kittenscribble (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kittenscribble) wrote2005-07-17 01:53 am
kittenscribble) wrote2005-07-17 01:53 am
CA report: 2nd Saturday
I finally got the laptop! K took 25:56 to beat level 12 of Planarity (damn you, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bkleber, for introducing him to it!) and 21:27 to beat level 13, and now I get my computer back.
Woke bright and early today to catch the morning shuttle to Union Square, which is where we intended to begin our AAA-suggested walking tour of San Francisco. We were briefly distracted by the Dali exhibit in an art gallery a block down the street (K noticed before I did that the frontmost exhibit was actually stitched not watercolored, very cunningly done), but we soon got back on track. The tour led us along historical and financial districts but when we entered Chinatown we realized that we needed breakfast, and veered off track to get to the "real" Chinese stores that sold food instead of kitsch, and where the signs became Chinese instead of half-English.
I ordered us a pack of dim sum but could find nowhere to eat it, and we had to roam around Chinatown for a bit (getting progressively hungrier) before finding a park to sit in. We ate while Falun Gong protesters set up unappetizing signs around us, and Chinese men gambled in a furtive-looking pack. Afterwards we passed by a vendor of Chinese paintings; under K's tutelage I bargained the lady down in Chinese, and we managed to get a better deal on a set of watercolors. (K then had to coach me on not feeling guilty when the woman complained that I was starving her out of an honest living.)
We continued on the tour, passing beatnik hangouts and the City Lights bookstore, where I upset a window display (and therefore we did not linger). We paused at Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe so I could get a coffee; K found a stack of Onions on the counter. In an effort to avoid trudging uphill to our next stop we tried to catch a city bus, but gave up waiting and took the stairs anyway.
I mean stairs literally; the sidewalks were so sloped that stairs had been carved into the sidewalk. I was out of breath by the time we got halfway to the top, and had to rest. The view was amazing though. Several more minutes of hard trudging took us to Coit Tower, from which we could see quite a lot of the city. I took a quick nap while K figured out where we were going next. After seeing the line for the tower we elected not to go all the way to the top; the view was already great. We explored some more steps for a while, going down and then up some staircases that had to be very old -- the brick was worn and faded. Finally we made our way off Telegraph Hill and headed on over to Fisherman's Wharf.
Fisherman's Wharf was clearly more of a tourist hangout than any other place we had been; we had to wade through crowds of people to get our clam chowder and fish-and-chips. We ate it sitting on the dock next to a (non-nuclear) submarine that was open to the public; entertainment was provided by the seagulls trying to eat floating bread bowls. Afterwards we headed to Pier 39 (even more of a tourist attraction) and found K's friend B, who was on vacation with two of his buddies. We shared a drink and then parted ways; B was going to the Haight area but pointed us on down the pier. Apparently there were sea lions to see.
We braved the kitsch market to arrive at the end of the pier, and found the sea lions lounging on floating pallets that had clearly been placed there for their convenience. Lazy creatures; the older (fatter) ones had been lying in the sun so long that their coats had dried off. The younger ones were more energetic, sliding in and out of the water. Occasionally one of them would let out a honking noise and set off the other ones, and a symphony of hoarse sea lion barks would take over for a while.
Afterwards we wandered back to Fisherman's Wharf in search of an In-N-Out Burger, and failing, finally retreated to a Barnes and Noble to use their WiFi in finding said burger joint. (It turned out to be a block away.) After K bought coffees and played another game of Planarity, we left and bought our longed-for burger and fries. Then we headed up to what used to be the Del Monte Cannery (it's now shops and restaurants, and a lovely courtyard) and its hundred-year-old olive trees, and looked over Ghirardelli Square. (Chocolate is no longer being manufactured at that location. Tragic, really.)
We had dinner back in the Cannery, a place called the Blue Mermaid. Fantastic staff, very friendly host; our food came out in no time. The Dungeness crab and corn chowder is delightful, wonderfully spicy and full of chunks; the crab cakes were compact but delicious, accompanied by a tomato sauce (more spice) and mixed greens. I also noted that the bathrooms were very swank; this was due to the fact that the Blue Mermaid had an entrance off the lobby of the luxury Argonaut Hotel.
The next stop on our tour involved getting on the cable car, so we waited while the sun set behind some clouds. After watching at least four cars go by we finally got on the cable car, only to wait some more; what followed was a thrilling ride in which the cable car struggled up hills, changed its mind and reversed into intersections with opposing traffic (apparently cable cars always have right-of-way), stopped and started suddenly, and was generally not at all relaxing.
We got out at the famously crooked Lombard Street, where K took lots of long-exposure pictures and ended up with photos of twisting rivers of light. Very neat. We walked down and back up Lombard Street, then called it a night and waited for the next cable car. We squeezed ourselves into the car and were shuffled back to Union Square in plenty of time to catch our shuttle back home. Speaking of swank bathrooms, K and I availed ourselves of the lobby of the historic Westin St. Francis Hotel before heading back.
