Photo a Day: Week 4

January 22, 2012 ~ Nothing like getting a boarding pass to gear you up for a trip.


January 23, 2012 ~ San Francisco: Our other home, away from home.


January 24, 2012 ~ It's funny how a delicious banh mi sandwich can brighten your day.


January 25, 2012 ~ Dungeness. Few things are sweeter.


January 26, 2012 ~ Back to reality... veggie fajitas or vegitas for dinner.


January 27, 2012 ~ Getting fit means cutting carbs.


January 28, 2012 ~ Sigma Derby never gets old.

Blue Skies Smiling on Me

Wednesday, we had to pack up and check out. Boo. Fortunately, we pretty much had a full day ahead of us. After dropping our bag - yes, bag, thanks to my mad packing skills - off at the Bell Desk, our first stop was one last visit to see Young. We had the perfect sandwich! A turkey club with avocado on dutch crunch. Young gave us pasta and potato salad, too. Then, when we tried to pay she said it was her treat. We got some truffles from next door and shared with her. We said so long until next time, then we hopped on the cable car to Market so we could catch a ride to the Castro. From there, we caught a bus to take us up to Twin Peaks.

Google Maps sucks sometimes and it told us to get off too soon. So, we walked up hundreds of steep ass stairs. It was quite the work out. But finally, we caught a glimpse of our reward.



We took a short rest to enjoy the view and catch our breath and then we pressed on up the hill. It's a short hike, and had we rode the bus up to the last stop it would've been cake. But we took the long way, not to mention, I haven't exercised in 5 months. This was my first outing putting my ankle to the test. Heck, it was my first vacation in months out of a boot. I made it, though! The views were amazing. I can't think of a better way to take my ankle for a test drive. 360 degree views on a beautiful day!









the other peak...











Watching fog roll in near Golden Gate was a treat.



After a good look around we climbed down and caught the bus down from the hilltop rather than taking all those stairs. Needless to say, it was much easier returning to the Castro. We walk over to Ike's Place. We split an Elvis Keith, it was damn tasty. Halal chicken, teriyaki, wasabi mayo, swiss and a squirt of sriracha on dutch crunch... not your usual sandwich. I devoured it, before thinking of taking a photo. Trust me, it was good eats.

We left the Castro and rode back to Union Square where we caught a bus to North Beach. Time was winding down, it was time to for our last meal. Sotto Mare was the spot. They have excellent seafood. All roads lead here for us. I usually get the cioppino, but this time I went for the snapper and Frank had seafood risotto.





It did not disappoint. We walked over to Victoria Pastry. Frank wanted one last sweet treat before his weightloss challenge officially begun. He had a cannoli and coffee. I had a couple tiny almond cookies. And that was it. It was time to gather our bag and take one last cable car ride to the Bart and then we homeward bound. The flight home only had 20 people or so, so, we had our pick of seats. Our load was light and we were home in no time. Another trip was in the books. Until next time...

Eat, drink and be merry!

Tuesday, we returned to Saigon Sandwich for more Banh Mi and we stopped at Petite Deli to see Young. She was pleased to see us back so soon. We shared an Italian hero and pasta & potato salad. Afterwards, we decided we'd finally go to Alcatraz. It's never been high on my to do list, but it was a nice afternoon, the clouds had parted and the skies were blue. We were able to get seats on the next cruise over, which departed at 12:45.



Once we arrived on the Island we toured the grounds for a couple hours.

















The city views were particularly nice.





























Frank enjoyed Alcatraz more than I did. My feeling is that you do what you can to avoid prison, therefore, visiting one didn't thrill me... even if it is a National Park.



After the boat ride back, we hopped on a bus to Chinatown for lunch at Penang Garden. We shared roti and hot & spicy crab. It was just as delicious as last time.





Afterwards, we hopped on a bus to Hayes Valley. We went to Suppenkuche which is a place Frank had found known for awesome potato pancakes and beer in boots. Their potato pancakes were indeed awesome.



The beer selection was great, too. Several drafts and bottles, all of which were new to us. We enjoyed our time there. It's a neat place, we'll return another time to try more eats. Drinks, too, of course.

We returned to Crabhouse for another dose of the dungeness. 'Lots a crab' hit the spot! We wanted a couple beers, we were going to go to Kennedy's. The Irish bar I went to with my family, but instead we went to Golden Boy. They have Red Hook ESB on tap and I love the stuff. Beers eventually led to pizza slices. Stick a fork in us, we were done. We walked, ate and drank our fill. We were exhausted. We walked back to the hotel and promptly crashed.

Our other home, away from home

Monday, we were up and out well before the sun. Even when we took off at 6 o'clock the neon beamed from the darkness below. The flight was full, but we still managed to get seats in the exit row. Frank appreciated the extra leg room. We touched down in San Francisco at 7:30 and we hit the ground running. We hopped on BART, bought our three-day Muni pass, and jumped on the cable car. There's no line that early so we were quickly aboard and on our way to the Wharf. The rain had lightened up enough we didn't bother with umbrellas.

This trip we were booked at the Sheraton, I got a great deal on Hotwire for $87/night. We didn't think there'd be a room ready, but we checked anyway, and lucky for us, we were in our room minutes before 9 o'clock. I was pleased to find a king-sized bed to boot. The balcony was a surprise, but we never used it, the view was of a/c units.



We dropped off our bags, and headed down to the Ferry Building. We grabbed all of our goodies for our usual picnic. We stuffed ourselves silly and crashed.



It was chilly and damp since the rain had just cleared. We declared it perfect Irish Coffee weather. We headed over to Buena Vista.



Only I'm a poor excuse for an Irish girl. There was far too much whiskey for me. Frank had to finish mine. We left and I was dying of thirst. We grabbed a water at Ghiradelli. Who goes there for water? Yes, I do. We hopped a bus to the Tenderloin for banh mi at Saigon Sandwich. We had Chicken and Roast Pork. I can't decide which I like better.



We found our way back to the Wharf, we went to Pier 39 to see the sea lions... something so touristy, but we've never stopped to see.















After the sunset, we found Beer 39. Just what we were after, we bellied up to the bar and sampled them all. I was a big fan of 'Back in Black', Firestone Pale and Hemp beer. Frank found a couple he really enjoyed too. Best part was they were all new to us. We worked up a hunger from all that heavy lifting, well, we more or less couldn't wait to sink our teeth into crab so the Crabhouse was our next stop.

We shared Crab Chowder and a whole crab. Yummy!





Later, we went to Aux Delices for another Vietnamese fix. Frank had his first taste of pho tai. It was ok, but what I get from Da Lat at home is better. We also ordered Imperial rolls and bun thit nuong which was a first for me. I will certainly be having it again.







We walked off eats after taking the bus to North Beach, we walked around there and then through the financial district and up embarcadero. We called it a night soon after.