My recollection of Thursday October 1st.2009.
I got up and showered and made coffee at about 5 am. Its never a problem for me to wake up early as long as I am doing something I want to. So it is always a pain to get up for work, Because I don't want to.
I got up and showered and made coffee at about 5 am. Its never a problem for me to wake up early as long as I am doing something I want to. So it is always a pain to get up for work, Because I don't want to.
We called a cab and it showed up faster than we even needed it. Our driver was about the size of our suitcase. I felt bad having him load the trunk but the little bastard had a lot of pride and I let him struggle with the bags. Fuck it, I am on vacation right?
When we got to the airport I was happy to see our airline, since it is a new one, shares a gate with International flights. This made it super easy to check our bags and get through security. The terror threat was at orange! But this is Logan after all.
When we got on the plane we were all very happy to see we all had our own televisions, music, video games, all the entertainment anyone should need. You could even order food off the screens and get very recently release movies. This was not free but convenience has its price. I had to spring for a Bloody Mary and a beer too. Not to mention a little bagel and fruit kit thing.
We got off the plane, claimed our baggage and got on the BART heading North into the city. We were headed to 16th Mission, my parents all the way into Oakland to the MacArthur stop. The BART puts the T to shame. It is cleaner and more comfortable. It has padded seats and is carpeted, which now that I think of it is actually pretty gross. But at lease it is easy to navigate. Passing through Daly City we saw the little houses made of ticky tacky up on the hill. The ones made famous by the song! My favorite version is by Pete Seeger but everyone and there momma has redone it. Especially now since that show "Weeds" chose it for there theme song. It was definitely easy to see where they drew the metaphor from. They were all little houses and they all looked just the same. We got to our stop, made plans to meet my parents the next day in Berkley and went up to the street to see how dark San Francisco's heart was.
Pretty god damn dark if crackheads, crazy bums and tweakers can block out the sun. We had to find our new home for the next nine days on Natoma St. It was only 2 blocks away and we got there in no time. One great thing about The Mission is the diversity. On our street we were staying in a nice condo but there was also section 8 housing, printing shops, auto repair shops and crazies taking stealth poops. I liked it right away! Seth, our gracious host had decided to take an extra long lunch hour to greet us face to face and show us our new digs. We were reintroduced to Judas Priest, Seth and his wife Shana's Wheaten Terrier, we hadn't seen him since he was a puppy. He was happy to see us and showed it by back pedaling and wagging his tail and barking and all other sorts of wicked maneuvers. I had been thinking about a burrito, so Seth took us over to his favorite taco truck. A five minute walk away in a Best Buy parking lot. They had tongue and tripe and all sorts of stuff I was to pussy to try. I settled on the carnitas super burrito with hot sauce and walked back to eat it at the kitchen table. Seth had a business call to make and had to get back to work after that. We ate our delicious treats and decided it was time for an alcoholic beverage.
We walked a big square around The Mission but had no luck, most bars open at 5 there. But it was good to figure out the lay of the land. We ended up back at the BART station and took it down to the Embarcadero. I love it down there but it was better before they razed Justin Herman Plaza. One of the most famous skateboard spots ever. I was lucky to visit when i was 14 or so and got to ride on the red bricks with my tiny wheels. To see in person how big The Gonz gap really was and to grind the ledges at least once before getting removed by security after just a few minutes.
Courtney looked around at the vendors at the bottom of Market St. and I watched some guy ride backwards circles on his fixed gear and do stupid little 180's. She bought a bracelet, I clasped it on her and we crossed Embarcadero to walk around the Ferry Building and get that drink. The Ferry building is huge and beautiful inside, full of specialty shops almost all having to do with food. Or maybe all. We finally found a place to get a beer at The Market Cafe. A sort of touristy place, but we got to sit outside in the sun with the breeze coming off the bay and we were just in time for happy hour. I had been looking forward to having a Fat Tire but when I ordered one it came in a bottle and not a draft. Not so good. I switched it up to Anchor Steam. Courtney and I each had a few and watched a lot of Giants fans walking back from the day game that had just ended a little while ago. It was a good place to people watch. San Francisco is full of eccentric's
and I like that. By this time it was getting to be around 5 or so. We payed the bill and headed back to The Mission, dinner was on our minds and it was the first night of many to try new restaurants!
