How To Fall In Love With San Francisco

I had never been to San Francisco before our honeymoon.  My experience with California had  been limited to a week in San Diego and a layover at LAX.  I knew San Francisco would be nothing like San Diego.  I was prepared with umbrellas, jackets, cardigans, and every length of pant you could think of.  I was expecting to be cold, maybe a little miserable at times, with hopefully a bit of sunshine mixed in.

Boy, did we luck out.  We had beautifully perfect weather every day we were there.  It was chilly early in the mornings and after the sun went down, but during the day I couldn’t have asked for anything better.  We stayed in North Beach at this lovely bed and breakfast across from Washington Square (aptly name The Washington Square Inn).  Considering we knew nothing about the city’s neighborhoods, we found a great location.

We arrived around 7:30 or 8 pm, and the woman at the front desk helped us with our bags and reminded us of the wine and cheese hour every evening at 5:30.  We settled into our room and found an incredibly helpful binder with a list of recommended neighborhood restaurants and what to do in San Francisco depending on the length of your stay.  Armed with dinner suggestions, we left to walk around the neighborhood.

We didn’t truly experience the hills until the next day, when we ran from our hotel to the Fisherman’s Wharf and along the pier towards the Ferry Building.  Coming back up Stockton I wasn’t sure if I could make it, but I did (and repeated that run up the hill 2 more times).  The weather was ideal for running, and what better setting can you ask for than the ocean.  Later in the trip, I had to do a 10-mile run and ran towards the Golden Gate Bridge through the Presidio.  I’ve never enjoyed a long run so much.  In fact, I felt like I could have run forever, but had to get back for breakfast.  The number of other runners and walkers out was amazing.  There were so many dogs frolicking in the grassy areas, beaches and even the water.  Oh, to be able to do this every morning.

We walked everywhere (I know – who goes to San Francisco and doesn’t ride a cable or street car), and made a pretty good exploration of the city.  I guess I should qualify my statement – we took ferries to Alcatraz and Sausalito.  I’ll admit, there were times when we reached a hill so steep that I did not believe it physically possible to walk up it in a standing position, convinced I would have to crawl up it on hands and knees.  Or we would reach a descent I thought I could not walk down without the mere weight of my upper body causing me to tumble head over heels down the sidewalk.  Neither of those things actually happened, though.

We walked to downtown and ate at Michael Mina’s RN74 and Tyler Florence’s Wayfare Tavern.  We explored Chinatown and Nob Hill.  We spent a good chunk of Saturday morning at the Ferry Building, perusing the goods at the local farmer’s market and across the street at the artists’ booths.  We walked across the Golden Gate bridge and saw dolphins! (Unfortunately, I did not have my zoom lens on and did not think it wise to try to change lenses on a windy bridge hovering over the ocean).  We perused the titles at City Lights Books for what seemed like hours, but limited ourselves to one selection each – pesky travel restrictions on suitcase weight.

Despite my efforts not to, I was in love with the city well before it was time to leave.  Then we ate breakfast at Mama’s, a restaurant catty-corner from our hotel, and it was all I could do to roll our suitcases down the hall an hour later.  I didn’t cry as we said goodbye to the City by the Bay, although I felt like it.  Since being home, we have half-jokingly researched real estate listings and job openings.  Neither of us relishes the thought of taking the California bar exam, but perhaps we find jobs as paralegals.

Coming from the midwest, the cost of living is astronomically higher.  I don’t know that we can seriously put San Francisco on our list of somedays.  But sometimes you just can’t help what you fall in love with.  I think maybe I’ll hold out for “someday.”

We May Actually Die In This Cab

One of the things that I always stress about during vacation is cab fare.  I’m going to a city that I am unfamiliar with, and have no idea how to get around or what the quickest/best routes of travel are.  For instance, when we went to Vegas to get married, we were totally taken advantage of on the way from the airport.  Took forever and cost maybe $30 or more.  Turns out we were staying literally about a mile from the airport.  Cab fare back was less than half that amount.  When we got to the New Orleans airport I saw a shuttle stand.  I figured I’d ask about cost.  It was $30 per person one way, but we could buy round trip and it would be a little cheaper.  After our experience with shuttles on the way to our airport, we opted not to go that route.

