Mr. Snark and I marked twenty-five years of marital bliss back in July. As the years have rolled along, I have often contemplated this rather momentous occasion. 2017 seemed so far away...the fact that we would have children that would be nineteen and sixteen when it happened seemed incredible. 2017 came around faster than it should have. I mean, I realize that time passed as time always does, but you know what I'm saying. We get in the thick of things...bogged down in the daily grind of life...surrounded by all the trappings that come with the "baby raising" years and FLASH...years have passed and sometimes, it seems like they pass without us really knowing what's happening. I blinked, turned around, took a nap and here we are at anniversary number twenty-five.
I remember spending hours upon hours, looking at Granny's photo albums. Some of my favorite pictures were of her and Papa's Silver Anniversary. 1972...the fashion and the hair!!! They held a vow renewal at the family's church. To my childlike mind, it was all so very romantic. It was something I considered for us, but then Mr. Snark suggested a trip...just the two of us. We never took a honeymoon, so it could be honeymoon and 25th anniversary all rolled together. Hmmmmm! I was intrigued and then he suggested Wyoming. He has made three road trips to that part of America the Beautiful and it has just captured his heart and his imagination. "You just HAVE to see the buffalo!" Truth and honesty have always been the currency of choice, here at The YB Chronicles. Looking at (and smelling) buffalo was seriously the last thing on my mind. I balked at the idea...and was verbal with my opposition. I offered alternatives...NYC, Charleston, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco. We had a little "Green Acres" thing going.
I remember spending hours upon hours, looking at Granny's photo albums. Some of my favorite pictures were of her and Papa's Silver Anniversary. 1972...the fashion and the hair!!! They held a vow renewal at the family's church. To my childlike mind, it was all so very romantic. It was something I considered for us, but then Mr. Snark suggested a trip...just the two of us. We never took a honeymoon, so it could be honeymoon and 25th anniversary all rolled together. Hmmmmm! I was intrigued and then he suggested Wyoming. He has made three road trips to that part of America the Beautiful and it has just captured his heart and his imagination. "You just HAVE to see the buffalo!" Truth and honesty have always been the currency of choice, here at The YB Chronicles. Looking at (and smelling) buffalo was seriously the last thing on my mind. I balked at the idea...and was verbal with my opposition. I offered alternatives...NYC, Charleston, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco. We had a little "Green Acres" thing going.
After a fair amount of discussion, we settled on San Francisco. Plenty to be had for my BIG City-hubbub loving self and close enough to Yosemite to satisfy Oliver's Mr. Snark's need for wide open spaces-natural wonder type scenery. And going in the fall would make it easier for work schedules, since there would be less juggling of other people and their vacation weeks. I scoured various forms of social media for ideas of what to see, where to go and what to eat. He made the flight plans, chose our hotels, plotted our course and entered all pertinent information into a spread sheet. He is an engineer, you know.
The only thing the spread sheet lacked was a column for "Hurricane Irma." Time that would have been spent prepping the house for being without parents for a week was spent prepping for life without running water and electricity. It was nerve racking watching Irma's track change and shift. She was significantly weaker and further west when she came through this neck of the woods on September 11. We didn't have to evacuate, which was a distinct possibility when her threat first became legitimate. We didn't lose the first one of our towering pine trees. Roof, shingles and windows all intact and in place. We clocked about thirty-one hours without power. Everything from the house freezer got packed into the deep freezer, which was faithfully powered by our generator. What little that was in the refrigerator was a total loss, but not worth any kind of tears or regret. With no Irma related reason to postpone the trip, we turned our attention back to The City By the Bay.
Friday, September 15 started at 3:00AM. Yep, dawn wasn't even considering cracking at that hour. But who cares?!! On the first flight from Savannah to Atlanta and let me tell you, it was a pleasure to let someone else take us to ATL! Bit of a layover in Atlanta, but again...who cares? More time to airport people watch🌝 Fascinating and amusing, to be sure. The flight, itself, was good. But there were things about the flight that made it a little hard on Mr. Snark. We had bulkhead seats which meant he didn't have a lot of leg room (leg room is rarely an issue for me) and he had no forward focal point and the cabin's air conditioner was not working properly. The perfect recipe for motion sickness. Not a usual problem for him, but he had a lot stacked against him. He was a champ, fighting it off. He even held it together when our first attempt to land was waved off! No joke! Landing gear was down and everything!
"Negative, Ghost Rider. The pattern is full."
Both of us have flown numerous times. Neither of us have ever been THAT close to a landing and been diverted. But when another jet is occupying the space that your plane needs to make a safe landing, what's a pilot to do? He was not amused, as the tone of his voice indicated when he announced what was happening. So we circled the airport and got a great view of the entire bay area. Second attempt to land was successful and once off the plane, my sweet Mister began to settle. Circulating air, blood supply to the legs and a big bottle made a big difference.
