Home Again, Home Again

[quasigeostrophy]

Back home again after a week in California with aliciar. Had an absolutely fantastic time!


Friday: Early flight to Memphis. Met aliciar there and we flew together to San Francisco. Delayed leaving for an hour due to fog at SFO (please don't let the fiascos start so soon!). How spoiled I have been by Hertz #1 Club Gold service - getting a rental car the normal way seemed quite the hassle. Guess I'd better get used to it. Ended up with an SUV rather than an economy car, but oh well. The bay area was quite foggy and cool upon our arrival. We had to get lunch, and in a post-air travel mental state ended up stopping at an In-N-Out Burger in Daly City. The drive to Santa Rosa was crazy - some of the worst traffic I've been in, but I suppose it was to be expected on the Friday afternoon before Labor Day weekend.

It was my second visit to the Charles M. Schulz Museum and aliciar's first. It was just as cool this time. The temporary exhibit was "The Peanuts Gang Plays Ball", concentrating on the baseball strips. The weather in Santa Rosa was sunny and gorgeous - welcome to California, land of the microclimate. After touring the museum, we headed back down to Daly City, stopping first at the Golden Gate vista point on the Marin Headlands. Most of the view was completely fogged in, and it was extremely windy. The fog rolling over the hills was beautiful, but not much else was visible. We got to 7patches and the_ogre's place and I showed the_ogre my photography portfolio. 7patches arrived and we all went to Marie Callender's for dinner.

Saturday: After procuring caffeine, with time to kill before meeting some other folks in Berkeley, Al and I decided to tour Scharffen Berger Chocolate. Heather, the tour guide, while passing around their chocolate sauce near the end of the tasting part of the tour, commented it was good with ice cream, strawberries, etc., "...and it makes a great body paint."

Still early, we hit a couple of bookstores on Telegraph Avenue, just off the UCB campus. I managed a parking maneuver that would be the envy of my Boston driver friends. I was driving along, heading for the parking garage near campus when Al saw a parallel spot just ahead on the right. I was in the left lane. I managed to check the right lane and cut across into the spot in a matter of seconds. We then checked out Shakespeare & Co. Books and Moe's Books (thanks, mactavish and others for reminding me).

For lunch, we met a large group at Picante. It was attended by aliciar and myself, along with red_frog, klwalton, joedecker, amazon_lori, ozzi_dawg, mactavish, dryadgrl, forbiddenone, cassidyrose, catzen, ptor, odosonata, serenejournal, stonebender, Li, Lou, Chris, and Damon. Lunch and the company were both terrific. Afterward, many of the group went to Good Vibrations. computerchix had put out a challenge to see which WomBAT would make me blush in the store first. Al chose not to participate. I cannot remember what he said, but joedecker would have won, actually. :-) We stood outside the store for a long time, chatting and laughing. Eventually, Al and I followed Kathy and Magi back to Kathy's house, where we had dinner (an awesome yet simple salad) along with Tim, I showed my portfolio, and we saw many of Tim's photos from Iraq. Didn't want to leave, but we had a four-hour drive down to San Luis Obispo for the weekend. Arrived at our hotel there around 1:30 am.

Sunday: Breakfast near the hotel, at The Apple Farm, and then we browsed for a while at a Border's nearby. In desperate need of caffeine, I think we found the only free-standing McDonald's in the state of California without a drive-thru. We drove down to visit marea93, passing through Pismo Beach ("and all the clams we can eat"). We met marea93, her son and his girlfriend, her father and his partner, and later, her daughter showed up as did cassidyrose and catzen. It was a good time.

Monday: After breakfast at the hotel (bleah), Al and I headed up California Highway 1 to see the coast. Somewhere past Morro Bay, I'd swear I saw a pair of lesbian cows. One was hunched over another in a rather compromising position, and did not appear to be male. We stopped at several places to take photos, including the Hearst Castle visitor's center (didn't take any of the tours this time through) and the state beach nearby. After lunch in Gorda, we wound past the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur. Hopefully, some of my photos of the area will come out well. I shot the Bixby Creek Bridge and some pelicans at Point Lobos. We had dinner at Kabul in Sunnyvale, but too late to meet with cjsmith as we'd hoped. Got back to Daly City late, and got to see the_ogre's portfolio.

Tuesday: City Lights Books in San Francisco was a must-do. Wandered Chinatown for a little while before the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art opened. Got to see the Marc Chagall exhibit there. He has never been at the top of my artist fantheon, but there were some nice works I had not previously seen. For a free Tuesday, the crowd wasn't too bad. I'm fairly critical of modern art, but it was a nice museum. Lunch at Chevy's was followed by a fun trip to the Cartoon Art Museum and a look at a rather poignant inaugural exhibit of the International Museum of GLBT History, "Saint Harvey".