What a good choice because once we got to the cab stand we learned that rides from the airport to the French Quarter or downtown were a flat rate – and much cheaper than the shuttle.  We even found someone to share the fare with, making it even better.  We didn’t take any cabs while we were in New Orleans, traveling with our own feet or on public transportation.  When we were ready to head back to the airport, we had our hotel call for a cab.

We were doing great on time.  I was not worried even if we ran into some traffic, although that seemed unlikely at 10 am on a Thursday.  Our cab arrived and our driver was very polite.  He put our bags in the back of the van, and we were off.  I was watching out the window now that I was able to recognize the neighborhoods we had visited.  Then as we turned towards the highway, the van careened around a tight corner and I had to grab onto my seat so that I didn’t hit my head on the window.  I thought then that I should pay attention to what was coming up ahead of us.

We made it onto the highway without incident, but we quickly began to gather speed.  I’m not sure how fast we were going, but we were definitely passing most of the vehicles around us.  The driver began to weave in and out of cars to keep moving at the same pace as if he forgot where his brake pedal was.  We were moving across lanes like you wouldn’t believe.  Then, I really got nervous.  A car was coming up on our right entering the highway.  Don’t get me wrong – I am often frustrated by other driver’s understanding of the term “merge”.  However, I’m not sure who was in the wrong with this particular situation.

The car was in the entrance ramp lane, and was basically even with our cab.  Neither driver appeared to want to slow down.  We couldn’t move to the left as we had cars next to us on that side too.  As our driver refused to slow, the other driver continued to move into our lane of traffic!  Closer and closer she came even as our driver laid on the horn.  My heart was pounding a bit.  What was the rush?  We had plenty of time.  No need to risk anyone’s life!

Somehow we managed to get by her before she came all the way into our lane.  I’m almost certain our driver would have flipped her off if we hadn’t been in the cab.  We did not slow our pace after that, although the rest of the ride was mostly uneventful.

We got to San Francisco and after some research chose to go the shuttle route – a very reasonable rate per person, and based on our distance from the city I figured a cab would be much more.  Again, our driver was polite and appeared to be a bit younger than us.  He didn’t say much, but had the radio turned to an 80s and 90s soft rock station.  Strange, I thought.  I wouldn’t have pegged him as a soft rock listener, although maybe he thought that would appease the majority of his riders.  As the drive went on though, I began to hear him singing along with the songs.  I don’t just mean humming or singing along with the chorus.  I mean the entire song.  I’m convinced that this driver, had we not been there, would have been totally rocking out.

I’m not a very savvy or experienced patron of cabs, but I never fail to be amused by my experiences.  At least it provides good fodder for writing.

Wandering Through New Orleans

There is something exhilarating about running along water.  Even though we were staying a block off of Bourbon Street, we really only focused our time there a couple of nights.  As a result, we were able to get up early, run through the mostly vacant streets of the French Quarter and out to the Mississippi River.  It was a wonderful way to start each day (and justified an immediate stop after one run for beignets at Cafe du Monde).

We had beautiful weather the first four days, although we didn’t let the chill and rain hinder us from getting out the last day and a half (it was still better than home).  We wandered all through the city.  We explored the Warehouse and Garden Districts, surrounding neighborhoods, and rode a street car to the cemeteries.  I love the vibrancy and diversity of the French Quarter, but it was refreshing to see other areas of the city that we had never been to before.

We stopped in a local photographer’s gallery and after spending time pouring over his photos, we finally picked two to purchase.  He saw my camera and was kind enough to talk to me about photography and recommended places we should visit for interesting scenery.  After spending time in his gallery and other galleries along Royal Street, I realized that the history and character of the city made it easier to find beautiful images.  In order to make the same type of art at home, it’s going to take a lot more searching for beauty.

