Bridge that gap, fellas

One of my old favourite songs from way back when, so bridge that gap, fellas

One of my old favourite songs 

My arrival into San Francisco was the scariest of my trip so far although I was totally oblivious at first as I was engrossed with watching Dirty Dancing on my iPod. Baby was just about to be taken out of her corner to have the time of her life. The cabin crew hadn’t seemed bothered by me still having my headphones in or having my iPod switched on. I knew that we were descending but as we came in to land the plane suddenly started climbing very steeply. The woman next to me grabbed the arm-rest and a substantial part of my arm which made me jump. We circled round for what seemed like an eternity as I nursed my arm and checked for nail marks. In reality it was probably about five minutes before we made another attempt to land, this time without problems. Once we were down on the ground the pilot finally made an announcement and told us what had happened. Air traffic control had lost contact with a plane that was on the ground and they couldn’t be sure it wasn’t on the runway we were about to land on. The drama meant I had missed Baby doing the lift.

Having collected my case I made my way to BART. I was going to ride it all the way downtown. The nearest station got me to within a mile of my next hosts, Ken & Larry. They were another couple I had met in P’Town back in July and we had kept in touch since then. They had offered me a place in San Francisco and we had arranged for me to visit over Halloween weekend which I suspected would be a lot of fun. BART was a nice ride and I was soon walking up their street in the evening sun. It was pretty much one straight road from the station, which for the most part was thankfully flat. The last couple of blocks were uphill and I arrived at Ken & Larry’s a little out of breath. The flight of stairs up to their place nearly killed me.

From way back when

I was shown to my room, introduced to Max & Jack (a cute pair of Westies) and given a tour of the house. They had Halloween decorations up ready for the weekend. We headed out for a walk so I could see the local area. A couple of blocks later we were in The Castro. I was given a tour and had a few things pointed out to me. On the corner of Market and Castro was Twin Peaks, possibly the first gay bar in America to have plate glass windows allowing people to see in. We also saw the place where Harvey Milk had his camera shop and the famous Castro theatre. After the walk we headed back home for pre-dinner cocktails. Ken was quite the barman and my slightly dirty martini was just the thing. Dinner was amazing too and gave us a chance to catch up on our respective gossip since July. 

Larry had very kindly taken the next day off work to act as a tour guide for the day. After coffee and breakfast we headed out to pick up the Zipcar he had rented for the day. As we were walking along I remembered from P’Town that Larry was a little deaf in one ear. Ken would always walk on his good side but I couldn’t remember which side that was. I asked Larry if I was on his good side. I didn’t get a response so I moved round to walk on the other side. He asked if there was anything in particular that I wanted to see. I said that the main tourist things were on my list – the Golden Gate Bridge & Alcatraz. I had a ticket booked for Alcatraz for the following Monday & Larry said that we could go over the Bridge and then stop at a few places to get some good photos of it. The day was shaping up to be a nice one weather wise, which was great as Larry had booked a Mini convertible.

So bridge that gap

Our driving tour took us through some great streets, the proper hilly ones that they use for car chase scenes in movies. We drove down Lombard Street (the zig-zaggy one) and then over the Golden Gate Bridge. It was great going over it with the roof down, looking up at the massive red steel structure. We took in a couple of the vista points for some photos including the ubiquitous shot of Dean with the Bridge before heading over to Sausalito, a lovely little seaside town where we parked up and had a wander along to get some lunch. We found a great place called Scoma's which was on a little pier out over the water. The waitress showing us to “a nice table, very private” which was out the back of the restaurant with great views over the Bay. There was only one other table out there. 

After lunch we drove back over the Bridge and round Presidio, getting a little lost in the process (Larry had warned me that it was a possibility and he didn't disappoint). From there we headed up to Twin Peaks for some great views over the city, Larry pointing out various landmarks to me. It was a fantastic spot for me to get my bearings sorted out. We did a quick trip downtown too so I could see the TransAmerica building and take a walk round the market stalls in the Ferry Building before we returned home. I had a quick shower and changed and by the time I headed out Ken was on bartending duty again. I ordered myself a nice Hendrick’s martini.

Fellas

Our plan for the evening was cocktails at the house with a couple of friends of Ken & Larry’s followed by dinner at a new tapas place nearby. The friends would be part of the pirates and wenches Halloween theme on the following night. Joe arrived first and I was introduced to him, Ken explaining my trip and how we had met in P’Town. We chatted about our various travels and found a mutual fondness for Buenos Aires. Joe showed me a couple of photos from his recent trip and I showed him my BA photos. We had both taken a photo that was virtually identical. We were duly joined by Nick, had another cocktail at the house (they were very potent) and headed down the road to Canela for dinner. We were seated at our table by Caesar (not the real one obviously, but a guy in Halloween costume). It was a little off-putting being told the specials by someone who had a nipple on display. The food was great though.

Saturday morning started off with coffee and breakfast. Ken & Larry had a couple of things they wanted to go and do and they said I was more than welcome to join them. We made our way to collect another Zipcar, something a little more practical than the Mini from the previous day. We headed out to a glass blowing factory as they had a pumpkin garden set up for Halloween. The place only opened to the public a couple of times a year. The glass pumpkins on display came in all shapes, sizes and colours and it was an impressive sight. I stood in awe watching them make them too. They had the process down really well and the three people working together seemed to be producing the most ornate glass pumpkins in the space of about ten minutes. Ken & Larry made a few purchases, I just tried not to break anything.

From there we took a drive through the Berkely Hills with some great views back of the Bay back to the city, then a drive through the Berkley University campus with some great views of the college boys. We stopped for lunch and I had a hearty meal knowing that the pending Halloween evening had potential for being a boozy one.

“One of my old favourite songs from way back when, so bridge that gap, fellas” 
Lyrics from Hello, Dolly! from the musical Hello, Dolly!