Mommy Camp goes on the road (Day 1)

Mark spent the past week and a half at sleep-away camp. I refer to this time of year as "Mommy Camp," because honestly, I'm out there whooping it up and trying to be as irresponsible and carefree as possible (OK, maybe not that wild, but I did go to happy hour every night and see four movies while he was gone!). As Homer Simpson said, "That was fun--and I mean, before-we-had-kids fun!"

This year, my mom and I planned a long weekend in San Francisco during Mommy Camp. She had an exhaustive list of sights to see and restaurants to visit, and we hit all but one of them in the first two days. Not only did we wear ourselves out, we also wore out everyone who came to visit us--our family friend Sasha, my brother Tim, his wife Kim, and their kids Hannah and Nicholas (what up, Hannah and Nick-ay! :-).

We left early on Saturday morning, arriving in San Fran for breakfast. Sasha picked us up, shuttling us from the airport to our hotel, and then around the entire city. We walked around Fisherman's Wharf, marveling at the giant crabs at a fish market trying to escape their open tanks. 

We walked along Hyde Street Pier, pointing huge telescopes at Alcatraz, which was clear and easy to see, and the Golden Gate Bridge, which was not. (I also used my telescope to stare at my mom's face up close. It's amazing what you can see for just a quarter!)

We stood along the edge of the pier, watching swimmers go by. There were a whole lotta swimmers out there, which was crazy, because that water was super cold! (Even the air was cold--60 degrees!--and we were shivering on the dock, fully clothed and wearing jackets!) A curious seal was swimming along one swimmer, occasionally popping his head out of the water.

Sasha had to leave around noon, so we said goodbye, and consoled ourselves with Irish coffees at the historic Buena Vista.

It was cool to watch the bartender make them--he lined up a whole mess of glasses, then drenched them in steaming hot water. He then went down the line, dropping two sugar cubes in each glass, filling them first in coffee, then with whiskey. At the end, he topped each with pure cream, which melted into the coffee. 

 

I usually hate whiskey, but man, those were good!

Warmed up by the whiskey, we started our next adventure--the cable cars, which were just outside the door. We waited in line with all the other tourists, a great many of whom were European. It was fun to hear French, German, and other languages spoken all around us.

The cable cars seem like a cool idea, except that they pack you in so tightly, you can't even see out the windows. So we rode up and down the steep hills of San Francisco staring at some French guy's backpack. Oh well, we still had a good time!

The cable car dropped us at the end of the line, in Union Square. That's when I realized what a busy, bustling town SF really is--I mean, it was Saturday, and the streets were jam-packed. I can't even imagine how busy they are during the work week!

Mom and I meandered up a few blocks, toward China Town. Along the way, we passed a Scottish store, with a big cut-out in front. I coaxed my mom into it, where she stood and gave me her sweetest smile.

"No, Mom!"  I told her. "You're Braveheart. Look mean!" So she did.

(And if you ever wondered why I am the way I am, look at the following pics of my mom. They address that pretty well!)

I wanted to get a pic of my mom in front of the China Town gate, but she had other ideas. She kept acting silly, taking pictures of me, taking pictures of her. This was as good as I got.

We walked the pseudo-Chinese streets, curbing the urge to buy $2.99 t-shirts (good quality!) or other cheesy souvenirs. (OK, I admit it--I couldn't pass up the 7-for-a-dollar post cards--Mark got a whole bunch of postcards from SF!) 

I was astounded by the herb shops, which had a huge supply of weird, dried stuff and giant jars of powders, all labelled in Chinese. I loved the red lanterns lining the streets, and the occasional dragon crossing with the band.

 

But the craziest shop we saw was the fish seller. There were gigantic tanks of live fish in the window, and smaller tanks all around. The store was as crowded with people as it was with live fish tanks, and as I stepped inside, I was assaulted by a strong odor. It emanated from a big box on the ground, which I saw was filled with live frogs. Tons of them, crawling all over each other. I quickly stepped out.

Sasha, an avid animal lover, looked at me in horror when I relayed that story.

"For pets," I said quickly, amending the story to protect her sensitive nature. "I'm sure they were selling the frogs as pets." Sasha remained unconvinced.

We'd walked halfway back to our hotel, then somehow found the returning cable car. We got on the wrong line, which we didn't know at the time, but proved serendipitous, as it dropped us off a block from our hotel.

Our day had started at 5 a.m., but we still had a little left in us. After a quick nap and a wine reception in the hotel lobby, we rallied and walked to dinner at Scoma's. The seafood was fresh, and amazing, and definitely worth the wait!

We were exhausted by the time we left dinner, but I refused to go home until dark.

"Come on, Mom!" I told her. "We have to wait for sunset! We're on VACATION!"

She didn't want to, but that's the great thing about my mom--she can rally with the best of them. And like me (and Mark!), she doesn't want to miss a thing. So she did it--finished dinner, strolled slowly, and humored me, arriving at the hotel just after dark.

We were exhausted, but dang, we saw half the city that day!