San Francisco 2022 - Part II

Friday evening, back in San Francisco, we went to Japantown for ramen. We went here several years ago on a visit, before Covid. The ramen place is really great, and very popular. When we put our name on the list they said the wait was 90 minutes, but it actually didn't take that long. While we were waiting we walked around Dario, a typical Japanese "general" store, which means they carry a little bit of almost anything you could possible imagine. Dan and Kelsey bought a couple of ramen bowls and some rice bowls and I found some tapestry needles so I can weave in the yarn ends as I crochet!

On Saturday, March 5th, the plan is to do Section 3 of the Cross City Hiking Trail, the one that does a lot of steps. We stop in the Tenderloin for croissants to eat along the way. Then we take the metro to Forest Hill and away we go, high above the city, lots of steps, gorgeous views. The highest point is a park at the top of Mount Sutro where you have a 360 degree view of San Francisco, almost as high as Twin Peaks. 

Then down we go to see the the tile mosaic steps. Somehow we are lucky and there aren’t a lot of other people on the steps so it’s possible to take lots of pictures. They really are amazing. Up close there are so many little details, but if you stand back a little each flight is a picture of something wonderful, flowers, birds, butterflies, the sun, the moon and stars, even a giant lizard!

Because we gobbled up the croissants on our hike nobody is hungry for lunch. I’m actually worried that I won’t be hungry for dinner but that's not a problem! Lee had found a place called Causewell’s that was supposed to have the best burgers anywhere. We were going to sit inside but when we get there they have massive heaters outside so we put Kelsey close to one of them and we’re fine outside. My tummy is out of sorts so I opt for chicken, risotto and broccoli which hits the spot. I think my tummy was upset because I hadn’t eaten anything except croissants all day! Everyone else had burgers which they said were fine but not spectacular.

On Sunday, March 6th, Kelsey makes us pancakes for breakfast. She is an excellent pancake maker. I have two….and then one more….and then just one more. Thank you Kelsey!

We meet Kelsey’s friend and wander over to the Ferry Building where they are having a maker’s fair. The only booth that really delighted me was one where a woman had made all kinds of flowers, plants and FOOD out of crochet. Her daughter said she had designed them herself. I was so impressed. I should have gotten her card. 

We got some coffee and then went to the entertainment space next to Dan and Kelsey’s apartment building. A band was playing New Orleans music. It was the last day of mardi gras and almost lent. People had beads, and some people were dancing. We sat at a table a little ways off and just chatted and enjoyed the sunshine. Dan & Kelsey pointed out their apartment. You could tell which one it was because of the giant TV in the window. The windows take up two walls in the living room and kitchen. We couldn’t see a tv in anyone else’s window. I wonder where other people put theirs?

We had carry out chinese for dinner. It took a long time to be ready,  1.5 hours. Dan and Kelsey are disappointed in the food. They say its not as good as it used to be. I think it tastes just fine, but then I’m judging against typical midwestern chinese fare, not San Francisco standards.

We’ve had a great visit, but we miss the dogs and its time to go home. I don’t miss the weather however! Back in Minnesota, on Tuesday I run 5 miles and its 19F with a windchill of 4F. And its very very icy on the trail so its back to spikes, and even with the spikes I have to be careful. I was the only runner I saw, but it was kind of late. 

In 6 weeks we’ll be on our way to Hawaii! I can’t wait!

A California Wedding in LA for Teddy and Chris and a Visit to Daniel and Kelsey in San Fran

On Thursday afternoon I take the dogs to Doggiedoo in Shakopee, MN. They spent an afternoon there a month ago and I’ve had a tour and it seems nice and gets good reviews. But it’s not Diane, or even Free Dog and I can’t help but worry about my babies. But we’re going to my cousin Mark’s son Teddy’s wedding in LA, Teddy and Chris. I’m excited because I will get to see lots of my cousins.

It’s much better flying from Minnesota to California, only 4 hours instead of 7, a 2 hour time difference instead of 3. We get to LAX at noon pacific time and we’re at our hotel by 2. We’re staying at the Miyako hotel in Little Tokyo, practically in downtown LA. We’ve never been to downtown LA, or Little Tokyo. Downtown LA isn’t very big, but the heart of it could be Manhattan, tall tall buildings, busy streets, hotels, restaurants, diversity. Who knew!

Little Tokyo is nice, a little taste of Japan. We drop off our bags and head right across the street for ramen, pretty good too. Then we settle down in the room for a nap.

The rehearsal dinner is at something called the Ahmanson Senior Center, an airy room with an attached garden. They have name tags for everyone and it’s a good thing because there are a lot of people there all with complicated relationships with the bride and groom. Chris belongs to a large Mexican family and there are people there that are primarily Spanish speakers. Everything is being conducted bilingually, including the trivia game we play after dinner.

Dinner is tacos with all the fixings. There is beer, wine, water and soda to drink, and some fruit punch as well. Since it is Friday night, there is also a little challah at each table. Pretty cute.

We barely make it through trivia and the amazing ice cream sandwiches for dessert before we have to say goodbye for the evening and go back to the hotel. Even a 2 hour time change is hard for us old people.

In the morning I manage to sleep until 6 and then go for a 6 mile run. I head west for a couple miles until things start to seem a little sketchy. Then I backtrack, but turn towards downtown and run about a mile through the heart of the city before I head back to the hotel.

I’m hot and sweaty but even though it’s close to 80 it’s not that bad because the humidity is very low. I’m ready for some coffee and a breakfast sandwich so I head to Starbucks, and there are Michael, Lisa and Jim! So I text Lee and we sit in the shade and have fun chatting.

After a shower we walk through the shops nearby, then pick a bento box place for lunch. Very good! Then we check out the Japanese American History Museum across the street. Very interesting with lots of information about the internment camps during WW II. Shameful American history. All I could think, considering the current climate in this country is that some things never change.

