san francisco part 1

Tonight we got back from a weekend trip to San Francisco. Lelaine went for work and I tagged along.

We arrived Thursday afternoon and were picked up by Lelaine's cousin Maya, who took us to their new place in Burlingame. When her husband Tyson (FYI-Maya and Tyson are the ones who got married in Cabo last year) came home from work we headed into the city for dinner. We ended up at Tacolicious, which was my favorite meal of the trip. We tried the carnitas, chicken, beef, filet mignon, and chorizo tacos. The chicken was the winner, although all were worthy of the name of the restaurant.

Another interesting part of the dinner was eating outside. Although the weather was sunny and warm in Burlingame, it was cool and foggy and in the city. The cool temps pleased me, although Lelaine was pretty chilly even though the restaurant had heaters and blankets. Tyson had a softball game after dinner, and I felt sorry for whoever was playing in the outfield because the fog was so thick I don't know how you could follow the ball off the bat and into the thick, wet fog.

Friday morning we woke up early. Lelaine headed to her meetings and I headed in the direction of bacon maple donuts. Earlier this year we saw a story on a Food Network show about Dynamo Donuts and I was compelled to try it out. The place was interesting - a little shop in the Mission playing a Reel Big Fish album - and the donuts were good, although I wasn't blown away.

After donuts I planned on renting a bike, but I knew the place I was picking it up wasn't open until 10am, which meant I had some time to kill. I walked through the Mission, rode the subway back to downtown, and then walked to the ballpark. The little shop still wasn't open, so I walked around the baseball stadium and saw all the Giants wall of fame plaques, including Will Clark, who was one of my favorite players while growing up.

I finally got my bike and set off. We had only been to San Francisco once before and we did a lot of tourist stuff on that trip, so this time I wanted to see some of the different neighborhoods. Despite several people telling me I was nuts because of the hills, like the one in the picture to the right that shows the street our hotel was on, I thought a bike was the best way to do it and had planned out a route to take me through a good chunk of the city.

I started at the baseball stadium and went north on the Embarcadero, passing the Ferry Building and Fisherman's Wharf, until it ended and went through Fort Mason and the Presidio all the way up to the Golden Gate Bridge. The combination of my legs already bothering me and the heavy fog nixed my plan to ride across the bridge. I continued west/south down the Presidio along a nice road with great views of the bay opening up into the Pacific.

At this point I had gone about ten miles and was getting thirsty and hungry so I stopped at the Tee Off, which we had seen on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, for lunch. I went with the pulled pork, which I believe was one of two items on the show. Like Dynamo's donuts, the pulled pork was good but not amazing. However, a guy next to me at the bar got the pork chop, and judging by the way it looked it would have fit in the amazing category. To the other side of my bar stool was a pretty interesting individual. He had quit his job the day before and was celebrating unemployment. He was mad that I would neither do shots nor go to a strip club with him, but he had some very entertaining stories to tell.

At that point I was pretty tired and faced a decision - continue west to the beaches along the Pacific and pass through Golden Gate Park or head back to where I began. I decided to press on, going up a long, steep hill until I descended down a road along the Pacific. I hadn't realized there were such big beaches right in the city and I took a short break to watch some surfers before going into Golden Gate Park. I made another stop when I stumbled across an archery range that was getting a lot of use, which I thought was kind of odd being in the middle of a big city. My map indicated there were a lot of other interesting things in the park, including gardens and a big AIDS memorial, but I was pretty tired and was ready to get the ride, and the hills, behind me...after I made one more stop.

California has a ton of breweries, including some that make some great beer that isn't available in DC. Before the trip I had located a couple bars that had things on tap I would enjoy, so after getting out of the park I stopped in Haight at Toronado for a Pliney the Elder, which many think is the world's best IPA. When I got to the bottom of the first glass I saw the sun was coming out, so I left the bar to finish the final leg of the trip in the sun. Conveniently, the 21st Amendment brewery just happened to be on my walk back to the hotel, and as I drank a Brew Free or Die IPA my legs felt all 25+ miles I had covered on bike and foot.

Lelaine was working through dinner, so I had arranged to meet my cousin Sean after he finished work. We have only seen one another at a couple of weddings in the last few years, so it was nice to see him. He and the whole Furber family seem to be doing well.

The combination of Lelaine had a long day of work, my long day of play, and a full agenda for Saturday meant and early bedtime on Friday.

Here are all of our pics. Sorry there aren't a ton - the weather felt great, but made it difficult to get many good shots of the city.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11931858@N00/sets/72157624785641222/