I'm back. I think I pulled a muscle

So this blog was partially for the purposes of Warren and I amazing you readers with our repartee. Not an auspicious start. Oh, Warren has been brilliant. I fear that it will take me some time to orient myself toward his level. One thing of note, Warren and I don't seem to be seeing the same movies. We are sort of a dyslexic Siskel and Ebert. We review movies that have no relation to each other, much less reviewing the same movie. I guess the hope is that eventually these two monkees will find the same nut and write comments on it. Purely by coincidence.

But to fulfill the need of Warren and I actually getting to trade barbs, Warren and his wife visited me recently here in San Francisco. For those of you who are waiting for a movie review, this isn't it. I am fulfilling the "Lifestyle" portion of this blog for the moment. My movie reviews come next.

San Francisco is a beautiful city. It is tough to take it all in on a two and a half day weekend, but the three of us gave it a try.

The friends arrived Friday night late and stayed through Sunday night. Well actually they took off on Monday morning. Saturday was spent downtown, roughly. A walk tour. Warren and Jenny stayed at Le Meridian at Battery and Clay. Starting at 10:30 am we walked through Chinatown. Saw the enormous wooden penis with the bow on it. Walked up to Washington Square. Peeked inside at St.'s Peter and Paul Church on the Square. Walked up Telegraph Hill. Decided that the wait to ascend Coit Tower was too long and hot. Enjoyed the view from Telegraph Hill. It was sparkling clear, cloudless in the City, all weekend. Walked to and up Lombard Street to Hyde. Viewed the "crookedest street in America" from all angles. Walked down Hyde to Embarcadero and Fisherman's Wharf. Had just a fantastic lunch at Tarantinos; Clam Chowder, Fish and Chips, Shrimp Salad, wine, Anchor Steam. Goofed off around Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. They aren't really into super touristy things like Pier 39, but we didn't want to stray too far from the Piers. At 5:30 pm got in line for the night cruise to Alcatraz. Warren had bought the tickets a few months ago. Cold and windy on the boat over there. Really a great site to see once we were there. Interesting as hell. Once we were done with the mandatory guided audio tour looked for another tour to take and happened to hook up with a tour guide who, although attempted to take us to the tour we had asked directions for, decided to take us on a special backstage tour instead. Saw things not open at night. Saw places that are never shown to the public. Had a personal tour guide. She, and the tour, were fun. Then back on the boat and back to dock by 10:00 pm. Drove Jenny and Warren back to their hotel and I headed over to Paul's, my brother, place for the night.

So Sunday would involve stuff to do outside of the downtown area. A car tour with intermittent walking. Picked up the "not even really tired" couple at 10:30 am. Drove to Golden Gate park and parked near Kezar Stadium. Walked to the Haight. First stop Amoeba Records. Warren was suitably impressed as he collects vinyl. Jenny less so. Walked down Haight touring shops all the way to Masonic and then turned around and walked the other side of the street. Walked into Golden Gate Park. Watched some lawn bowling at the Club. Walked to de Young Museum Cafe for lunch. Walked back to the car and drove to where I would move into on Monday, 20th Ave. and Lawton. Took a picture outside of the place. Drove to Ocean Beach. Stayed for a bit. Back into the car and over to look at the American Bison in Golden Gate Park. Drove up to The Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park. Looked at the grounds and the golf course for 20 minutes until it was 4:30 pm so that we could go into the museum for free. Listened to the last half hour of the Steiner organ recital. Toured the museum briefly. Saw some paintings done by people whose names we recognized. Drove through Sea Cliff admiring the extraordinarily ornate homes that are there on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Got hung up in Golden Gate Bridge traffic. Drove through the Presidio. Parked at Crissy Field, got out of the car and walked up to the Bridge. Walked out to the first span and admired the view. Like I said, it was cloudless all weekend. Had been taking good pictures all weekend and took a few here as well. Drove back to the Fisherman's Wharf area to eat at a restaurant that Warren's parents had recommended. Had a wonderful dining experience at Scoma's. Seafood again. Why not? Let's see, Jenny had a melange of crustaceans (lobster, scallops, crab, shrimp) out of the shell and sauteed in butter, garlic and onions over a bed of risotto and a side salad. Warren had a crabmeat sandwich with a side salad. I had a fried melange of seafood (breaded scallops, shrimp and pollack) over risotto and a side salad. Of course there was beer and wine involved. Stopped off a Ghiradelli Square for hot chocolate, before heading back to our respective places for the night.

Good weekend.

I moved into my new place the following Monday. Really just dumped my stuff off. Paul helped me. Yeah, he carried the other box. He wanted to see the place. As he was leaving, he mentioned that right across 19 Ave. was a hidden gem of the City, Grandview Park. It is roughly at 15th Ave. and Moraga, so six blocks from me. Up a lot of steps. A lot of steps. And I was on what looked to be the third highest point in the City. I had an entire view of the City and surounding Bay area obstructed only by Twin Peaks and some hill far south of the City. Imagine the vista. Pacifica sweeping up the coast, all the way over Golden Gate Park, the Bridge, around the top of the peninsula, the marina, over the entire North Bay over to the entire downtown area, the extent my of sight stopping just about the Mission District. Really cool. I then walked down to 9th and Irving for lunch. I continued my perambulation to the Haight and at Shrader headed north. I wanted to see what the big church on the hill was. Found out that it is St. Ignatius. Walked back to Golden Gate Park and goofed off there for a few hours before heading home to truly unpack.

So not only for the weekend that Warren and Jenny were here, but just generally all the time that I have been in the City, this is what I have been up to.

Matthew