Back to the hotel for another nap. Around 3:45 we head to Millbank for the wedding, a venue only a few blocks from the hotel. The ceremony is in an open courtyard, half sun, half shade. The sun is sunny and hot so everyone hides on the shady side, except a few of us that try to be nice and balance things out and therefore sweat like crazy through the entire ceremony. The ceremony is a creative blend of Jewish and Mexican-Catholic traditions. There is a chuppah, a lasso, the breaking of the glass. There are the Hebrew blessings, the Lord’s Prayer. Very unique and different.

After the ceremony we hang out and wait for the room to be ready for the reception, drinking margaritas and beer. We sit at a table with my cousin Barbie and her sons, my aunts and uncles, some friends of Mark and Amy from Newton. Later there’s lots of dancing, fun and charming toasts in English and Spanish, film clips of dancing from famous movies. It’s Hollywood after all!

We leave around 10 and make our way back to the hotel.

Barbie!

In the morning we get to the airport easily for a short flight to San Francisco where Dan and Kelsey pick us up at the airport. The weather is cool and sunny, radically different from LA. We go to a park with food trunks in the Presidio, eat mini donuts, then walk down to Chrissy field and watch the wind and kite surfers. The wind is brisk and some of them are just flying across the water.

Then we make a dinner reservation at Central Market. We hang out at the bar next door, Trick Dog, which specializes in very esoteric cocktails. I get one with scotch and lemon and other weirder ingredients that is good, strong but good. Lee just gets his standard martini, Daniel gets something simple with vodka, but Kelsey gets one of the weirder tasting cocktails I have ever experienced. It tasted like something a bit rotten frankly. She drank it, and I was impressed!

Central Market was yummy. We got fry bread with burrata, and various pastas. Everyone had good stuff, but I thought my squid ink pasta was pretty awesome.

On Monday I got up around 5:30 and by 7 I was out the door for my run. So nice to run in the 50’s, foggy and cool. I run for 60 minutes using a 30/30 run/walk interval. Then I'm supposed to run 2 minutes at a 10k pace and then 2 minutes at a marathon pace, 8 times. But I miscalculated and thought 24 minutes was 8 repetitions when it was actually it was only 6. Fucking math! But no biggie, it was actually plenty, 8 miles total, a good workout, and we did lots and lots of walking later on.

After an avocado toast snack and a shower we are out the door and off to get dim sum at Hong Kong Lounge. We’re going back to our old favorite after experimenting with Oakland dim sum last year . Maybe next time we’ll try Din Tai Fung however. Daniel says they’ve got their dumplings down so it’s worth a shot.

Afterwards, crazy stuffed as usual, we make our way over to the Embaradero and stoll around. First we look at the mushroom shop. Lee stares longingly but doesn’t think he can get them home in one piece so no. We look at bread, cheese, touristy this and that. Then we decide to climb up the steps to Hoyt tower. It’s very beautiful and a lot of steps too. It sunny but windy at the top with gorgeous views of the bay and the Golden Gate bridge.

Back down the step we go to get some coffee. We sit by the Ferry Building for a bit, boat and people watching, and then get some wine, beer and oysters for an afternoon snack at Hog Island. The oysters are good, west coast varieties, large and briny. I get a glass of Sauvignon Blanc to go with it. They include loaves of yummy French baguettes and keep bringing them out until we finally have to tell them to stop. 

Then its back to Daniel’s where we relax for awhile. Lee opens a bottle of the party favor beer from the wedding. It’s a porter so I like it, but I only have a few sips. I think Lee has a lot of it and gets a bit drunk.

Around 7 we head up the hill to the great little french restaurant a couple of blocks from Daniel’s apartment. We have to wait a little for a table. I get a glass of cab franc that’s pretty darn good. I’m just a wine girl at heart what can I say? We are seated outside. It’s chilly so I ask them to turn on the heater and then we are toasty. The street is very steep but somehow they adjust the table legs so our food and drinks don’t go sliding down the hill and after awhile we forget that we’re sitting on an incline.

I get the mussels, and frites of course. It’s very good. Another glass of the cab as well. And dessert! I get the chocolate mousse, but Kelsey gets an apple tart with ice cream and caramel sauce that is totally out of this world. 

Tuesday morning I go for another run, this time with 7 hill repeats. I pick a street that’s not too steep, but it’s not long enough so I continue up around the corner and have to march rapidly up the last part of the hill instead of running it. It’s gets my heart rate up so I guess it’s ok. Then for the two mile cool down I run around Potrero Hill, which is so crazy steep in spots I can’t run either up OR down. 

Then it’s pho for brunch. Kelsey and Dan like a place in the tenderloin. It’s simple but excellent pho. It comes in small, medium, and large bowls. I get a medium but I think a small would have been fine. Kelsey and Daniel get their meat on the side so it doesn’t cook as much, an interesting choice I may try sometime in the future.

Afterwards we go to Baker Beach but it’s pretty foggy and windy so we don’t stay long. Then we stop for some Four Barrel Coffee in the Mission. Then we go buy Pliny the Elder beer from the Russian River for Lee to take back to Minnesota, and then go back to Dan’s apartment to chill for awhile. I’m tired today.

For dinner we go to a Thai restaurant called Kin Khau that Kelsey and Daniel discovered by accident one day. It’s got a Michelin Star but they just walked in and got a seat. Its Thai all right but special. We get nice cocktails, a mushroom mousse with rice crackers, pork belly with sticky rice, massaman curry.

That’s about it for our very nice trip to Cally. It’s exciting that Daniel and Kelsey are coming for a visit in September. It’s also very exciting that Kelsey has a new job so I can finally post pictures of her too!