Arrived back home from San Francisco to a suddenly green valley:
I also returned to a toddler who saw me, said, "Mommy!" and then said, "Bicycle!" and ran outside to play. It was a pretty touching reunion.
I immediately packed up the Tiny Dark Lord and drove to Utah County (aka Cache County's unwitting nemesis) to spend a little bit of time with Jen, the Precii, and my Dad. And not to be braggy or anything, but there was a surf 'n turf seafood feast courtesy of Dad and it was awesome. Just, you know, throwing that out there.
One of us possibly looks bigger than she really is (ok, was) due to poor posture and super-slimming horizontal stripes. Possibly.
J line Metro to the Mission--took me forEVER to realize that what I was looking for wasn't a bus but was a subway. Sneaky. It was like looking for Platform 9 3/4 there for a while.
Gorgeous weather requiring sunblock. GH offered to apply some to the part in my hair and ended up smearing about 1/4 a cup of the stuff in there. So I looked awesome.
Bi-Rite Creamery. I got honey lavender and hazelnut with dandelion cocoa nibs, GH chose salted caramel and banana. We stood in a line of about 10 people at around noon, and when we walked past later in the afternoon that line stretched down the block and around the corner. Well played, in retrospect, us!
Tartine bakery. We snagged the bread pudding with strawberries, a morning bun, and pain au chocolate to go, which I munched on all afternoon. Have to say though that the bread pudding, while delicious, was soggier than I prefer. The quiches and croque monsieurs looked amazing.
Imagiknits yarn store was nearby, so I snagged a cuddly skein of Malabrigo Worsted to make the fetus a San Francisco souvenir.
Beet salad at Dolores Park Cafe. I had to stop texting my sister Jenny to tell her every time restaurants had gluten-free breads and macaroons because I would have been texting her constantly. Also, I love all the beautiful water dispensers with the mint leaves and lemon slices inside.
Japantown, where I checked out bento box cuteness but didn't have time to wait in the massive lines. Probably for the best, since maybe those things were full of chemicals anyway.
Kabuki Sundance Theatre, watched Much Ado. Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker, who played the leads, were there to introduce the film and did a Q&A afterwards. The movie was lots of fun, and I enjoyed hearing some of the behind-the-scenes stuff.
Then GH grabbed some chicken at Popeyes, which had the distinction of being the filthiest eating establishment I've ever been in. (And some of you have seen my kitchen.) I wasn't hungry but this place would have tanked my appetite.
Losing steam. GH has gotten stronger and more used to the constant walking, whereas I started strong but get slower every day. Plus either the pregnancy or the shift in elevation or both has my gravity all off and I feel like the ground is moving under me. Which is fun. Took it easy today (Day 5) and killed time in low-key ways, like checking out the Westfield Mall food court, which was amazing and had all these local restaurants and served food on actual dishes instead of paper or plastic. Also we paid eleventy-million dollars to see a matinee of The Croods, until it was time to catch the Bart to the airport, whereupon we learned about the...
...cancelled flight. Yeah. Mechanical something. So now we are in a hotel in South San Francisco and will catch a flight tomorrow morning.
I really was ready to get home, and I wasn't going to be able to wait until the morning to sneak into the Dark Lord's room and pick him up and snuggle him. I had to settle for a FaceTime conversation with him where we sang Old McDonald before Spitfire put him to bed. She and my sister-in-law are saving the day tomorrow by trading off so TDL doesn't have to get picked up by Family Services or whoever it is who takes in abandoned children.
Wish us luck that things will go smoothly tomorrow!
So much of the riding of buses. So much. Including one time when we went the wrong direction for a block.
The California Academy of Sciences, on what must have been Get a Special Discount if You Bring Your School Group And Also the Loudest Group Wins a Real Live Pelican Day. The rain forest with the birds and butterflies was pretty awesome. I could have stayed there for a lot longer, even if the sight of youths trying to catch butterflies gave me hives.
Checked out the cafeteria menu in the museum. Hot dogs were $7. Had a good laugh, then went outside and ate some of my cheese.
Got on a bus and took it up near the Palace of Fine Arts. Found a little pizza place for lunch, then hit the Dynamo Donuts kiosk on Marina Green. Was underwhelmed, probably should have gone earlier in the day when they would have been fresher. GH got the maple apple bacon, I got chocolate spice.
