Welcome to San Francisco, The City that Never Squeaks
A beautiful good morning.
Just finished the first night’s sleep in the Bay Area.
Yesterday I flew into SF around 11 and met up with daniel at l’aeroport. I had to check my bag because I forgot I had my pocket knife on the keychain carabiner I keep with me. Dang it! With Southwest Airlines, though, it’s free to check up to two bags.
I woke up around 4am to catch a 5am Uber for my 7am flight, and with that schedule I had plenty of time to shower, remember things I forgot to pack, make some coffee, go through security twice, and even read a petite bit of my book.
The flights were great and I made two origami cranes. I sat next to a nice lady on the second flight but didn’t get her name. Actually, I sat next to two women. One was from Houston the other from SF. The second woman’s daughter is dancing in the carnival celebration this Sunday, 5/25.
I arrived in SFO, waited a bit for my bag, and met up with Dan. There are so many AI billboards in sf. This is really the tech hub of the world.
Next to the airport are all the gene research centers, too.
We drove to the Mission district to get some lunch. I brought a bunch of cameras and was very excited to try out my new film cam - I had ordered a bunch of film to Dan's apt.
The drive to the mission district was crazy with the geography of SF - so many hills, reveals, and views. It’s dramatic! And the buildings are short. The classic SF townhome is so ornamented. I had fun looking around at all the insane details that people of yore took the time to add to these homes in the molding, carving, and gold-leafing. Many, many colors. So stimulating to look at.
We ate lunch at Senor Sisig in the Mission District. We each got perfectly cylindrical burritos flavored to perfection - the restaurant started as a food truck before opening brick and mortar corner stores all over the city. Apparently San Francisco doesn’t really have any fast food, so most all of the restaurants are just regular restaurants?!
After the burritos Dan took us to Mission Dolores Park for a splendid view of the city. Absolutely splendid. He asked if I had seen The Brutalist, and I said, “No, I haven’t seen The Brutalist,” and he said, “Oh you should see The Brutalist.”
Arriving in SF And Saying Hello to Daniel
Dan's apartment is situated in Upper Richmond, right across the street from Golden Gate park. His windows are half a floor up from the sidewalk, and the street was pretty calm when I was there. He found a great parking spot right in front of his building.
The location is perfect as a home base since it's close to everything you want to do in SF - It's close to the GG bridge, right next to the park, just a bit away from the downtown area, and super close to tons of cool shoppes and storefronts. But anything that isn't within walking distance is within biking, bussing, or driving distance, so it's super fuckin' chill just hoppin around and feeling multi-modal and shit.
We also did the following that I will have to update later:
Went to Fieldwork coffee shop, situated in an adapted and reused public restroom. An air of calm! Cute girl with a dress in there, but she was in front of the napkins. I was like, "oh I like your dress," and she said, "thanks, I got it from this thrift shop down the street."
After the coffee shop we went to another "coffee shop" of sorts, except this time it was a weed dispensary. ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°) Yeah... let's just say we bought some edibles and split them before walking around. Gotta keep this sensitive information LOCKED down, if you know what I mean. Also testing out a new "SPOILER" class for my SPANs
Played Pong at a pinball arcade
Below: The internals of the Pong machine's coin slot.
Walking around we stopped in Amoeba music store
Walked around and hiked up to Twin Peaks
Took in the view! You can see the whole city from up here. I put a bunch of pictures in the gallery that you should go check out.
We also saw Sutro Tower, which looks super futuristic. I took a few pictures of that with both my digital and film cameras.
For dinner we at KBBQ at Brothers Restaurant. I had never had the in-table BBQ experience before, and it was really cool, so I'll have to check it out again. That's my main takeaway - I like how the BBQ table keeps your legs warm, too. But you really have to cook your own food, and I was like, "Uh, when did I get a part-time job at a KBBQ restaurant?" I'm just joking around. I actually had a great experience.