And so we spent hours searching the city for images that were not only unique to New Orleans, but that would help us to remember our time there. (I took a lot of pictures of food!)  Images that would help us to remember what the breeze felt like, how the sun warmed our cheeks and shoulders, and how, for a few days, we were truly carefree.

I always fall in love with cities that I travel to, and imagine what it would be like to live there.  What jobs we would find, how much real estate we could afford, how would the dogs react to the weather.  New Orleans remains on the list of potentials for someday.

Remember To Use Your Indoor Voice

I know that we were staying only a block off of Bourbon Street while in New Orleans, so I expected some street noise during the night.  I can deal with that.  It’s typically short-lived as whoever is stumbling by at 3:00 in the morning is on his or her way home.  What I did not expect was having to deal with excessive noise inside the hotel on multiple occasions – sometimes late at night, sometimes early in the morning.  Once I woke up to such loud voices that I actually thought people had managed to get inside our hotel room (OK, I might have still been half asleep).

One night, a group of people decided to hold an impromptu party outside our room.  I didn’t quite understand the reasoning for selecting this location, as there were no rooms directly across from ours, and I heard (through the loud discussion) that no one was in the rooms around us.  They laughed and discussed their night, decided to head to their rooms for a while, and then meet up again later.  Of course, they met up again outside our room.  You would think they would have been considerate enough to knock on the door and invite us to go!

A couple of days later, I heard voices in the hall around 5:00 am.  These particular guests were on their way out of the hotel.  There was discussion about having someone come up and get their bags, what time the cab was to arrive, and what time the flight was.

Through all of this I kept thinking, really?  Are we really so self-absorbed that we are not aware of the fact that we are in a hotel?  With other guests?  And it is late at night/early in morning?  These were not just normal talking voices.  No, these were loud, almost shouting voices – even the people checking out of the hotel.  Other than the people being noisy, there was nothing else going on in the hotel.  Nothing to impede the ability to hear someone.  No need to shout.

Now, you might be asking what I did about these rude and inconsiderate guests.  Did I fling open the door and demand quiet?  Did I crack the door and meekly ask them the please keep it down as we were trying to sleep?  Did I call the front desk and make a noise complaint?  No, I did none of these things.  I simply rolled over, put a pillow over my head and muttered under my breath.  And made sure to use my indoor voice when I was walking through the hotel (at any time of day).

How do you deal with rude people, be it at a hotel, a restaurant or the movies?  I almost always resort to muttering under my breath…

We Might Actually Miss Our Flight!

This trip was planned well in advance.  We booked our flights and hotels in mid-January.  Since we were going two places it was easiest to book through Southwest.  One-way ticket prices were very affordable and the fact that we could each check two bags at no cost made up for the limited flight times and lack of any direct flights.  Once everything was decided, we were free to anxiously wait for the trip to arrive.

As the departure date got closer, I realized we needed to figure out what we were going to do about parking the car at the airport.  Our flight out was at 7:10 am (not sure what we were thinking there!), and no one in their right mind would be willing to take us (not to mention our flight back didn’t get in until 10:25 pm).  The “economy” parking at the airport is $9 a day.  It wasn’t that long ago that it was only like $5.50 or $6.50.  I remembered that my dad had found an affordable deal at one of the hotels near the airport.  You didn’t have to stay at the hotel, but they allow you to park your car for a nominal fee per day and shuttle you over to the airport.

I searched for airport parking and found a number of hotels that offered this.  And the price was only $4.50 a day!  What a deal!  Since we were leaving the same day as the start of most area school spring breaks, there were only a few options, but one was available close to the airport.  The shuttles only run every thirty minutes, but the hotel claimed to be only five minutes from the airport.  We would have to get to the hotel earlier than if we were parking at the airport (as in 5:15 am early), but for half the cost it was worth it to me.

