window. This neighborhood, once a refuge for gays and lesbians across the country, turned turmoil fueled neighborhood, then back to refuge is proud with it's rainbow flags and openly accepting attitude. The Haight Ashbury district once heavily plagued by drugs is now a happening artistic neighborhood comprised mainly of young professionals and artists alike.

Our third day in the city we got up early and went to Pier 39 to check out the Sea Lions which live their and bask in the sun on floating docks. We then went to the SFMOMA so Jack could check out art exhibits and I could browse the Richard Avedon exhibit. What an incredible photographer he was! Avedon makes me want to learn so much more about portrait photography. The rest of the art at the SFMOMA was intriguing as well, and they also boast an outdoor rooftop sculpture garden where you can take off your sandals, lay in the sun and sip on a cappuccino.

That evening we met up with Joey, an old college friend of mine and got some food while we caught up and reminisced about college. Hard to believe it's been three years since we graduated...time is really flying by! It was great to see him and know that he's using his engineering degree to it's full extent, but I cant help but be a tad jealous. :)

On our way out we stopped in San Jose to check out the Winchester Mystery House. Striking and odd architecture set the scene for this Victorian home. Thirteen windows are in most rooms, staircases lead to the ceiling, and chimneys end before even exiting the house. Sarah Winchester, heir to the Winchester fortune, started creating the house after she lost both her husband and daughter. She blamed the spirits of those killed by the Winchester Rifle for the deaths of her family and set out to build a house that would never stop being built, to confuse the spirits that followed her. It's sad to think that Sarah Winchester really just had a broken heart and was in mourning for her entire life after losing her loved ones, but her house is a testament of dedication and perseverance, and for that I must admire her.

I absolutely loved San Francisco. We were able to hop off the trolly car and buy a veggie dog, or venture further into the heart of the city where you could mingle with the locals, find yourself lost in one of the many boutiques, or lazily lay about in Golden Gate Park. One day, I would like to call San Francisco home...but it'll be a while before I can afford to move out there.

Update We fixed the link and our full set of San Francisco pictures are here!. Also, I'm embarrassed that I completely forgot to mention a fabulous little Mexican place we went to for dinner on our second night in the city. Colibri located not too far from downtown and easy accessible by the trolly car offers a moderately priced home-style mexican menu with a twist. The service and ambience were great as well as our meals. I had a mashed cauliflower dish topped with creamy mushrooms and cheese in a light tomato sauce and Jack had the Chiles Rellnos. To top off our night we had coffees and melt-in-your-mouth Mexican chocolate cake. We would highly recommend this place!