San Francisco

We just returned from a great few days out in San Francisco and the Napa Valley. Given our recent history with plans and rental cars (and lost luggage) I was a bit concerned that our bad luck might follow us. But it didn't and we actually got to go to this wedding in our own clothes.

I should start by saying that we booked our flights on Virgin America for about $400 per person. Given the stellar summer/year that the airline industry has had I was skeptical that we would actually make it but it was a uneventful round trip. They have a cool touch screen system to order movies and food so that you just punch in your order and they bring it over. The down side is that they charge for everything except drinks and some TV so there is no "free" lunch or movie.

Peter insisted that we rent a convertable and despite initial protestations it turned out to be a great idea (though I have a very sunburned scalp). We arrived at our hotel, check in, and had to park the car. I accidentally missed our block and had to drive the car (and its gerbil run engine) up and down the steepest hill. Peter insisted on "crazy hills like in the ball commercial" and he was not dissapointed. While everyone knows that the city is hilly, it is hard to fathom a legal road that looks to be at a 45 degree angle. A pregnant Rachel (Al's wife from Spain) shuddered at the idea of pushing a baby stroller up the hills and I sat with my jaw on the ground watching people parallel park.

We stayed at the Cornell Hotel de France and it was very very french. I practiced my "Bon Jour" and "Merci" with the hostess and the chinese wait staff at the Joan de Arc themed restaurant in the basement. The restaurant was what felt like a faithfully recreated touture chamber filled with torture bric a brac and lots of pictures of Joan being burned at the stake. The hotel billed the place as one of the best known in SF and Peter pointed out that it may not be well known for the food.

During the afternoon we walked up the hill to the Top of the Mark and met Al and Rachel for a drink. The Top of the Mark is clearly a tourist trap but they let you sit and have drinks and enjoy a 360 degree view of the city. SF is one of the most interesting (and improbable) cities in the world and this is the place to see it from.

We climbed in a cab and met Thad for dinner at an Indian place in the financial district. We tried to get into what was billed as one of the best seafood places in town but settled for a somewhat generic indian place in Embarcadero Center. In a way I take full responsibility for this since I seem to have some sort of homing device that leads me to malls no matter how interesting the surrounding city appears to be.

After a feast (this was the second prix fix indian meal that we had in the past month and the "bring us what ever you want for $20 a person" seems to be the way to go) of indian food and a lot of beer (non-alcoholic for the pregnant lady) we wandered over to Bix to meet the happy couple.

Zach seems to have a thing for out of the way, down the alley and look to the left types of places and this one was a very swanky jazz club. We were unfortunately sat at a long, narrow table which, combined with the music and the language barriers, made conversation difficult. Luckily, with the crowd, they are more than happy to sit back, relax, and shout over the music.