Dinner with firecat and her OH was at a great New Orleans style restaurant (can't remember the name at the moment) - I had a terrific red beans and rice dish with Andouille sausage and bread pudding for dessert. Afterward, we watched a taped original Japanese episode of Iron Chef (the Beef Tongue episode) - much smart-assitude ensued, all tongue in cheek (*ducks & runs*).

Wednesday: It's a bad thing for Al and I to have caffeine and Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast. A very bad thing. I can't even remember most of the silly things we were saying. And that was when we were coming back down. We were supposed to meet klwalton, red_frog, and amazon_lori at Stormy Leather, and cjsmith and gs were going to arrive later. However, they didn't open until Noon, so Al and I drove over to the Castro district in order to get an advance look before exploring in more depth on Thursday. Then, at CJ's suggestion, we checked out Mr. S. I tried on a $350 pair of leather pants. I'm not really sure how to describe it, but wearing them made me feel... different. Al certainly approved.

cjsmith and gs arrived while we were there, then we walked over to meet the others at Stormy Leather, where red_frog said something to me (I have a horrible memory these days) that would have won the Make Dan Blush Contest. Back with cjsmith and gs to Madame S, the companion store to Mr. S, across the street. CJ tried on a couple of corsets, a dress, and a very cool long skirt. May I just say *whimper*? "Ice breaker" indeed. :-)

We all walked over to the "Sleazy Sixth" neighborhood, to have a late lunch of excellent ginger chicken at Tu Lan. As advertised, it's a little greasy hole in the wall. But oh, yum!!

Al and I then headed over to Berkeley for the evening. We parked for a while in the area of Shattuck and University, checked out a bead store, and then tried to walk to where we thought Serendipity Books was. After making quite a trek and not remembering where it was, we turned around (aliciar - It's almost to San Pablo Ave., so it would have been quite a walk from where we gave up). Al also found an Imported Indian fabric store. We visited Black Oak Books and then met 7patches for dinner next door at Saul's Deli. After dinner, the three of us went to a contra dance nearby. It was my first dance outside the Midwest, and Al's first contra dance ever. The crowd was a little smaller than the regular weekly Indy dance crowd, and I detected a few more "Dance Nazis" (those experienced dancers with little or no tolerance to help (or even put up with) the beginners) among the experienced group than I liked, but the caller and band were very good, as were my partners throughout the evening.

Thursday: The Castro isn't just for breakfast anymore. But a Greek omelet at the Cove Cafe was a great way to start the day. Al and I made several stops wandering along Castro and Market before hitting the road. We then encountered the scariest thing I've ever seen in San Francisco (or just about anywhere): We were driving along Franklin toward the waterfront, in what seemed to be one of the nicer neighborhoods, when we saw a San Francisco police officer standing next to a car pulled over to the side of the road. He appeared to be merely talking to the driver, when suddenly he drew his gun and pointed it in the driver's window and started shouting. I've never hit the accelerator so quickly to get us out of the vicinity. Eek.

We stopped in Ghirardelli Square for a warm brownie sundae before walking down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions and get some photographs around the waterfront (including Al in front of Alcatraz). Next, we drove back across the Golden Gate Bridge to get a more clear view from the Marin Headlands vista point and take some more photos. Hiked up from the roadside parking area to the vista twice, as Al wanted her camera and I forgot my polarizing filter.

Drove back down to Chinatown/North Beach for dinner at The Stinking Rose. It was absolutely wonderful. Had the Forty Clove Garlic Chicken and split a dish of garlic ice cream for dessert. Garlic ice cream actually works. Mmmmmm. However, computerchix says I still smell like garlic this morning. After dinner, we drove through Haight-Ashbury, making notes to stop there on a future trip, and stopped at a beach just south of Cliff House. Watched the gorgeous sunset (and the crazy surfers in that chilly water) before finding our way back to our hosts' place without the aid of a map or using the freeway, through a part of San Francisco I'd never been. Go me. :-)

Friday: Morning came too early as Al and I had to get to SFO for an 8:15 am flight to Detroit. SFO was the least busy I'd ever seen. I think I had Al brace too hard for significant hassles, and it really wasn't that bad, except finding gas for the rental (that wasn't over $2.25/gallon) before turning it in.

Needless to say, it was a great trip. Met some new folks IRL who were just as wonderful as I'd expected, and saw many more terrific folks again. My favorite bits:

- The Schulz Museum. Tastefully understated as always.
- Hanging out with klwalton, red_frog, Tim, and aliciar Saturday evening.
- Meeting marea93.
- Driving along the Big Sur coast.
- Hitting several used book stores and finding some excellent items despite showing great purchasing restraint (and totally avoiding the San Francisco Library's "Big Book Sale" on Thursday at Fort Mason).
- catzen's Yoda/Darth Vader slash references. *shudder*
- The Cartoon Art Museum.
- Trying on leather (and "helping"/watching cjsmith do the same).
- Walzing with aliciar at the contra dance and not stepping on her toes... much.
- The Stinking Rose.
- Sunset over the Pacific with aliciar.
- Spending 7+ days with one of the most terrific people I've ever known and love dearly.

