Tuesday, June 16, 2009

I'm back








And I must confess that though I had a great time in San Fransisco, I did not actually fall in love with the place. Which is funny since I loved the climate(yes I do like the medium coldness of the place), I loved the bus system, I loved the sidewalks, and I loved the different neighborhoods. Almost everyone we met was wonderfully friendly and as genuinely nice and helpful as could be.
Seriously, how can you love the parts but not the whole of a thing?
I have no explanation.
We did touristy stuff. We did non-touristy stuff. We found good places off the beaten path. We thrifted. We walked. We hung out in little local pubs, ate at little local restaurants. We rode the buses, visited a museum on Free First Sunday(Thank you Target-you saved us 24 bucks). We went and saw the Golden Gate Bridge and wondered at how-on a completely overcast day-some how golden sunshine poured down on Alcatraz for at least an hour. Big Daddy D very patiently and I must say indulgently looked on as I shopped for sensible shoes(I packed 5 pairs of shoes for 4 days of fun and not a pair of tennies in the lot-I don't know why). We hung off the trolley car and sauntered through Chinatown, loading up on cheap trinkets and reminiscing. We laughed our asses off at awful expensive food in Ghirardelli Square, toured Pier 39 before it opened and watched enthralled for nearly an hour the soap opera lives of the sea lions that live there. We listened amused beyond belief to the most hilarious verbal confrontation between a shopkeeper and a customer(Thank You!) in Little Saigon and enjoyed the crowded yet tranquil Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. I had the best Chinese food since leaving China ten years ago, saw a dead sea lion washed up on the beach as well as a sea gull and a stranded flotilla of jelly fish, and laughed watching a dog throw a stick for himself and retrieve it over and over and then watched the sun set over the Pacific laughing some more because Big Daddy D was literally shivering with the cold and for once I was not freezing(girly fat can come in handy I guess). We drank bad coffee, ate good bread, broke the law and fed the pigeons and chickadees, froze drinking expensive cheap beer and shivered our way back to the hotel. We had fresh made noodles, greasy snacks and good beer, found mugs to replace those we have broken(alas not at the cheap price I had previously gotten them for), Ichiban Kan'ed and stocked up on bento supplies, discussed nasty public bathrooms and bums peeing in bus shelters, decided not to go to the beach again and pack our loot instead, had burgers and fries and milkshakes and fed nickels to the jukebox, waiting with bated breath til our songs came on.
We laughed, we held hands, we smiled, we were happy to be together, adventuring once again.

12 comments:

Nej said...

You know...we're not city folk...not really. So, we enjoyed SF greatly...but didn't fall in love. Not true love...not the love we have for the mountains and such.

I'm glad to hear you had a good time!!!! And finally got to see your sunset on the Pacific!!!! :-)

So....broke the law??? :-)

Huff Daddy said...

Sounds like an awesomely good time, and that's all that matters.

Dark Cloud Nine said...

you look so sweet together... it is a very beautiful picture of you...

I think it's possible to like the parts without loving the whole like it happen to me to fall in love with the whole without necessarily liking the pieces (I'm thinking about Mexico city). I love San Francisco, but then again, I think I love all cities, because I am a city person, and I love walking, people walking around me, streets with little stores and different areas with different moods...

I am happy you had time to hold hands...

Brook said...

Nej-we kind of are city folk with a huge dose of small town thrown in-I really think that SF just didn't have enough green-yes the parks are wonderful but there are seemingly miles and miles of houses/buildings that you couldn't fit your hand between and I think that was just too much-or not enough-I can't remember which way I was writing...I love the mountains. Asheville at least does not have street after street of houses(yet)completely covering them. Yes! You remembered-one thing marked off the list, now there is room to add another...I wonder what that will be? And yes, feeding the pigeons in SF is against the law. I read the sign and did it anyway(they wouldn't be pooping on MY car after all-selfish thinking but they really enjoyed that bread!)

HD-it was an awesomely good time and would be a fun place to go with the kids now that we've scouted it out and all.

DCN-For some reason most pics of me don't show most of the happiness inside-this one of us came close...I loved the walking, the sidewalks that go places, how most people were smiling and that for such a big place it wasn't crowded. Finding the neighborhoods, sliding in and sampling all the flavors was wonderful-I almost fell in love-it just wasn't quite right. I always go to new places wondering of this one will be the one that says "here is home" but haven't found it yet. Well, I cried leaving Montana. So...I'm glad we had time to hold hands too, it doesn't happen often-not with the sense that we had of being together, united against the unknown.

PorkStar said...

Glad to hear you had fun and things are going well between you two. The pictures are very nice!

WanderingGirl said...

Sounds like a grand adventure was had, and that's exactly as it was meant to be!

Brook said...

Porkstar-I know one thing for sure-as good a time as we had and as "good" as things are going for us-I don't have a sore tongue from sucking face for hours-I had forgotten that such a thing could happen(glad you had a good weekend!)

Wandering Girl-Adventure!(in my best Cap'n K'nuckles voice)was had by all. It was an exhaustingly good time. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Spellbound said...

It's a delightful city. I had some of the best and worst times of my life there. Somehow I just knew it wasn't home and I missed the east coast. It seems you two had a fabulous vacation however. Glad you didn't leave your heart behind. I kinda like having you a one day drive away.

Brook said...

Spellbound-I'm glad you got up at 3am...and isn't it interesting how some places feel more right than others? I kinda like knowing that you are only a days drive away too.

Anonymous said...

wowwwwwwww! you guys had such a grand adventure! we went to sf in 2007 but didn't do half as much as you did. i'm bummed. guess i'll have to go back. my best friend lives in the city and is always eager for company!

Amy said...

You did an awesome job making us feel like we were there! What a great story teller you are. Looks like a really fun adventure. I like breakin the law too. We were in a resturant in Daytona with BIG signs to not feed the birds..but what is a few saltines gonna hurt? ..... Logan did it.

Brook said...

Amy-Thanks! Every time i read this post(and I do reread them all)I go right back. It was so fun! And really-a little feeding of the birds is fun-though I do understand why they want you not to. On my way to check out your vacation!