San Francisco, California

JN and I went to San Francisco from 3/18 - 3/22. It was an amazing trip that had us on the go each and every day for a minimum of 15 hours per day with some even approaching the 24 hour mark. Despite the 3 hour time change, we tried to fit in as much as possible.

The trip started with a bang. I was flying out several hours before JN and we planned to meet at the hotel upon her arrival. We stayed at the Hyatt on Fisherman's Wharf - purchased at a great price on priceline.com. The employees were rather standoffish in my opinion, I gathered since we had purchased the room online. At the local airport, I went through security and arrived at my gate to get my seat assignment when I heard my name on the overhead speaker to return to security for a lost item. I scanned my being and realized I had left...my suitcase on the scanner of the security! Sigh, only me.

The flight was overbooked from Chicago to San Francisco and United was taking volunteers to be confirmed on the next flight out. The exact flight that JN was on! I quickly volunteered my seat and with a new free roundtrip voucher in hand and another year to book a trip, I meandered around the airport and finally rested at my gate. I was awoken by a chatty elderly man that wanted to show me his magic die trick and then proceeded to tell me his lifelong story - grandkids, employment, celebrities, etc. - until JN arrived and we left him to grab a bite to eat.

We arrived in San Francisco and I think we were both thankful to be together to navigate around the terminal and the city. We took the air train from the concourse and then took the BART and then a taxi to the hotel. JN being the social butterfly that she is had an engaging conversation with the taxi driver who shared with us a wealth of knowledge. Like, the economy in California isn't very good. Needless to say, we were shocked!

JN and also learned after the first night that the Hyatt has a window shade on the window. I think with the traveling we were both pretty exhausted and didn't pay much attention other than the fact that the sheer curtains allowed everyone to see in!

Thursday morning we were up early and hit the hotel gym. We then ventured to Alcatraz to learn that pre-purchasing your tickets is more than recommended! Fortunately, the next availability was on Saturday, when we would still be in San Fran since that was one of the places I wanted to see the most. We purchased the City Pass, which I highly recommend. It provided us with unlimited transportation around the city on the cable cars and the bus lines, which we used frequently but never quite managed to perfect in our few days. We visited China Town, the Science Museum (See Wet Pringle Fish below!) and the Cheesecake Factory. In typical my style we managed to wait for the elevator going down at the Science Museum without ever hitting the down button. Seriously, sometimes I wonder how I've made it this far in life!

Thursday we purchased tickets for the comedy/drama theater of Love, Humiliation and Karaoke at Tix, the half-off ticket center. JN's aunt was coming into town, so we thought she would like to go too. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the theater, we were greeted by staff who told us that show ended two weeks prior. We were able to pick up our money from Tix. With the change in plans, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up, (wake up as in my case - nothing a good shower couldn't help!) and then went out to check out the local bars. We ended up in a bar that offered free beer and well drinks until 10:30p.m. For the three of us, it was more than odd, but we had a few nonetheless and the absolute worst kamikazee shot EVER. We then headed over to the Red Dragon, where we spent the remainder of the evening with her aunt, getting her drunk and watching her float around the dance floor in true 60's flower child fashion. I had to retrieve her from the bathroom and we managed to get her tucked in her hotel bed cradling the newly rinsed out garbage can!

JN and I then headed out again, this time in search of the Dirty Martini. We never found that bar, but we found an Irish Pub where we greeted by a few hoodlums, I mean guys, on the way in. The guy that took an interest chatting with me called himself "Kermit" while JN's guy went by his "God-given name, Socrates". No joke, his story, not mine. Socrates professed his love to JN while oggling her rack while Kermit rambled on to me about his apprenticeship plumbing position, his income and his stint in prison. Fabulous. I have to say that Kermit got the hint of NO much sooner than Socrates but he kept talking since his buddy was engaged in professing his undying desires to get to know JN better in four days. I had to laugh when I heard JN say rather loudly, "I WILL NOT SLEEP WITH YOU!" Of course later she joked around about Kermit and asked where he did time and that she would so sleep with someone that did time in Leavenworth. As if.

Friday JN's aunt took us to the Golden Gate Bridge. I have to say, I don't have a clue why it's called the Golden Gate. I'm baffled. I didn't see anything gold. The bridge is red, technically it's called International Orange in color and I didn't see a gate, but what do I know anyway. We visited several different wineries, most that were free as her aunt is in the industry and owns her own winery. We visited Sterling, which a cable car takes you to the top of the mountain. The view was breathtaking although the service left much to be desired. We were passing time before our tour of the Castle of Love! What a fabulous tour of the castle (torture chamber below), one I would also highly recommend ! I even liked a great majority of their wines with Fantasia being my favorite.

Saturday we went to Alcatraz first thing in the morning. I enjoyed the Rock although I have to say that I was more moved by Pearl Harbor in so many ways. We spent the rest of the day using our City Pass and went to the aquarium which was a major disappointment! We also went to the Museum of Modern Art and another art museum.

Sunday was spent traveling home and losing the three hours in the time change. I'm still not sure that I've managed to recover from our lack of sleep, but then again, who has time to catch up?