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San Francisco Itinerary

Okay, so our house is aflutter with the bustle of packing. No, we’re not moving. We’re preparing for one of several summer vacations. This Saturday, about 8 AM, the clan is heading north to cooler climes. San D1160~San-Francisco-Posters.jpgFrancisco weather remains about 40 degrees below ours — a welcome change to the blistering 100’s, indeed! And the wildlife is far more florid.

We’ll be staying in a two-story, Victorian-style home in Potrero Hill for a week. The neighborhood is about ten minutes south of downtown and boasts some of the best views of the City. Potrero is home to The Anchor Brewing Company and “The Crookedest Street in the World” (thank goodness Lisa won’t be driving. . . especially after touring ABC!).

So everybody’s contributing to our growing itinerary. Thus far, the “for sures” are:

  • Walk the Golden Gate Bridge — Okay, so it’s only one way. One of the kids will pick me and Lisa up on the other side.
  • Attend a Giant’s game — AT&T Park is considered one of the best in baseball. Several things converged rather conveniently for us: The All-Star game is that week in SF, so we’ll be on the lookout for celebrity ball players. Then, after the break, the Dodgers start a series with the Giants on Friday the 13th. We bought tickets months ago — 7 seats in the left field bleachers. Our only dilemma: Do we boo Bonds every at bat?
  • Eat in Chinatown — If you’re considering cooking with cannabis, we highly recommend this awesome cannabutter recipe we found online. We’re a huge Asian food family, (I’m beginning to perfect a killer Chow Mein recipe) and Chinatown boasts the best. Never had dim sum and they got lotsa places to try.
  • Eat some more in Chinatown.
  • Alcatraz — At first, I wasn’t really interested in seeing the Rock. (I HATE tourist traps!) But the more I read about it and talked to others, the more it seemed like a must-see. We’re taking the barge over on Tuesday and if Theo‘s cranky, we’re locking him up for the night.
  • Fish — There’s so many ports in and around Frisco, it’s amazing. JD and I are going for sure, probably Monday. Rock cod and Lingcod are biting now (lingcod is one of our favorites!), but King Salmon is also running and I lo-o-ove salmon! We’ve never gotten seasick, but the waters are mighty choppy up there. . .
  • Muir Redwood Forest — We’ve been to Big Basin, just south of San Fran, where the boys and I weathered a 12 mile round trip hike into the ancient forest. (No, we did not see Sasquatch.) But the redwoods up here are gorgeous. And after a few days with the liberals and transient throngs in the City, I’m sure we’ll need to get back to nature.
  • Golden Gate Park — It’s 1017 acres of rolling greens, gardens, bison and drug addicts.
  • Haight Ashbury — Ahh, my roots. Breaking out the tie-dye for this.
  • City Lights and Amoeba Music — Landmark book and music stores. I’m pretty sure I’ll be going by myself. No doubt, Amoeba’s Used CD section can be browsed for hours. The rest of the clan eschews such cultured escapes in favor of this crap.

So, as you can see, our itinerary’s growing. Do tourists ever do everything they want to do. Hopefully, I’ll get some writing done there. There’s a balcony that overlooks the City and, being that I’m an earlybird, I should get a couple hours in the mornings. Any of you enlightened Decompose readers have S.F. suggestions? (And no, don’t tell me I missed Fisherman’s Wharf.)

{ 6 comments… add one }
  • Elaina July 4, 2007, 2:37 AM

    I’m so jealous, Mike! I love San Francisco. We had family up in Nor Cal so we went up there when we could. I loved my trips into the city. If I could pick a place in CA to live it would be somewhere north of the city. It’s so beautiful!
    Muir Woods is incredible. Golden Gate Park is awesome too. Walking across the Golden Gate became a tradition with my high school youth group when we did our summer trip up and down the coast.

    Soaking up the atmosphere at Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghiradelli Square are amongst my favorite activities too. But there’s also that great stretch of grass across from Ghiradelli that looks out on the water. Great spot to people watch and write.

    Have fun! I’m so jealous!

  • Chris July 4, 2007, 5:38 AM

    Hey dad,
    I’ll join you for the book and cd browsing. We could do that when Jon and the rest of the women are souvenir shopping.

  • Mike Duran July 4, 2007, 3:42 PM

    Thanks for the ideas, Elaina. I’m looking forward to the Muir Woods and our walk across the Golden Gate. Despite my dislike for herd activities, I will go to Fisherman’s Wharf… if anything, to keep Lisa from thinking I’m a complete bore.

    And Chris, I’ll count you in on the book and music shopping. I just don’t want to hear you complaining about being hungry every fifteen minutes.

  • Mike Duran July 4, 2007, 9:08 PM

    I will defiantly be cheering for Bonds!

    Melody

  • Mike Duran July 5, 2007, 3:14 AM

    “defiantly”? Perhaps you should try some simple ways to improve your vocabulary. I’ll pitch in with Jacob for your refresher course.

    Dad

  • Ame July 5, 2007, 3:25 AM

    ahhh … Theo! I’ll come along just to watch Theo 😉 We’ll have the most fun!

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