Walked through the Presidio until my legs cramped, made it to the Walt Disney Family Museum. Which was cool, and had a special screening of Snow White playing. (YAY for the resting of feet!) Also the bathrooms there were very nice:
(Take a page, Parks Service. Your Alcatraz bathrooms were Nas. Tee. If the inmates had soap and hot water, I don't see why I should go without.)
Then walked around even more to locate the Lucasfilm offices for GH. Found them, once I was hobbling and halfway to death.
Dinner and shopping in Chinatown, followed by Parks & Rec back in the hotel on the iPad. Ron Swanson is good for tired muscles.
Being warm. Turns out that's the difference between a thin cotton cardigan and a thin merino wool cardigan. Thank you, wool. And thank you, sheep.
Traveling with an iPhone. I held out forever and was all pooh-pooh you iPhone people, i don't need such a thing as that, i just need to be alone with my thoughts and my poetry, but now that I have one? Yeah. Best ever. There is a SF public transit app that I used to reassure all the worried British and Norwegian students at the streetcar stop that the car would be there in 2 minutes and that we would arrive at Alcatraz Landing at 8:56am. And they all looked at me as though I were the Goodness Fairy, which took the edge off later when the mentally ill woman on the streetcar started shouting prolonged obscenities at someone whose shoulder bag touched her.
Tour of Alcatraz island and Prison, which has a library!
Fairy Codmother fish and chips and fried Oreos. It felt so nice to have a cheery British person call me "my darling" as I ordered fried fish, you have no idea.
The Exploratorium in its new home on Pier 15.
Having it proven that my hands really are cold all the time. Proven by SCIENCE. And infrared cameras.
Seeing live baby chicken embryos and bursting into tears at the tiny little heartbeat. Ah, hormones...
Ferry Building Marketplace, where I bought all the things, including a wedge of Mt Tam triple-cream cheese from Cowgirl Creamery. They gave me a sample in the store and then stood quietly when my eyes closed and I had to take a moment. They must get that a lot.
Dinner and dessert in East Bay with Lady Steed and Kip. Dinner was stuffed Chicago-style pizza with mushrooms, spinach, and cheeses at Zachary's. And a spinach salad for folate. Dessert was ice cream at Ici, which I loved and wanted to transport all my sisters and Mom to. The 11 flavors of the day were things like brown sugar graham cracker marshmallow (GH's pick) and candied Meyer lemon (my pick) and chocolate hazelnut praline and rose cardamom and I know not what. Plus the cones are homemade, with a plug of dark chocolate in the bottom to keep your ice cream from dripping through. Genius.
It was so great to see my friends. We met our freshman year of BYU when we were all on the same floor of Stover Hall, wearing overalls and being terrified of those marriage-hungry RMs we kept hearing tell of. Turns out we didn't need to worry--none of them were interested in us. Like, for a goooooood long while. And now I've slept in a bit and am about to get up and see about that Mt Tam situation in the mini-fridge...
Ran into this Alaskan guy at the Salt Lake Airport. Weird . . . He will be in UT for the next week, so we will get to hang out.
Took the Bart to the hotel, then walked through Chinatown towards Fisherman's Wharf. Discovered that the Golden Gate Bakery with the egg tarts is closed for vacation. Almost threw a grief hissy right there.
Picked up City Passes, ate clam chowder from Chowders.
Aquarium of the Bay
Musee Mechanique
Ghirardelli Square, including hot fudge sundae
Old-school street car ride back to hotel, complete with drunk guy carrying open bottle of liquor and inviting college girls to come enjoy the view from his balcony. They declined. Smart girls.
Thanks so much to everyone for your San Francisco suggestions! I leave tomorrow morning and am so stinking excited. Except I'm trying not to think about the part where maybe the Tiny Dark Lord will think that I've left forever and will either go into a decline or will start calling my sister-in-law "Mom" and then I will have to throw myself in a well, provided I can find one.
Ahem. Deep breath.
Wanted to share a few pics from Baby Animal Days, which I've been to before. This was the TDL's first year and I hoped he'd get a kick out of it.
Things he did seem to enjoy:
The tractors
The four-wheelers
The hot dog
The chips
My water bottle
Being carried the entire time
Things that terrified him:
Goats
Piglets
Baby Lambs
Baby chicks
Baby ducks
Baby bunnies
And this is a kid who is not afraid of dogs or cats and who loves taking carrots to feed the neighborhood horses. But get a baby chick near him . . .
