The Return Eudemon

Whew, whatta trip last week. We had a great time and I'm thrilled that I finally got to see some of California, but I'm glad to be back. We left at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday and flew into San Francisco in the morning. We drove back into my driveway at 4:15 a.m. Saturday. I suspect I'll be feeling the lag for a few days yet, but it was worth it.

San Francisco is great, absolutely great. Top Ten List of Reasons Why:

10. Cleanliness. You simply don't see trash on the roads or parks.

9. Great food. Clam chowder in a bread bowl, a little breakfast place with incredible waffles (I'm normally not a waffle fan), a neat off-the-beaten-path pizzeria (PG link) that a local recommended.

8. Relaxed drinking laws. On our first night, Marie and I took the trolley to Union Square, then meandered back toward the Wharf area. It's about 1.5 miles, but we zagged along streets and stopped at restaurants that served beers on the patio. We accidentally stumbled into a coffee shop and half-frantically started to beat a retreat for the door, but three beer tap handles caught my eye at the last second. They served us a pair of Anchor Steams (most-righteous beer) on the sidewalk.

7. Great views of the City. From the Bay, it looks like one of those scrunched Latin American cities: layered buildings and hilly streets.

6. Great views of the Bay.

5. Friendly place. My whole idea of the bitter liberal was challenged, though I admittedly didn't get to the Castro or Haight areas, where things are considerably more leftist. On more than one occasion, a native San Franciscan walked up to us, sua sponte, and said, "Can I help you find something?" It almost felt like Wal-Mart.

4. The main tourist areas--Wharf, Chinatown, Union Square, Lombard Street, the Trolleys--didn't shock the hetero conscience. My gaydar buzzed a lot, but with the exception of a handful of lesbian couples holding hands and one or two guys with glam sartorial habits, nothing blatant or offensive.

3. Bike riding. We took bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge, then rode back through the Presidio Heights neighborhood, which was really neat: rich homes with no yards. You don't see that every day.

2. Chinatown. Very "authentic" (over-used but useful word). Chinese people still live and shop there. You can buy raw fish heads and skinned chickens from the sidewalk. Grossed me out, but still neat.

1. Alcatraz. Very cool trip to the Island. Observe at your leisure, come back when you want. Interesting stories, imagination-stirring views.

I found the dearth of children in San Francisco alarming. More than one city park was filled (filled!) with dogs and their owners, but you'd be hard pressed to find a small child playing with the dogs. Very sad.

Our trip from San Fran to Fresno was nice. There's not a lot to do there, but the drive down through the valley was scenic with hills and miles of orange groves along the road. The people at the Fresno breakfast meeting were gracious and made me feel at ease. It translated into a good speech (so my wife tells me; I wasn't watching--smile).

[caption id="attachment_8601" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The Working Wharf"]