Picking up our rental car was next on the list. We had reserved a mid-sized SUV. Rental Agent Dwight did not look much older than Y1. Sporting a pin striped suit, widely knotted tie and spectator wing tips....he was dressed! Usual small talk of rental details, where we were from, did we have storm damage, why we were in California. He and Blonde Rental Agent...she didn't introduce herself...got excited when we said it was our twenty-fifth anniversary/honeymoon and then they asked us if we wanted to drive a mini-van. It was at that point that I put on my sunglasses, looked at Rental Agents Blonde and Dwight and told them that I had been up since 3AM eastern time, that we had rented a mid-sized SUV, just discussed the fact that it was our honeymoon anniversary and now they were offering us a mini van. I told Mr. Snark I was out.
We hoopteed our way through this adventure in a Chrysler 300. Not a bad gig if you can get it. After a quick stop at a nearby Tarjay for water, snacks and G*torade, off to the hotel. Once at the hotel, we made our safe arrival known and promptly passed out for about three hours. Mr. Snark was much more settled after our nap and a couple of bottles of water, so we ventured out to see what we could see.
Scenes from the SOMA (South Of Market) hotel. I have friends who love interesting light installations.
Scenes from the roof top terrace.
We took our supper at a place that was just a few blocks from the hotel...an easy walk...Mel's Drive-in/Diner. The original Mel's was featured in the movie "American Graffiti." Classic American food, with a California twist. In the open space between our hotel and the museum on the corner, there was a Philippine food festival. It smelled so good and we might have found supper there, but Mr. Snark wasn't feeling completely settled. The diner was a safer option.
Chicken pot pie for him. We boxed up the leftovers and passed it along to a homeless man that we passed on the way back to the hotel. A friend of mine shared that tip with me.
For me, poached eggs on whole grain avocado smash toast. At this point, I was still trying to be very loyal to my live-it. I should have added to the leftover box, but I didn't.
Thus ended a very long Day One.
Thus began Day Two. GOOD MORNING, SAN FRANCISCO! In a nutshell, we rode two cable cars, visited Fisherman's Wharf, ate crab and clam chowder at The Franciscan, saw street performers, walked through Chinatown, and strolled past designer shops...like Carolina Herrerra, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Valentino! Assuredly, we weren't in SMALLtown, anymore!
I love architectural detail. This was the archway at Union Square, where we picked up the morning cable car.
Hello, my honey!
To the left of this picture was a man who was tap dancing...and tearing it up! It was all I could do not to just join him. Not that I can tap, but it was hard to keep my feet still. To the right of the picture was another "street performer." He "played" the harmonica. His favorite song went something like this:
"I got a great big woman and a little, bitty bottle of wine.
I got a great big woman and a little, bitty bottle of wine.
You can take my woman but leave my wine alone."
Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat! ding-ding
There were people from everywhere all around us. There was a group of Germans standing behind us, a group of Russians standing in front of us (enjoying their chicken fries from B*rger K*ing). Eric said that made us Poland.
Scenes from the cable car ride down to Fisherman's Wharf.
It's a bicycle rental store, but it's also the title of a movie that is particularly funny as far as certain Stinnett named folk are concerned.
So much cheese!
The visitor's center which is a National Parks entity. This is HUGE lamp is from a lighthouse that once stood along the nearby shoreline.
A steam donkey engine
Off in the distance and part of Day Three's adventure, The Golden Gate Bridge.
A fire boat testing her hoses. I always like when they do that.
Love the tall ships. This is the Thayer.
One of the many options we had for lunch. Of humor to us because Y1 works at a local restaurant by the same name. We are local loyal so we did not eat there. Looked at the menu when we got home and it would have been a good choice. Maybe next time.
The first time I ever saw street performers like this was several years ago when I met Mama, Sister A and Cousin Shelby in Chicago. So very cool. About ten seconds after this picture, he rather brazenly shot a middle finger salute at someone passing in the other direction. GOLDFINGER!!!
We could see Alcatraz from our seat at The Franciscan where we ate bowls of clam chowder, crab chowder and shared a Crab Louis Salad. And ate sourdough bread.
The flatware at The Franciscan had fish tail shaped handles. Or mermaid shaped. Which is what I thought. Even the mermaid thought the crab chowder was good.
Scenes from China Town.
Taking It To the Streets: intersection of Grant and Pacific. The Doobie Brothers shot the back cover photo for their "Taking It To the Streets" album right here. Michael McDonald stood right about here. And this is significant because Michael McDonald sang lead on the title song. And this is significant because I have a GINORMOUS crush on Michael McDonald.
How about a little mood music?
Day Two ended with a lot of smiling, smooching (that's what you do on a honeymoon), hand holding and mashed potatoes at Mel's. It's been a LONG time since I had mashed potatoes. They were very good. My poor live-it.
Look for the rest of the travelogue at another day. This will be an easier trip. No jet lag or waved off landings!
Comments
Post a Comment