Trip to San Francisco

Friday, February 24, 2012

It was 7:55am on Friday, February 24th, when I landed in San Francisco, 20 minutes earlier than my 8:15am expected arrival. It was my first time visiting SF and I was highly excited. Drew had given me detailed instructions on how to get to our meeting place so I had a pretty good idea of what I was doing before ever doing it. I took the AirTrain to BART and BART to 16th St and Mission. The scary sounds of BART took me by surprise. The wheels squeaked against the tracks and the wind whistled loudly as it surrounded the subway that flew through the underground tunnel. It reminded me of a haunted house roller coaster as it rattled and whistled and sped up and slowed down. I made it to my stop and came above ground to find myself in the city. People were gathered at the top of the subway station. Right away I saw a few bums, drunks and crackheads. I was probably not in the best part of town. Still, I was very excited to be in the city! lol. I walked some 10 blocks dragging my luggage behind me through streets and hills, slowly coming out of my clothes as I got hotter and hotter the farther I walked. Finally, I made it to my destination! I stepped into Duboce Park Cafe and awaited my Drew.

Duboce Park Cafe had water with lemon and water with oranges set out for customers to serve themselves. This was glorious after all that walking and luggage lugging. I ordered a coffee and bagel with lox sandwich. The sandwich was delicious! I ate half before Drew walked in. I was SO happy to see him! He gave me a super tight hug and we exchanged smiles and hellos. It felt just like old times and from that moment, I temporarily forgot all my problems.

It was a short walk to Drew's house. He took my luggage like the gentleman that he is. Soon, we came upon a gate and inside the gate stood three identical doors right next to eachother. The first door lead to the first floor, the second door to the second floor and the third door to the third floor. Each floor is an apartment or a flat. I found this very new and interesting.

Drew lives on the third...

We then spent some time catching up, checking out what he's done to the place - his artwork, petting his roommate's very friendly fluffly kitties, smoking, and getting ready to hit the city!

First stop: Haight-Ashbury District. We walked from Lower Haight to Upper Haight which turned out to be quite the work out as a great deal of the walk was uphill, but it was worth getting a feel for the city.

One of our first stops in Haight-Ashbury was Squat and Gobble Cafe & Crepery... which was aaaaaaamazing! I ordered a mimosa and a nutella crepe, since it's what Drew raved about. It was delicious! The mimosa was so yummy I wanted another, but went with champagne alone instead. Now we were off to a good start.

 

We continued our walk up Haight St. During our walk we came across a costume shop (where I purchased some fun sunglasses) and we walked into a health store looking for cigarettes and then laughed at ourselves when we realized how dumb that was. We went into a clothing store and I bought a gorgeous (orange, brown, beige and teal) scarf, as well as some fancy long gold earrings. Tons of different little shops, bars, and restaurants lined up Haight St.

TIP: I've learned buying accessories I ordinarily purchase make for better city souvenirs than what is currently sold with no actual use.

I saw a pinup lingerie store that reminded me of my friend Lola Coquette and her VaVaBoom Burlesque girlies.

We now needed to use the restroom and in order to do so were (gladly) forced to buy a beer at the nearest spot, since restrooms are for paying customers only.

Lucky for us, we walked into Asqew Grill on Haight St. and were surprised to find it was happy hour and many of their delicious options were only $3/each, including beer. We were just there for a beer, but the aroma of grilled ribs and chicken skewers, with a $3 price tag, was more than we could resist. I ordered ribs and macaroni and cheese with my beer. Drew ordered ribs, hot wings and mac and cheese to go with his beer.

After a long walk, a little shopping and some good eating we were too sluggish to try walking back to Drew's, eventhough it would've been a downhill walk from that point. We jumped on a streetcar and were back at Drew's in no time.

By that time it was almost five o'clock. I gathered my luggage and Drew helped me lug it to the Muni (SF Municipal Transportation) stop. A ride and another uphill walk later we arrived at The Donatello Hotel, where I checked in.

The complimentary coffee and hot chocolate on the 15th floor (Club Level) also came with a nice view from the balcony.

We enjoyed our hot chocolate and then headed back to the room. I was going to take a short nap while I waited for my friend Brooke to arrive. Drew was off to volunteer at his roommate's play.

I laid down at about 6:30pm, expecting to be up by 7:30pm so I would have some time to get ready before Brooke arrived at 8:30pm. I was so amped up from the day's activities and the hot chocolate that it took my brain a while to settle down, eventhough I'd been up since 4am for my flight and was extremely exhausted. 

