Oct 6, 2010

SF

Ok, so I've been up since 4:30 this morning, so pardon my perfunctory post here. I shouldn't be boring you with a vacation slide show here. I should be in bed right now dreaming of handmade pop tarts and pretending the hum of my air conditioner is the roar of the Pacific.

But I'm not. Anyway, fair warning, there will be no theme, no order and no meaning. Unless you can find them.
Oh, and no proofreading either.

The short version is this: I've only been back from San Francisco for only a few hours now, but I already want to go back.

Thankfully, I got finally to meet our beloved MrP, who is truly the best tour guide anyone could ever hope for. I mean really.
I even got to see the famed (and fabulous) Chez Peenee and meet his R-man and their lovely Saki. It was all too wonderful. You should be jealous. I felt like I was meeting celebrities for the first time. Everyone is much better looking in real life, especially Saki.

I also got to see one of my oldest friends, Dani, who's been living out there for ten years now. Unfortunately, it was an all too short visit.

Very sadly, I missed getting the chance to meet Joe(-to hell), however.
ahem
Oh, how I wish I had had more time.
But let's get on with some bad photos.
My own camera was destroyed by being caught in the taxi door, oh, 4 hours or so into the trip. just my luck....thankfully, my friend Michael let me borrow his.



This photo does not do this scene justice. It really does not. (which gives me some slender hope that I'm not as horrible as my pictures prove) Peenee drove down to the street below and picked me up off the street. That's chivalry, for you there, bub!

Somewhere up here lives Danielle Steele, he assures me. I was hoping I might be mistaken for one of her team of maids, one who hadn't had the chance to shave her beard that day, but no such luck.







Peenee took me to a beautiful restaurant....where they make homemade Pop Tarts. No lie. I'm telling you this San Francisco is like paradise.

We had artisanal poptarts and jumbo Louisiana "Prawns." God bless Peenee for ordering them as "shrimp." Our waiter and his jumbo ass weren't amused, I'm sure. But whatever.



Tacos with Michael's friend Elizabeth in the Mission. The place was crowded with customers at 11 pm on a Tuesday night. They were so good, but...uh...don't eat tacos at 11 pm on a Tuesday night when you need to be on a plane in 6 hours or so.





Couldn't help but think of Carlos when I saw this. It's the Sound of Music sing-a-long at the Castro Theater






Couldn't help but think of any number of people seeing this.




Or this.

I want a Dionne Warwick pinata one day, just to see if candy comes out of her nostrils.
At lunch on Sunday, Peenee introduced me to "must". I'd never had it, never even heard of it. Now I have. The next day, based on what he'd mentioned a while back , I had some burata, at some very slow restaurant in Sonoma.

From Alcatraz. Doesn't it look like we're in Italy or something? But we're at a prison. Even the prisons are paradise there.

Waited in a long line. Unfortunately, it was not affiliated with the store. (yeah, I know, sucks, huh?)



Couldn't help but think of Frontier Psychiatrist when I saw this

Some bar we were taken to by Michael's friend. Bars don't seem to have a typed up "philosophy" around here. I know that's hard to believe.

The view from the Chinese restaurant. The waitress took an instant dislike to me when I asked for sugar for my iced tea. Sorry, but I'm from the South.

a buckwheat crepe, which were much better than this looks, at a Breton restaurant completely staffed by Mexicans.

Flowers on the street. Why can't we have this too? We just have feces and beads.


We have streetcars back home, but what was really kind of cool were the ones from various cities around town. This one was from DC. I guess it clashed with the decor there, so they sent it to SF. It was my favorite.


22 comments:

joe*to*hell said...

did you eat at nan king? LOVE that chineeee foo!!! that building is francis ford coppola's offices and studios.

BOO COME BACK!

jason said...

Oh, but I will, joe!!!!!!!!!!! I must.
And yes, we did eat at Nanking. She (the waitress) did *not* like me after I made her haul out the Parmesan cheese caster of sugar.

Anonymous said...

I am glad you had a great time.

So, next holidays will be in Lisbon to visit me?

savannah said...

forget the waitress, it's all about the food at nan king, sugar! looks as if you had a very fine tour of The City! xoxoxox

The Mistress said...

Is there a Peenee piñata?

ayeM8y said...

Yay! I’m glad you had a good time. Does Peenee get his hair cut at Ernesto’s? And if so does he get the half man and half woman cut and style?

Mar gar et said...

Maybe the waitress thought you were calling her 'sugar?' (you do have that Nola drawl). DC streetcars, of course nothing fun is left on the East Coast! Glad you had a wonderful time, sorry about your camera, though.

ilduce said...

I am so glad for you! Sounds like you had a better time in a few days than I had in a few weeks when I was there. Unfortunately I as visiting "friends" who were breaking up and decided that rather than turn on each other they would spend a great deal of time telling me there was nothing much to see in the city and lecturing me on my drinking habits as I soon began going out without them day and night.

Kim Hambric said...

Jason, it sounds like a wonderful trip. Glad you got to catch up with some good friends. Thanks for sharing those photos & sorry to hear about your camera. Did your mother’s little gifts come in handy?

I would love to have some help from Ernesto -- I have complete hair apathy. I would love to be able to look like Rachel Maddow when I turn to the left and like Sophia Loren when I turn to the right.

I’m seriously hoping you will have a Dionne Warwick piñata one day. I feel sure that at least some small candies will fly out of her nose. Oh what fun! And doesn’t everyone put some sugar in their ice tea? Nothing worse than a bitchy waitress.

Miss Janey said...

OH! Miss J is BEYOND jealous.. Did Jason have the pancakes at Sears? Delicious- tho Miss J hasn't been in years. So glad the visit was FAB.

My adventures said...

fabulous!!

M said...

Jason, your post would be a MUST for that pop-tart photo alone! One can always rely on you for some comic relief in the photo department. But fortunately, there was much more to enjoy here; great shots. And it sounds like you had a wonderful time (even if the taxi door wreaked havoc on your camera...)
XOXO
Michael

hayward said...

I guess Dionne really didn't know how to get to San Jose. She almost made it.

Salty Miss Jill said...

What a marvelous time...thanks for sharing the photos. :) I loves me some SF, too.

Elizabeth said...

Welcome back. So glad you had fun. I haven't lived in Northern California for 20 years and I still miss it like hell.

Frontier Psychiatrist said...

CONNIE FRANCIS!

I have nine days to hitchhike across the country. Sounds like you had an amazing trip.

mrpeenee said...

I'm so glad we were able to spend some time together, I thought it was plenty funny. If you come back, I promise I 'll actually let you get out of the car.

normadesmond said...

candy come out of dionne warwick's nostrils? why a buick could easily pop out if one pounded the pinata hard enough.

Anonymous said...

Oh, that food looks delish! Believe it or not I have never visited SanFrancisco. Is that crazy or what?

Beautiful pix!

Jill said...

I'm so happy you had such a great time. I love SF. The flowers on the street were beautiful. All we have are bullet casings and burritos!

Thombeau said...

I'm so happy for you, Jason! And so insanely jealous.

Michael Guy said...

What an awesome trip! It's been years since I visited San Francisco. I think you did quite a bit for a short visit! Thanks for sharing pics.