We got off the plane, claimed our baggage and got on the BART heading North into the city. We were headed to 16th Mission, my parents all the way into Oakland to the MacArthur stop. The BART puts the T to shame. It is cleaner and more comfortable. It has padded seats and is carpeted, which now that I think of it is actually pretty gross. But at lease it is easy to navigate. Passing through Daly City we saw the little houses made of ticky tacky up on the hill. The ones made famous by the song! My favorite version is by Pete Seeger but everyone and there momma has redone it. Especially now since that show "Weeds" chose it for there theme song. It was definitely easy to see where they drew the metaphor from. They were all little houses and they all looked just the same. We got to our stop, made plans to meet my parents the next day in Berkley and went up to the street to see how dark San Francisco's heart was.
Pretty god damn dark if crackheads, crazy bums and tweakers can block out the sun. We had to find our new home for the next nine days on Natoma St. It was only 2 blocks away and we got there in no time. One great thing about The Mission is the diversity. On our street we were staying in a nice condo but there was also section 8 housing, printing shops, auto repair shops and crazies taking stealth poops. I liked it right away! Seth, our gracious host had decided to take an extra long lunch hour to greet us face to face and show us our new digs. We were reintroduced to Judas Priest, Seth and his wife Shana's Wheaten Terrier, we hadn't seen him since he was a puppy. He was happy to see us and showed it by back pedaling and wagging his tail and barking and all other sorts of wicked maneuvers. I had been thinking about a burrito, so Seth took us over to his favorite taco truck. A five minute walk away in a Best Buy parking lot. They had tongue and tripe and all sorts of stuff I was to pussy to try. I settled on the carnitas super burrito with hot sauce and walked back to eat it at the kitchen table. Seth had a business call to make and had to get back to work after that. We ate our delicious treats and decided it was time for an alcoholic beverage.
We walked a big square around The Mission but had no luck, most bars open at 5 there. But it was good to figure out the lay of the land. We ended up back at the BART station and took it down to the Embarcadero. I love it down there but it was better before they razed Justin Herman Plaza. One of the most famous skateboard spots ever. I was lucky to visit when i was 14 or so and got to ride on the red bricks with my tiny wheels. To see in person how big The Gonz gap really was and to grind the ledges at least once before getting removed by security after just a few minutes.
Courtney looked around at the vendors at the bottom of Market St. and I watched some guy ride backwards circles on his fixed gear and do stupid little 180's. She bought a bracelet, I clasped it on her and we crossed Embarcadero to walk around the Ferry Building and get that drink. The Ferry building is huge and beautiful inside, full of specialty shops almost all having to do with food. Or maybe all. We finally found a place to get a beer at The Market Cafe. A sort of touristy place, but we got to sit outside in the sun with the breeze coming off the bay and we were just in time for happy hour. I had been looking forward to having a Fat Tire but when I ordered one it came in a bottle and not a draft. Not so good. I switched it up to Anchor Steam. Courtney and I each had a few and watched a lot of Giants fans walking back from the day game that had just ended a little while ago. It was a good place to people watch. San Francisco is full of eccentric's
and I like that. By this time it was getting to be around 5 or so. We payed the bill and headed back to The Mission, dinner was on our minds and it was the first night of many to try new restaurants!
We decide on A San Francisco institution Pizzeria Delfina on 18th and Guerrero. It was Seth, Courtney, Shana and I. They had us wait on the sidewalk under there heat lamps which I thought they really didn't need. But it was a nice touch. They brought us out beer and wine for everyone. Well everyone except Shana who had just told us she was Pregnant to our surprise! Well, Courtney had a flash of clairvoyance and had guessed she was preggers a little before we left. But it was a surprise to me. Our wait was short and they put us four at a tiny table. Seth and I looked stupid all squeezed in together but the food was really good. I got a side of some yummy Italian collard greens and some home made mozzarella. We got a couple margheritta pizzas too. And a few more beers of course. By this time everyone was tired, except for me. I have so much energy on vacation it's probably almost annoying. But I don't care, I have to use every second to so something fun. We made our way back to Natoma St. where I had another beer or two. Then I went to bed and tried to sleep. I know I must have but it seemed like I was just lying there with my eyes closed for hours. It ended up being like that almost every night. I was up the next day at 730 ready for some more adventure and a big coffee. It was like that every morning.
For me, the times we were in the pubs together were the best. -- Dad
ReplyDeleteEven though those were definitely great times. I don't think night time at the festival can be beat.
ReplyDelete