And now it is late, and I am tired, and things need to be packed for the flight tomorrow.
...and K wants the computer for Planarity.
bkleber, for introducing him to it!) and 21:27 to beat level 13, and now I get my computer back.Woke bright and early today to catch the morning shuttle to Union Square, which is where we intended to begin our AAA-suggested walking tour of San Francisco. We were briefly distracted by the Dali exhibit in an art gallery a block down the street (K noticed before I did that the frontmost exhibit was actually stitched not watercolored, very cunningly done), but we soon got back on track. The tour led us along historical and financial districts but when we entered Chinatown we realized that we needed breakfast, and veered off track to get to the "real" Chinese stores that sold food instead of kitsch, and where the signs became Chinese instead of half-English.
I ordered us a pack of dim sum but could find nowhere to eat it, and we had to roam around Chinatown for a bit (getting progressively hungrier) before finding a park to sit in. We ate while Falun Gong protesters set up unappetizing signs around us, and Chinese men gambled in a furtive-looking pack. Afterwards we passed by a vendor of Chinese paintings; under K's tutelage I bargained the lady down in Chinese, and we managed to get a better deal on a set of watercolors. (K then had to coach me on not feeling guilty when the woman complained that I was starving her out of an honest living.)
We continued on the tour, passing beatnik hangouts and the City Lights bookstore, where I upset a window display (and therefore we did not linger). We paused at Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe so I could get a coffee; K found a stack of Onions on the counter. In an effort to avoid trudging uphill to our next stop we tried to catch a city bus, but gave up waiting and took the stairs anyway.
I mean stairs literally; the sidewalks were so sloped that stairs had been carved into the sidewalk. I was out of breath by the time we got halfway to the top, and had to rest. The view was amazing though. Several more minutes of hard trudging took us to Coit Tower, from which we could see quite a lot of the city. I took a quick nap while K figured out where we were going next. After seeing the line for the tower we elected not to go all the way to the top; the view was already great. We explored some more steps for a while, going down and then up some staircases that had to be very old -- the brick was worn and faded. Finally we made our way off Telegraph Hill and headed on over to Fisherman's Wharf.
Fisherman's Wharf was clearly more of a tourist hangout than any other place we had been; we had to wade through crowds of people to get our clam chowder and fish-and-chips. We ate it sitting on the dock next to a (non-nuclear) submarine that was open to the public; entertainment was provided by the seagulls trying to eat floating bread bowls. Afterwards we headed to Pier 39 (even more of a tourist attraction) and found K's friend B, who was on vacation with two of his buddies. We shared a drink and then parted ways; B was going to the Haight area but pointed us on down the pier. Apparently there were sea lions to see.
We braved the kitsch market to arrive at the end of the pier, and found the sea lions lounging on floating pallets that had clearly been placed there for their convenience. Lazy creatures; the older (fatter) ones had been lying in the sun so long that their coats had dried off. The younger ones were more energetic, sliding in and out of the water. Occasionally one of them would let out a honking noise and set off the other ones, and a symphony of hoarse sea lion barks would take over for a while.
Afterwards we wandered back to Fisherman's Wharf in search of an In-N-Out Burger, and failing, finally retreated to a Barnes and Noble to use their WiFi in finding said burger joint. (It turned out to be a block away.) After K bought coffees and played another game of Planarity, we left and bought our longed-for burger and fries. Then we headed up to what used to be the Del Monte Cannery (it's now shops and restaurants, and a lovely courtyard) and its hundred-year-old olive trees, and looked over Ghirardelli Square. (Chocolate is no longer being manufactured at that location. Tragic, really.)
We had dinner back in the Cannery, a place called the Blue Mermaid. Fantastic staff, very friendly host; our food came out in no time. The Dungeness crab and corn chowder is delightful, wonderfully spicy and full of chunks; the crab cakes were compact but delicious, accompanied by a tomato sauce (more spice) and mixed greens. I also noted that the bathrooms were very swank; this was due to the fact that the Blue Mermaid had an entrance off the lobby of the luxury Argonaut Hotel.
The next stop on our tour involved getting on the cable car, so we waited while the sun set behind some clouds. After watching at least four cars go by we finally got on the cable car, only to wait some more; what followed was a thrilling ride in which the cable car struggled up hills, changed its mind and reversed into intersections with opposing traffic (apparently cable cars always have right-of-way), stopped and started suddenly, and was generally not at all relaxing.
We got out at the famously crooked Lombard Street, where K took lots of long-exposure pictures and ended up with photos of twisting rivers of light. Very neat. We walked down and back up Lombard Street, then called it a night and waited for the next cable car. We squeezed ourselves into the car and were shuffled back to Union Square in plenty of time to catch our shuttle back home. Speaking of swank bathrooms, K and I availed ourselves of the lobby of the historic Westin St. Francis Hotel before heading back.
And now it is late, and I am tired, and things need to be packed for the flight tomorrow.
...and K wants the computer for Planarity.