San Francisco, 2005!

All photos taken by me.   (Just thought I 'd throw that in)  : )

A weekend trip to San Francisco. Flew down on Saturday, into Oakland International. Took
BART from Oakland to SF and met my friend Greg at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown. The
hotel was about 2 blocks from the Ferry Building and the waterfront (at the East
end of Market Street). (FYI, the BART round-trip ticket was only $6.30!)

Greg was on this trip for business: there was a conference in town that he attended.
Since the room was paid for, I got to stay for free! Woohoo! The hotel suite was nice
and had a deck overlooking the California Street cable car's eastern station and Market
Street.

I've been to SF several times, but never spent much time in Chinatown. This time, I
decided to venture up there (it was straight up the hill on the cable car, after all).
Boy did I get addicted to Chinatown -- I went back there probably 6 times during the
brief 2.5-day trip. I LOVED going window shopping, and ended up buying a
nifty-keen Japanese Tea Set. I also bought way too many coconut macaroons from
a bakery a couple blocks north of California Street -- MAN, where they ever nummy!

This trip is also the first time I've used all 4 modes of MUNI transportation in one trip:
Cable Car, bus, trolley, and subway. And this was my first BART trip, too.

Trip note: We found Muni Passes at a deli just south of the intersection of Market and
Castro Streets (west side of Castro Street, about 3-4 doors down from Harvey Milk Plaza).
We later found out you can get the passes at a kiosk at the Powell Station cable car.

October 22:

After getting into town, we met up with Greg's friend Steve for brunch. Then we went
over to Steve's house and saw some of the interior work he's doing. He has a 3-story
house with an amazing view of the valley between Castro district and downtown.

The rest of the day we did window shopping and grabbed dinner. In Chinatown, we walked
through a street-fair type area, but didn't get anything. Just before bed, we
had a few glasses of wine at the hotel.

This is the view of the California Street cable car at Montgomery Station,
as seen from our hotel room. Market Street is in the background.

October 23:

Today we went to Castro for breakfast, window shopping and extensive staring. :-)
We back near the hotel for lunch, headed up to Chinatown again, and then tried to
catch a cable car to Fisherman's Wharf. Unfortunately, cable car after cable car
was stuffed with people. They wouldn't let anyone else on. We walked 1/4 mile
down to the cable car station. The line was probably an hour long. So we
decided to take the F bus east to The Embarcadero and up along that street.

We did some sightseeing at Fisherman's Wharf, and Greg got a dose of Shrimp
Cocktail. Then we walked to Ghirardelli Square, bought some healthy cocoa-type
goods and did yet more window shopping. Someone had reported a body floating
in the bay, so there was a helicopter buzzing overhead and a bunch of news
vans nearby. No body found.
After the chocolate store, we went to lunch at In-N-Out Burger. I was a bit
distracted by the scenery sitting at the table next to us. :Q... Oh my!

On the way back, we again had to avoid the cable car. We took the F trolley, this time.
It was major-time packed with people. Packed in like sardines, we were. There was a craft
fair right at the end of Market Street, by our hotel, and I bought a couple of XMas gifts
for the folks back home.

We had dinner at Satay House (where we got off the cable car in Chinatown). Greg's been
jonesin' for some Pressed Duck, and this is where he had some as a kid. He ordered some
but the waiter said it wasn't real duck, and said we wouldn't like it. He recommended
the BBQ duck, instead. We both had that, and it was really good.

We went to a wine tasting in the Ferry Building. Did some staring...Had a great time.
Then, just before bed...had more wine in the hotel lobby. :-)

China Gate, at the entry to Chinatown. The Foo Dog in the next picture is at the
bottom of the gate.

Foo.
Foo you, too.

This is the main touristy street in Chinatown, slightly north of California Street on
Grant Street.

The Oakland Bay Bridge and Treasure Island as seen from the Ferry Building.

Greg, chowing down on some Shrimp Cocktail. Too bad I'm allergic, or I could have had me
some cocktail, too. ;-)

October 24:

Got up and had a quick bite to eat. Then I managed to find a place (right across the
street from the hotel) that sold stamps. So I sent three postcards -- on the last day
of the trip. Typical of my postcard-sending skills.

We did a little sightseeing and then went our separate ways on BART, on our way back home.
My plane took off an hour late, and Greg's plane landed about 20 minutes early. So he had
to wait for me. Haw haw! ;-)

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