San Francisco, Day 1

Rise and shine in California where it is actually quite cold. Debby, groovy friend and tour guide extraordinaire and I head out for our day of adventure. First we head to Union Square where we park the car in an underground lot in good time - the crowds seem to really show up a little while after we've scored our parking spot.

We wander he streets of Union Square checking out which ever shops appeal to us. We are both on a mission to find the perfect work shoe. Well, ideally, we want two of them. One for each foot. Alas, our dreams of finding them are dashed by the shelves of ballerina style shoes. Nice for going out, not for working. We stop into the biggest Old Navy in creation - three stories, I believe - hoping to snag a jacket I saw in FL. No luck. They are a golden nugget says the Old Navy girl when I ask her where they might have the cool coats that look like they were made from genuine Grover pelt.

Next we head Chinatown where we wander the stores with wall-to-wall shoes, dresses, handbags, and figurines. We decide to try something new and grab ourselves a snack of black bean cakes in one of the bakeries. It's mild sweetness, flaky outside crust and soft, dark filling have a nice texture and do not disappoint. Experiment a success! After a recent trip to Asia, Debby is in search of a lemon-grass tea. We wander into a tea shop with the innocent intention of inquiring about the illusive tea.

This tea shop has an entire wall of tea and infusions. Many bearing names like Golden Turtle and Water Fairy (There was one about a monkey but I don't remember the specific name). The interior of the shop is wonderful with it's high ceilings, hanging lanterns and it's apothecary-esque wall of teas.

After Debby is told that there is no such thing as lemon-grass tea, we are invited to sit and sample some teas (that apparently DO exist). "I thought we were going to just sit there and try a few and they'd send us on our way" Debby said later. But, we sat for quite a while next to a couple visiting from Seattle, observing and learning from our tea man as he brewed us teas in a small ceramic cup and shares the flavors with us. Lavender, black, leechee white tea, ginseng. Debby and I agree that the one infused with milk is not a success.

He told us all about the various teas the small shop owns, some that run for $15,000 a pound! He doesn't own many of them and yes, one can insure teas. There are four of these tea shops owned by the same person, he tells us. One other is just a block a half away in Chinatown, one is in a another part of the city entirely, and one is in Seattle. They've been in existence for four years, the man tells us.

He teaches us about the goodness of loose tea and by the end of his casual and comfortable lecturing, we each buy something before leaving. Oh, yeah, this guy's good. Perhaps we are suckers, but we don't care. We are happy with our new tea purchases.

It was a lovely place to stumble into.

Next we head back to the car and brave the traffic so that Debby might humor me and take me to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch. We score again with a perfect metered parking spot just near the chosen restaurant. Boudin's is a bread factory. While we wait for a table, we wander through their clever little bread museum, where we take a test of our "bread type" by answering a series of questions pertaining to our personality.

On a Saturday night, would you be,
A. doing dinner and a movie
B. going to the theater, etc

Apparently, walnut bread was made for Debby and I am an olive bread type.

The museum overlooks the bread factory and we watch the hustle bustle below; the balls of dough running through the machines, bread makers dressed in all white running the machines and moving product from here to there. Down by the first floor window, we can see the bread artisans making dough animals in view of the passers-by, many of whom have stopped to watch the show. Once done, the fresh bread is moved from the baking area to the bread distributing area in charming baskets gliding above on a wire.

Lunch consists of perfectly gigantic bread bowls with chowder in them. I eat the weight of my own head in bread. Yum.

We take a stroll on the pier and smell the sea lions before we see them. They are funny characters with their lying about and sort-of bark/burping at each other. One dock on which a slew of them are lounging is half under water. It looks very uncomfortable, but none of them seem to care that they are all piled up on a dock that's slanting at a hard angle.

It is definitely a touristy place with Alcatraz themed shops and street performers battling one another for the affections (and dollars) of passers by. I always make a point of buying a fridge magnet whenever I visit someplace new, and while I fail to snap a picture of one of the city's famous cable cars, I still bring one home with me in the form of a magnet.

From here we head over to Jarett's place. Jarett is Debby's boyfriend and I meet him for the first time. After spending a bit of time with him, he is most decidedly a thumbs up. Yay, Debby! The three of us meet more friends in the Mission at Cha Cha Cha's for dinner. Over tapas and sangria, I get to know Debby's friends a bit, finally putting faces to names I have heard. We have a great time chatting and telling stories, talking movies and more over the platanos, chicken and potatoes in the loud, dark corner of the hip but unassuming restaurant.

After our meal, we head a few doors down, bellies full, to Doc's Clock bar. I am introduced to the game of shuffleboard. We all learn a bit about puck-on-sandy-table velocity during a game against a couple girls who recently moved to San Francisco from Boston. Wow, how ironic, I tell them, I'm from Boston! One of the girls worked at the De Cordova museum before her move. Wow, how ironic, I tell her, my brother's wedding reception was at the De Cordova!

Will wonders never cease?

A fine day all around. Debby is a wonderful hostess and I feel that meeting her friends helps give me an idea of what the people here are like. I joked with her, "Maybe your friends are just really nice and the rest of the people in this state are asses!" But, I doubt this. San Francisco proves itself to be a very cool place and I am quite content with my introduction to it!