Adventures In Solitude

One of the perks of my job is getting to travel most anywhere (within reason) on the weekend instead of coming home.  For the last several months, I've been coming to Las Vegas each week and was asked to stay in there through Saturday this past week.  Though there aren't many to start with, I've done most every cultural activity that I've wanted to do in Las Vegas with few exceptions.  Instead of hanging around on Sunday, I caught a flight by myself to San Francisco to visit the city for my first time.

I started by taking BART from the airport to Union Square around 8:30 a.m.  I was rather unimpressed with Union Square as it seemed very generic.  If you're looking for a Macy's or Gap or the like, Union Square certainly could accommodate you.  Per some friend's of friend's recommendations, I ate breakfast at Café De La Presse.  The food and service were good, but I found perhaps the quote of the day from a patron that came in and sat near me at the bar.  The barista asked him what he planned to do for Easter Sunday.  His response was, "I think I am going to go to mass at Old St. Mary's and then head to the park to smoke some reefer."  I was amused.

After breakfast, I walked around Chinatown for bit.  I was really anxious to get some coffee.  I had heard about Blue Bottle Coffee from another recommendation.  I searched all over the Hayes Valley district for it until I found it in what looked like an alley.  There is a small line, but I finally got a soy latte.  Now I'm not much of a coffee person, but this was probably the best cup of coffee I have ever had.  Devotchka's How It Ends was a nice soundtrack to listen to while I got and drank my coffee.

I got lunch in the Mission District at a place called Atlas Cafe per another recommendation.  It took me a while to find it.  Once I did, I was impressed by the menu.  I was torn between several items, but I settled upon the apple and cheese sandwich, which had cheddar, apples, arugala, and olive oil on wheat bread.  It was quite good.  After lunch, I listened to Blonde Redhead's Misery is a Butterfly on my iPod as I went walking down Valencia in search of 826 Valencia's Pirate Supply Store.  I was disappointed when I got there and it was closed.

I spent the next hour or so walking the distance of Haight Street.  Parts of it were hilly and hard to climb up after I had been walking all day.  I stopped when I got to Buena Vista Park and relaxed for an hour or so and read.  It was a nice break.  I continued walking up Haight Street until I reached Amoeba Records.  This is probably the largest music store that I have ever visited.  I picked up Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago and Tulsa's I Was Submerged.  I am still listening and evaluating them.  

At the foot of Haight Street is where Golden Gate park begins.  I walked through the park for a bit to reach the Japanese Tea Garden.  I walked through the garden and enjoyed the landscape and sculpture throughout.  I also really liked the many large koi fish that were in the stream.  I'm almost jealous because I know my koi's will never grow that big.  The pond they live in is too small.  I also really liked the large statue of Siddhartha Buddha near the front.  I wanted to sit down and enjoy a pot of tea there, but I did not have enough time.  I brought some back from their gift shop along with a few other items.  The tea garden was probably my favorite part of the trip.  The atmosphere was so relaxing.

I probably walked well over ten miles on Sunday.  There were many parts of San Francisco that I wanted to visit, but I ran out of time.  I certainly want to get back there and spend more time.  Maybe next time, I can convince someone to come along with me.  The rest of my pictures from the trip can be found here.