The hotel did not make it any easier for me to sleep. My window was open, letting in the crisp cool SF breeze, but the balcony below my floor was filled with chattering people. I could also hear noise coming from the hall and at one point a housekeeper knocked on my door. I wondered what she could possibly want at 7pm, but I was too tired to care. Eventually, she'd go away. I finally found sleep some time after 7pm and woke up at about 8:50pm! I had about 5 missed calls and I felt terrible! Had I kept Brooke waiting after she'd traveled 2 hours on public transit to come see me?? Luckily, Brooke had just gotten to the hotel and was making her way up the elevator.  

I took only a second to get ready since we weren't going far, just to Zingari, the restaurant downstairs. We were planning on having drinks, but my stomach wasn't really up for it, so we had cheesecake instead! lol. The waiter was extremely rude from beginning to end. I would've thought it was because I was Mexican/Cuban, had it not been for the blonde sitting with me. I think he wasn't happy we weren't ordering dinner and thus, felt we were wasting his precious time.

Brooke and I chatted for a couple of hours before her hubby showed up to pick her up. Drew came back with champagne and OJ and a nice care package. =) He was ready to get the party started. I said, "how about we have that for breakfast?" He looked disappointed for a brief second, but then we both passed out. lol

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Good morning, San Francisco!

The next day I woke up at 7am and as soon as I awoke I could hear protestors through our open window. I couldn't make out what they were saying. The chanting was loud and continued for an hour in the same song-like tone. There seemed to be hundreds but I couldn't see where they were or where the sound was coming from.

The shouting stopped as suddenly as it started and all noise ceased. I don't think we noticed when it stopped. We started our over-indulgence right away. We had some mimosas and then headed to the 15th floor balcony for some coffee/hot chocolate and a cig. Brooke and her hubby would be by around 2pm to take me to Muir Woods, so I wanted to make sure I got to some sights before then.

I got a little bit ready (or as ready as you see here above.. lol) and we were off to the Muni to have breakfast in The Castro. Drew claimed I HAD to go to Cafe Flore, and so I did. I ordered eggs and french toast (because I can't have sweets without some protein for breakfast) and an iced chai tea. Drew got the huevos rancheros, which looked so amazing. 

After our delicious breakfast we went back to Drew's to regroup. He changed and got ready while I chilled for a bit, played with his roommate's cats, and rushed him... teehee. Once again, we were off! We headed to Union Square, which was only a block from my hotel. I saw all of the amazingly enormous buildings of corporate America: Macy's, Tiffany's, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Neiman Marcus, oh my.

We came across a Picasso and Chagall collection at a Weinstein Gallery and I was in utter amazement. I was beyond happy to experience such incredible art. And it was free! Even better. I went with Drew to H&M where he purchased a white cardigan. We also stopped at Urban Outfitters.

Leaving Urban Outfitters we spotted Blondies Pizza. We stopped in for a slice. I had the Mexican chicken and Drew had the pepperoni. The Mexican chicken consisted of things I'd never had on a pizza, such as black beans and corn... It looked delicious and it was! They put it back in the oven before handing it over, so it was extra toasted, just the way I like it.

We headed back to the hotel, where I changed and waited for Brooke and her hubby to arrive. They picked me up promptly at 2pm.



Brooke and her hubby took me over the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods, an enchanting redwood forest in Marin County. Brooke said Rise of the Planet of the Apes movie was filmed there. I could see why. I felt like Alice in Wonderland. The forest was so beautiful it felt unreal. We walked the trail for two hours enjoying the sites.



The sun would soon be coming down and it was definitely getting chilly so we started our long walk back to the car.

Leaving Marin County...

Crossing back into the city...

Brooke then surprised me by taking me down Lombard Street! =) I had read about this crazy winding street before arriving in San Francisco so I immediately recognized it and was very excited she took me to it (and down it). The street was lined with tourists snapping pictures and I couldn't imagine how awful it would be to live there.

Upon my arrival back at the hotel I took a nap and waited for Drew to arrive. We then proceeded out for some good Italian!

My new scarf happened to match my dress...  =)

My dinner and Drew's dinner.. followed by my dessert and Drew's dessert: 

I wanted to share a dessert, but not only could we not compromise on a dessert.. but Drew didn't want to share. lol