Comments

[geekchick]

Sounds like a wonderful trip! I'm glad you had such a good time. Sorry I totally missed you; we were on our way to Chico by the time you got in, I think.

We then checked out Shakespeare & Co. Books

This might be the first trip I've taken to the Bay area where I didn't go in that store or The Other Change of Hobbit. Heh. I can't seem to get out of Berkeley without obtaining a new stack of books for some reason.

I tried on a $350 pair of leather pants.

GIF! GIF! GIF! ;)

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

My favourite memory of Wednesday at Stormy Leather was Dan, standing in the middle of the store, plaintively crying, "I don't have my camera!"

:):)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Missed The Other Change of Hobbit. Probably a good thing for my wallet. :-)

GIF! GIF! GIF! ;)

Unfortunately, as klwalton notes below, I didn't bring a camera along to the leather places. If I can find cheaper ones at, say, a Wilsons or likewise, perhaps I'll own a pair sometime soon and I'll post a pic sometime thereafter.

[red-frog.livejournal.com]

IMNSHO, you don't want those pants anyway. You should be able to get a better-quality pair for ~$200. I was not impressed with the overall leather quality at SL.

I believe my comment was something along the lines of suggesting that you check out the posing pouches. ;)

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure it would fit - do they come in XL?

;-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks for inviting us along for the San Francisco shopping run! I enjoyed it, including the mountain of ginger chicken. (Glad I tried on corsets BEFORE lunch.) :-)

Next time I wanna see you trying on leather pants. Missed that!

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

It crossed my mind before I went into the changing room, "I wonder if I should wait until CJ gets here." Sorry about that! ;-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Perhaps another time. No apology necessary! :-) Mmm, leather pants. :-)

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

We had to get lunch, and in a post-air travel mental state ended up stopping at an In-N-Out Burger in Daly City.

I miss the olden days, when the bumper stickers read:
IN-N-OUT
BURGER
and folks adapted them with scissors to say:
IN-N-OUT
URGE

The new ones just say IN-N-OUT.

The drive to Santa Rosa was crazy - some of the worst traffic I've been in, but I suppose it was to be expected on the Friday afternoon before Labor Day weekend.

Just northwest of Santa Rosa is the Russian River area, which is summer vacationland. It's a nice, full, tepid river all summer long, and Guerneville, the biggest town along it, has three leather bars for only 1000 residents in the town. It's Northern California's gay vacation land. deyo's mom lives up in that area, and though it's technically only a two hour drive, we try to allow four on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.

Somewhere past Morro Bay, I'd swear I saw a pair of lesbian cows. One was hunched over another in a rather compromising position, and did not appear to be male. We stopped at several places to take photos. . . .

Cow porn? ;)

We were supposed to meet klwalton, red_frog, and amazon_lori at , and cjsmith and gs were going to arrive later. However, they didn't open until Noon, so Al and I drove over to the Castro district in order to get an advance look before exploring in more depth on Thursday. Then, at CJ's suggestion, we checked out Mr. S. I tried on a $350 pair of leather pants. I'm not really sure how to describe it, but wearing them made me feel... different. Al certainly approved.

ARGH! I wish I hadn't had to work all week. I would have loved that trip. joedecker thinks, if I recall, that just about all men should wear leather pants. He gets a lot of mileage out of his. ;)

CJ tried on a couple of corsets, a dress, and a very cool long skirt.

You had your camera, no? :)

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Just read the other comments. Sorry about your not having a camera. :(

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

IN-N-OUT
URGE

*snicker*

Cow porn? ;)

Leave it to you to find the non sequitur there. :-)

[city-glitter.livejournal.com]

Ahh...this post makes me feel old. I haven't been to SF and City Lights in eight years. :)

Glad you had a great time!

[red-frog.livejournal.com]

Glad to have been part of that great time. :)

BTW, if you're interested and memory serves (we kind of made it up as we went along and based on what klwalton had handy) that salad was:
romaine and spinach
one hard-boiled egg for each person
heirloom tomatoes
diced Kalamata olives
avocado
leftover grilled salmon
one slice bacon for each person, and then the bacon grease mixed with a little fruity vinegar and tossed into the salad

Had we had them, we would have added artichokes. That salad and its ilk is a great way to use up leftovers.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Yum! Reading the recipe, I can almost taste it again (and I didn't even know what an heirloom tomato was). I bet artichokes would have made a nice addition. :-)

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

It was Fini balsamic vinegar. Later we decided we should have tossed in some dried cranberries, and we lamented, once again, my lack of artichoke hearts.

It was yummy, wasn't it?

[firecat]

The N'awlins restaurant is called Creo La.