SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
7/9/04-7/13/04
We always get a strange feeling entering San Francisco. It is either going to be sleepless "debauchery" or mellow relaxation. We were hoping for the latter, and we got it. Friday night, we hung out at Clint's and Peter's in Noe Valley, had a few drinks, and watched mindless television and Peter eat Top Ramen and Cool Ranch Doritos - ok, maybe we helped him eat the doritos.
Brunch - well lunch by the time we rolled out of bed the next morning - at Kate's Kitchen in the Haight with Lydia, Clint and Kristen was delicious. Notwithstanding Mike's incessant cell hpone calls in our continuing efforts to rent out the house, we managed to get him some good conversation and finish our meal. Unfortuantely, Lydia had to go to plan her wedding and pack for her move to D.C., but Clint and Kristen wandered around the city with us for a few hours. We went shopping in Hayes Valley, checked out city hall, and ended up at the Orbit Room, which featured San Francisco's "best bartender" - Alberta - according to several local publications. We are essentially talking about a drink artiste, who made each and every drink with fresh ingredients she personally brought from home. PUt it this way, you will wait a couple of minutes for a drink, but it is worth it. Peter and Steven shoed up as well, which was a nice rounding out of the group.
That night's dinner was at a great Peruvian tapas restaurant called Destino's, which was just down the steret from teh Orbit Room, near Market and Valenica. The happy hour crew was supplemented with Fish (a.k.a. David Warner) and Chelsie, adn steven's buddy Gore, who had just moved to San Francisco. After stuffing ourselves at Destino's, and taknig a picture with our waiter - Rubin - (who was also a local DJ who Steven happened to know), we had a few "digestifs" at Dalva's in the Mission. Then, with good judgment, we called it an evening.
Sunday was washday, followed by some of the best burgers and veggie burgers, as well as some really good bloody marys at this old biker bar - Zeitgeist - in the Mission. A special appareance was made by the Judge (a.k.a. Sara Mann), who then accompanied us to the East Bay for a fabulous hike in Redwood State Park. Mike Faruggia (the Judge's dude) and Nicole Smith joined us. Too bad the camera was "M.I.A." again, as we are pretty sure we saw Ewoks (yes-another Star Wars reference - sorry) hiding in the forest. Who would have thunk it - Ewoks and redwoods in Oakland. We topped the night off with some great pizza and conversation at Audrey and Doug's place just down the street from the hike. Fish and Chelsie joined us once again, with their two puppy dogs. These two dogs, along with Audrey and Doug's black lab - Hogan - and their two kids Nicholas and Lukas (both of who are adorable), made for quite an evening. Don't know what it is with the name Luke though, as this one will join Luke Childers in the NFL one day.
Although we planned to leave Monday morning, we stayed in town, among other reasons, to see Andres (who had been out of town) and Lisa Rosenthal. We had a great lunch at the Old Ferry Building (where Clint is lucky enough to work). Mike and Clint had Ahi Burgers (don't knock 'em until you try 'em). We then spent more money on things we "needed" at REI and packed up the car. Later that evening, we had some cocktails at Lisa's awesome pad in Noe Valley, where the Judge presented Mike Newhouse with a shirt with an iron on of Farah Fawcett (featured in the Portland pictures), which was courtesy of Mike Farrugia. Classic! Thanks Faruggia. Shirt in tow, we joined Andres and Clint for dinner at a yummy Mexican join in the Mission, whose name we cannot now remember, even though we have both been there before. Clint, the Judge and Lisa went off to bed after dinner, mumbling some crazy talk about having to go to work teh next day, but Andres accompanied us to the movies, where we saw Anchorman, which we give "two thumbs up." All in all, it was a great weekend, with great conversation, great food, and great friends. |