He did warm up to the bunny, as you can see. But the first few pictures were of him trying to burrow into my armpit so that Bunnicula couldn't get him. Also, that baby lamb sucked on my finger. At which point I died of happiness but had to remain standing so that TDL could stay several feet above the terrifying newborn farm animals.
Did you guys know that this is how baby horses eat because they have such long legs? I swear I do not know what precious thing they will think up next.
My daffodils and crocuses (crocii?) are up, and yet. It keeps snowing and being cold. I like this not at all. But hey, I'm going to San Francisco next week, so suck on that, Spring! I realize that the weather in San Francisco can be cold and windy and rainy, but by Grabthar's Hammer, it won't be snowing. This week their forecast shows 70s and sunny. I can definitely take that.
So yeah, I'm kind of excited. I went with my family a few times when we lived at Travis Air Force Base in the early 1990s. Am going to go ahead and spare you the pictures of thirteen-year-old me at Fisherman's Wharf with frizzy(er) hair and light pink sweatshirts with sailboats on the front from Coldwater Creek or whichever old lady store supplied my clothing. You are welcome. I haven't been back since a brief trip in 2000 for Lady Steed and Theric's beautiful wedding. (How beautiful? Click here.)
What's even more exciting is that my sister-in-law offered to watch the Tiny Dark Lord for us while we are gone. Spitfire is also going to get in on the babysitting action, and I am trying to think of really nice thank-you gifts for both of them. I will miss my baby's sweet face and his spirited rendition of "Yellow Submarine," but I am kind of beyond thrilled to be taking an adults-only sort of trip.
We leave Wednesday morning and come home Sunday night, and I wanted to be sure to float my itinerary so that wise people can weigh in and make suggestions that are not on here but will send me into the depths of despair if I miss out on them.
Here are a few of the things on my list of must-dos and maybe-dos. We bought the San Francisco CityPass, which gives us public transportation passports (not planning to rent a car, and our hotel is decently central--kind of between Nob Hill, Union Square, and Chinatown).
Other things from the pass that we hope to do: Alcatraz Cruise
California Academy of Sciences
Exploratorium
the SMOMA, unless we decide we don't want to be cultured
One bummer (for us) about the pass is that the price barely went up because it now includes the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is 2 hours away & we aren't planning to go there. Oh well.
Oh! Has anyone been to the Disney Museum at the Presidio? We are looking into that.
GH is beyond thrilled because we snagged tickets to see the premier of Joss Whedon's new Much Ado about Nothing at the San Francisco Film Festival. You may remember that I married a rabid Joss Fan. The theater is in Japantown, so I will be shopping for bento boxes and Japanese dishes beforehand.
I am beyond thrilled at the possibility of getting together with Lady J and our good friend Skip, who both live in the area. Also GH has a delightful cousin who is even now looking at her schedule to see if we might be able to work out a meet-up.
The other thing I'm most excited about is the food. Now that I don't spend every evening lying on the couch while holding my stomach, gurgling, and hating everything, I kind of want to eat the whole city, especially all the stuff I've been reading about on everyone else's blogs of hipness.
Lots of what I want to try is in the Mission district: Tartine Bakery Bi-Rite Creamery, with ice cream flavors like salted caramel and honey lavender and I know not what La Taqueria Dynamo Donut: They have a maple donut with bacon on top. Ron Swanson would approve.
And then I will take those foods to that Dolores Park Playground everyone recommends and eat them. I might check out the two yarn stores in the area as well.
Then there's Chinatown:
Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory Golden Gate Bakery (The people on Yelp are losing their minds over the egg tarts. What? New forms of custard to ingest? Don't mind if I do.)
Seafood: Chowders on Pier 39 (a family tradition) The Codmother Fish & Chips (British food truck with deep-friend Snickers and Oreos, awesome )
Am trying to decide on a sit-down seafood place that moves up from the $ to the $$ category but does not get all $$$ crazy. Yelp has recommendations, but does anyone here have any favorites?
Also, I've never tried oysters. Is anyone else a fan? I realize that pregnancy is probably not the best time to go for the raw seafoods, but wouldn't you think you could find some pretty fresh, reputable ones in SF?
So. Anybody else have any good things to add to the list?
I am a ranting LDS librarian bent on global domination. Feel free to browse around and add your own snarky goodness to the mix.
.png)
