- I flew Virgin America in and out of SFO, and their new terminal at the airport is awwwwwesome. Clean, modern, light. They have a yoga room. Yup. They had live music playing when I flew out last Friday, kind of Lumineer-ish or Head and the Heart-ish. Food by Cat Cora, Pinkberry, lots of outlets to plug in your electronics, and big comfy chairs. If I could fly out of SFO's Virgin terminal every time, I'd love it. I'd even get there for my flight earlier than necessary. Plus you're flying Virgin, which is my 2nd favorite airline (after JetBlue).
- San Fran taxi drivers are NUTS. Like, seriously nuts. We took them in the city a couple of times, and they went 45mph in a 25, swerving around other traffic and pedestrians. It felt like cab drivers in NYC or Shanghai or Seoul. Fun. And efficient. (And only a little scary.)
- While I could probably live in San Francisco, I'm not sure I could live elsewhere in California. Yet I still find reasons to love California, like this:
This little kitten was parked in the Financial District
Meow!
- We have a fair number of homeless people in Seattle. If they ask you for money, and you respond (even with a "sorry"), they accept that. But in San Francisco?! Holy shite. I stopped by a shop to grab some postcards, and a (very) homeless dude was camped out outside. When he asked for money, I said that I'm sorry but I don't have any cash. He flipped out! My favorite line from him, among many, was, "Someday, when YOU need money and come and ask me for help, I'm not giving you ANYTHING!" (or something to that effect). Sheesh. Simmer. I'll bring snacks or water to the homeless people at Dexter & Mercer near my house, when I'm on the way home from QFC, so I'm doing my part (a smidge). But seriously, guy. You flip out, I'm definitely not giving you anything. At least he didn't threaten to kill me...!
- My coworker Lindsay and I enjoyed some really tasty food while in San Francisco. I'd recommend all of the following: Restaurant Gary Danko, RN74, Wayfare Tavern, The Tipsy Pig, The Slanted Door, Taverna Aventine, and Barbacco. Bring your credit card though; they are not cheap. For reasonable lunch spots, try Freshii (can Seattle pleeease get a franchise?!), Mixt Greens, or The Melt. Gary Danko is arguably the best restaurant in SF, and I made our reservation a month ahead of time. They offer a prix fixe menu, where you can choose any 3, 4, or 5 courses on the menu. We each shared our apps and got our own entrees and desserts, so we turned our fantastic 3-course meal into a luxurious 4-courser instead. Plus they bring you bread, a little platter of the tiniest little desserts of all time, and a piece of pineapple coffee cake to take with you. Such a ridiculous(ly awesome) meal.
As if we weren't full enough after 4 courses. (And then we demolished this.)
- Guys in San Francisco are sooo much taller than in Seattle! That's all. :)
- While meeting my friend (and former coworker) Sosena for dinner at The Tipsy Pig, we saw a really nice sports car (I'd guess in the $30-40k range) nearby with a light-up restaurant delivery plaque on its roof. I guess that does seem a little California to me...
Nothing like the classic "this is me in the car" shot
They brought out our bill in an old book. So charming!
- You know how people think it rains in Seattle a lot, but really it just kind of sprinkles and mists most of the time? Welp, it mists in SF too. Our cities are more and more alike than I think...
- The Golden Gate Bridge! It's like the Space Needle of San Francisco (as in, the most recognizable landmark of the city), but you can actually use it. In everyday life. Unlike our poor Needle. Can we please get rid of the orange "galaxy gold" already?! Anyhoo, Lindsay and I rented bikes one evening and rode across it!! We started in SF, rode along the water, over the bridge, and then "down" into Sausalito. Don't be tricked, friends. While the ride into Sausalito is partially downhill, it is just as much uphill. You've been warned. It was great though! Around 9 or 10 miles, then we caught the pedestrian ferry back over, bikes and all. I'd totally recommend doing it. However I'm not linking to our rental company on here. They were like a puppy mill of bike rental shops, just getting us in and out as fast as they could, and you end up with a product not quite of the quality you'd hoped.
During this pic, I am holding my phone in a death grip. SO WINDY!
This pic could only be made cooler with my own bike, instead of the crappy rental (yes, I'm officially a bike snob now, sigh)
The Bridge, from the passenger ferry during sunset
- A phenomenon we witnessed in San Francisco that I haven't really seen in Seattle (or other major cities I've traveled to) is people bringing their small kids to REALLY nice restaurants. Gary Danko starts at $71 for 3 courses, and there was an 8 (?) year old kid at the table next to us, playing on an iPad. At RN74, where we spent 3 hours enjoying amazingly delicious foodie food, there were also kids. I just thought it was a bit odd! I hope those kids appreciate the food they get to eat, although I'm assuming they don't. When I was a kid, I looked forward to dinner at the nearby Chinese restaurant, where I got to drink a Shirley Temple. Ahh, kids these days... (Does that make me old, just typing that?!)
No kids at Slanted Door, but with the cotton candy, there should have been! Me and the Bay Bridge, during dinner with my friend Megan (not pictured, unfortunately)
- Celebs don't just hang out in Los Angeles; they also go to San Francisco. At airports, I request the special loving caring am-I-your-girlfriend TSA patdown instead of doing the scan (since they emit a miniscule amount of radiation, which is the 1 known cause of brain tumors). Well, I was getting my patdown and looked over, only to see Billy Corgan (lead singer of Smashing Pumpkins) getting a patdown right next to me! Literally, 4 feet away. I looked over, made eye contact unintentionally, and did a super obvious double take. The I looked straight forward, tried to decide if it was really him, noted his tray of belongings (which included metallic silver high top sneakers, which were very rock star) and orange socks, and confirmed it was, based on my scientific evidenced noted (fancy shoes and fun socks). A guy that walked by on the other side of Billy said, "Excuse me, are you Billy?" When he nodded, the guy said "I'm a fan." Then I piped up, "I'm a huge fan, too!" and Billy laughed because we were having a little fan encounter literally during TSA patdowns. He seemed really down to earth and like a cool enough dude (from my 2 minutes near him). I've always been a Pumpkins fan, and will continue to be, after Billy's and my special moment. ;)
Oh San Francisco, I do enjoy you. Hope to see you (and friends, like Megan and Sosena) again soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment