Katie here to give you a quick recap of our 24-hour extravaganza in San Fran.
Since we extended our time in Sonoma by a day, we only had one day in San Fran instead of our planned two days (that's right, we are such rebels). Theoretically, this will be a short entry :)
We arrived at our hotel (the Renaissance at Stanford Court) around 4pm after our first bout with traffic all trip.
You can see the Emmie and Emily are NOT happy with the traffic getting onto the Bay Bridge. Also, we knew we were in California when we saw that the toll to cross the bridge was a whopping $5. Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Wisconsin anymore.
Ahhh.... the sweet relaxation of the Renaissance. The best part about staying in Marriotts is that we get a free little bottle of wine and cheese as our arrival gift. We could keep doing this for awhile.
As soon as we arrived, I had grand plans to buy a new camera (my last one was stolen in Seattle with the car break-in). I scoped out one of the best camera shops in town on Yelp, and miraculously, they were open until 8 p.m. according to Yelp! So while Parm went to meet up with her college friend Vineetha (more on that later), Emmie and I went to buy me a new camera in Fisherman's Wharf.
Our mode of transportation was of course the trolley. And oh my gosh, do I LOVE the trolley. After getting a little lost trying to find the right line, we finally saw our trolly coming up the hill towards us. There wasn't much room. In fact, most normal people would have just waited for the next trolley. But, being the adventure-seeker and trolley-lover that I am, I decided that we should just make room for ourselves to jump on the side of this trolley. And it was AWESOME. I could just ride the side of a San Fran trolley all day. It's even a good work-out since you have to brace your body against all the hills! And if the brakes go out, the escape plan is very easy and risk-free (jumping off the side)! Mom and Dad, I think I've found my profession. I'm sorry, I won't be moving out to Denver any longer.
Look at that sheer look of joy on my face!!!!
Thankfully we got off at the end of the line, so the driver let us have a photo op with the trolley.
After the grand success of the trolley, it only figures that the camera store would be less of a success. Also, I'm never believing Yelp's listings of business hours again. After all that camera store research, I was very disappointed to see that all the windows and doors of the store we were going to were closed. Emmie and I decided to go through Fisherman's Wharf to walk off my despair while we were waiting to hear from Parm about dinner. And along the way, we found another camera store! This one was pretty clearly a tourist trap, but since I had done my research on the cameras I was looking for, I felt comfortable buying a good camera knowing that I was not going to get ripped off. And like a flash, the afternoon turned into a success with the purchase of a Canon Rebel T3!
With the owner of the store and his guys who helped me. He says that he gave me the pretty girl discount, which is really what it goes for online. But apparently he thought I was a student, and when he found out that I used to work for a software company, he kiddingly tried to take my discount away.
Of course, I took a bajillion pictures within hours of getting the camera. Here's a quick sampling from the Wharf:
We all then met up in The Castro for a delicious and late dinner at a restaurant called Home. Our waiter was the mixologist who put together the drink menu, so he was able to recommend his favorite drinks.
My drink: Strawberry Margarita, Vineetha's drink: Home Girl, Parm's drink: Home Girl, Emmie's drink: Bahama Mama
Vineetha was kind enough to bring us along to her friend's beautiful town home for a chill pre-Pink Party party. Instead of getting a big sheet cake for the party, the hosts got a big box of donut holes (a great idea that we will probably steal at some point). We discovered that the Aquarium there has an 'adult night' on Thursdays, where they have bars set up throughout the place, and learned about a very interesting symbiotic relationship between goby fish and shrimps that you can learn about here: http://www.suite101.com/content/shrimp-and-goby-relationship-a193552. Shout out to Vineetha for showing us a good time in San Fran!
By the time we got out to the Pink Party, it was midnight. (Time out for an explanation of the Pink Party. All of June is Pride Month, and the culmination of events is the Pink Party, a block party in The Castro, on Saturday and the Pride Parade down Market Street on Sunday). We were thinking that the Pink Party would go until about 2 a.m.... fortunately, we did get there in time to see one naked man running across the street, but unfortunately, we did not get to see the real party because the street cleaner trucks had already started taking over the street. Group fail. We did, however, get to see the place where Harvey Milk got his start.
Per usual, we slept in the next morning before dropping our clothes off at the laundromat and heading to catch a glimpse of the Pride Parade on our way to church. We saw not one, but two more naked men! One of them was streaking right outside of church... interesting...
One of the Pride Parade Floats. This was a very long and intricate parade that really showcased San Fran. In fact, the whole weekend showcased San Fran! It was fun to be there for this special weekend.
Our last stop in San Fran was at a delicious brunch (or lunch, at that point) place called Brenda's Soul Food, which was right off of the end of the parade route. The atmosphere, beignets, omelets and coffee were well worth the one-hour wait. Shout out to Parm for finding it!
Parm thinking about how awesome her restaurant choice was. Also, me taking a billion pictures at every opportunity possible with my new camera.
After climbing a few more hilly roads, we jumped in the car to head to Yosemite! San Fran, we'll all be back for a real visit at some point down the road.
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