take california

Weekend (well ... Sunday) update, y'all!

I launched a veritable tour-de-force of ... tourism on SF on Sunday. Ah, poor visitors to the area, little do they know that I will use them and abuse them to check out the sights. I picked up my co-pilot, med skool, and we headed up to the Inner Richmond to wander Clement Street and partake of dim sum. Although, I've only been there a handful of times, I really enjoy the neighborhood: the juxtoposition of little Chinese eateries with bars like the Bitter End and Rockit Lounge.

Next, we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped at the vista point on the other side (along with the majority of the Indian population in the tri-state area) to take pictures. We really had to "batten down the hatches," my hair was whipped into a Gordian knot. But, hey, I got some cool snaps.

We booted around Rt. 1 in Marin, stopping to take pictures, buy cherries from the surliest roadside stand ever, etc. etc. At some point, I evangelized about Amalia Rodrigues being the perfect accompaniment to this drive, so we listened to some fado. Since we hit Marin comparatively late on a Sunday, the traffic was going against us and there weren't as many bicyclists on the road. While eating the cherries, I complained that I'm a lousy spitter and my companion offered to give me a few pointers. I found it charming, and reminiscent of when I was seven and my mother taught me how to blow bubbles with chewing gum. Conclusion: I'm a worse spitter if I think about it too much.

After a few mis-turns (really, more like miscommunication - I thought we were headed to one site, and he thought we were trying to get to another), we parked at Stinson Beach. Beaches in northern California are blustery affairs: more windbreaker and sunglasses than swimsuit. The gigantic fleece blanket in the trunk was, as med skool put it, "clutch." Sprawled out on the sand, we both fell asleep to the sound of the waves coming in. I woke up because the waves suddenly increased in size, changing the rhythm. Also, I was very lightly asleep due to the conditions: out in the open, in public, etc. The nap was refreshing, although for the rest of the day, I kept finding sand in my hair.

Heading back into the city, I couldn't decide where to go: Mission (which I'd prefer) or North Beach (more tourist-y). I managed to get us kind of turned around in Russian Hill, and we finally picked a street to try and reach North Beach. At one point, I saw one of SF's unique "HILL" signs .... and then I noticed tourists snapping pics of the hill. Med skool astutely surmised that we were about to do the twisty part of Lombard - yet another tourist attraction - and, completely unplanned! I was really thrilled to just stumble upon it.

I found the parking garage in North Beach which has fortunes painted behind each car. (I think ours was "You are welcome at any gathering.") We walked around Columbus Street, and ended up having dinner at Michaelangelo's. Thanks to SFist, I knew to check out the new gelato place (HUUGE recommend!) We finished our gelato admiring the window display at City Lights, and ended the evening browing the bookstore.

Hopefully, if I can get my card reader to work(!!!), I will add pics to this post!