In Ani DiFranco's song God's Country she cries out:
Guess I came out here to see some stuff for myself,
I mean, why leave the telling up to everybody else?
I couldn't think of a more appropriate beginning to this post. We recently went to San Francisco. As I look back at the trip it was the definition of seeing, experiencing, and living. So I wanted to offer a brief recap of the trip, and delve into the real substance.
We arrived later in the afternoon on Saturday and got our first crack at the big city, via none other than BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). What a great start to our trip, especially because my wife loves to conquer public transportation. She has always modeled that we should get around the same way that the people who live in a city get around. And that was what we did, and with her at the wheel we easily navigated the route and quickly arrived at our destination. Powell Street, and for those of you who are familiar with San Francisco's downtown area, you may know Powell Street. It is the starting point for the cable car route, and let me say it is jam packed full of people. Really a great opening act for the city as you could not find a more diverse crowd. So we come up from the BART station on escalators right into the heart of the city, and boy was it beating loud and fast. We jumped right into the mix and headed to our hotel, just a few short blocks up the way.
We stayed at the Stratford Hotel, just outside of Union Square. What an amazing energy this area had, I contribute that to the thousands of people that seemed to be constantly jostling from one place to the next. Many tourists, and locals, the best t-shirt I saw read, Go Love Your City, which I found particlularily funny due to the fact that almost all of the shops had I Love San Francisco T-Shirts. The irony struck me as hilarious. But the journey continues as we had a ball game to catch, Dodgers vs Giants at AT&T park.
So we took an F Car to the ball park, and that was another in what could have been complicated scenarios, made easy by my wife's undaunting spirit that this is the only way to experience the city. We arrived and found ourselves sitting club level, and took in all of the awesome food and sites the stadium held. We sat next to some great people who were far more interested in our son than the game. Until the bottom of the 8th when the Giants scored the go ahead run, and the chants of beat L.A. began...It was a great welcome to a wonderful city. As we left the stadium police were on there way to break up a fight and the riot team was deploying as the ensuing pandamonium was coming with so many Dodgers fans in attendance. We made it back safe and sound to rest for the next day.
In the morning I ran down through the financial district of San Fran to the wharf. I was immediately greated as I left our hotel door by an innocent looking young lady who asked if I could spare a few dollars, as she had recently lost her purse. It was mind you 5:30 a.m., and while I did not have any money to offer I wished her the best and set off for the run. Which held many more eye opening experiences as I must have run by close to 200 homeless people living and sleeping on the streets of one of the richest cities in our United States. I am still trying to understand the impact of what I saw, but immediately I felt a desperateness to the situation.
Upon returning to the hotel we were off to catch a cable car to the fisherman's wharf area. The ride was a great time and I think it is a must do, but go early as we had only a 5 minute wait to board a car. I did see the line later grow to what must have been more than an hour. I wouldn't say it is worth standing around that long to ride. The wharf was awesome, my highlights were walking around with my wife and son, and seeing Alcatraz.... Which suprisingly didn't see nearly as ominous as I always thought. We didn't take the tour, but saw it from the shore. We also saw Lombard Street and the Golden Gate Bridge, both of which were cool. This also served as our introduction to the terrain in San Fran, and let me tell you it is crazy with hills...
From the wharf back to our hotel for our son to nap, which allowed us to eat and recharge for the coming afternoon. Which led us to 2 famous districts in the area. The Castro and Mission district's, and they exceeded expectations. I couldn't believe the architecture of the area and the stunning sites and sounds around every corner. Our son continued to win over hearts every step of the way along the journey, it was awesome. We finished off with dinner at a wonderful taqueria that offered some great food and ambiance. Mission had some great murals on the streets that poured out the beauty of this area. Caught the BART back home just in time for our son to crash, what a day in the Bay area!
Monday morning I decided to run up our never ending street to the crookest street, the hill seemed to never end but the run was made short by all of the sites and sounds. I was on the outskirts of China town and saw several older people out doing their morning tai chi exercises, as the sun rose I came down Lombard Street admiring all the city had to offer and it was truly spectacular. When I got back to the hotel I grabbed a coffee and chai tea for my wife, talk about a perfect morning.
From there we were off to Coit tower and China town. We decided to walk to China town as it was pretty close, but we got too early of a start as when we got there most of the shops were closed, no problem we decided, why not continue to the tower, by foot of course. This proved to be a tremendous way to see the city, and build muscular endurance as the same time, remember above... The terrain is intense, so sweating and ready for a drink we arrived at the top, only to find the tower closed. Still we got to see the wonderful view, and change our sons diaper, offering enough of a break for our spirits to decide the foot tour was by far the best and off we headed, back to China town. On our way back we walked through North Beach which is a predomoniantly Italian area and the shops and streets were amazing, hilly but amazing.
We made it to China town and just kind of anonymously flowed with all of the foot traffic along the sidewalks. I can only imagine this is what any chinese city must feel like. A great experience that offered some really....unique shopping?
From China town back to the hotel to get our rental car figured out for the drive ahead to Monterrey...... This took some time as you can't just walk into a rental car place in Frisco and get a car, it turned out the city didn't have any cars available. No problem, BART to the airport and 30 minutes later we had a car, and another 30 minutes later we had the car seat installed. A lesson in team building an communication later and we were on our way down the storied Pacific Coast Highway, all of the rumors don't do it an ounce of justice, simply amazing.
We arrived in Monterrey, and didn't quite know where our hotel was, but come on now, after how easy San Francisco had been, we can surely find this, right? An hour later, and several lessons in communication and team building later we arrived. Feed the little man, change his diaper, and off to dinner.
The next morning we were on our way from Monterrey along 17 mile drive, offering some of the most spectacular ocean scenary I have ever witnessed. We saw some great golf courses and wonderful views. A truly amazing drive, full of breath taking sights. I didn't know that it was so stunning, but it was unforgetable. I am including a picture of the "Lone Cypress" as evidence, it is the led picture above.
From there on to the renowned Monterrey Aquarium. Really a cool spot in a great location along the ocean. The highlights here for me were the amount of educationally aimed material for children and adults alike. Our son loved the touch pools and interactive tunnels, it was fantastic. On our way out we grabbed lunch and headed towards a Redwood Forrest in search of the mystical Redwoods..........
Only to find that we missed the turn off and once we realized we had, didn't think it was prudent due to time to circle back. Damn the luck, still a great drive, but my wife continues to remind me of my poor naviagational skills, and how much she wished she had the chance to see a redwood. Next time I guess.
Back into the city and on our way to Haight and Asbury Street area, the birthplace of the hippy movement. It was a really ecclectic area and lived up to the billing, in honor of the experience my son got breastfed in a local coffee shop, and nobody even noticed! Back to the hotel afterwards, via taxi, then BART, as we had an early flight the next morning.
Now if you have made it this far in my ramblings, first thanks for caring enough to read. But second, seize the moments to create memories. We will be talking about this trip until our next one, which I hope won't be very long. But don't leave the telling up to anyone else, create your story and share your memories in the hopes of inspiring others to create and share theirs!!