We got up at 3:30 in the morning, got ready, packed the car up, and arrived at the hotel right at 5:15.  I walked inside the lobby with my confirmation, which I was instructed to bring.  I told the very young woman I was there for the shuttle, and she stared at me blankly.  She then told me to hold on a minute, and went back to highlighting names on a sheet of paper.  Apparently speaking to me and highlighting was too much to do at once.  After what seemed like five minutes but was probably only thirty seconds she looked at my confirmation and asked me if that is what it was.  Umm, yes.  She then said, bear with me, I’m new and this is the first time I have done this.  My anxiety level began to rise.  She called the shuttle driver, kept saying things like “excuse me”, hung up, told me she couldn’t understand him, but that the shuttle would be there soon because they had one leaving at 5:30.

I felt a bit of relief.  That was the shuttle I expected we would be on.  We didn’t need to be at the airport until 6:10, so we had plenty of cushion.  However, as the minutes started to tick by, more and more people were trickling into the lobby, also obviously waiting for the shuttle.  At 5:45 it still wasn’t there.  I was starting to panic.  I had already paid the entire fee, and didn’t really want to end up paying $150 to park for the entire trip, but I also did not want to miss our flight.  Finally the “shuttle” pulled up, and it was merely a full-sized van.  At least 10 people, all with multiple pieces of luggage, filed out of the hotel.  The driver, a very small woman, started to put our luggage in the back, then looked up at all the people standing around, and decided she needed to get a bigger van.

I looked at my watch, looked at my husband, and we took off back to the car.  There was no way the driver was going to be able to quickly load all of the suitcases, get people in the van and get to the airport on time.  As we loaded the stuff back into the car, I dropped the bag with the computer in it.  Oh, I was going to be mad if I broke the new Mac.  I drove as quickly as I felt comfortable going.  We pulled into economy parking and managed to find a spot right next to the last shuttle stop.  The shuttle was nowhere to be seen, but I knew it would be there shortly.

It was, and it wasn’t that full.  I took that as a good sign.  Surely there would not be a lot of people there this early in the morning, spring break or not.  Boy, was I wrong.  There were people all over the airport!  The line just to check in was crazy.  We got through that, walked through the airport, and saw a sea of people crammed into the security lines.  Oh, no.  I looked at my watch again.  We should still be OK, but probably would not be able to have breakfast at the restaurant we always eat at before flying.  As we slowly creeped towards the podium to have our tickets checked, one of the people performing said job walked away.  Then they closed one of only 4 security lines.  What was the point of building a new terminal with so many security lines if none of them are ever opened?!

We finally made it to the x-ray belt, and put all of our stuff in the trays.  I had the distinct honor of going through the new super machine that requires you to put your hands above your head and basically looks through your clothes.  I walked through as was told to wait.  After what seemed like eons, my right arm was patted down and I was finally allowed to go get my stuff.  I put my shoes back on and we had just about thirty minutes to spare.   Time enough only to get some coffee and a small bite to eat.  Oh, and board the plane. We didn’t miss our flight after all.  However, I have learned that it is worth the additional cost to just park at the airport and take the reliable airport shuttle.  That was not an enjoyable way to begin our honeymoon!

The End of the Hiatus

I took this vacation to heart.  I wasn’t just visiting different cities, but I took a true vacation from work (no reply emails or returning phone calls), from personal email, and yes, even from blogging (both writing and reading)!  I didn’t worry about my daily posting streak.  I didn’t worry about coming up with topics.  I didn’t worry about stopping whatever fun vacation activity we were doing to stress over posting.  And guess what?  The world continued to turn!  My blogs did not spontaneously combust.  And I return with renewed enthusiasm and a pile of new topics.

The break from life as I know it was welcome and needed.  Our last true vacation was almost two years ago when we went to Austin, Texas.  Don’t get me wrong, we’ve traveled about but mainly to visit family.  Luckily our siblings live in warm, fun places (near Atlanta, Georgia and Las Vegas).  But sometimes it’s nice to just get away, have no obligations, and just be.  That is exactly what we did.

We spent five and a half days in New Orleans and the same amount in San Francisco.  We had been to New Orleans before and it was enjoyable to go and feel like we were familiar with the French Quarter.  However, we took time this trip to explore more of the surrounding neighborhoods and find out what lies beyond Bourbon Street.  We had never been to San Francisco and tried to see as much as possible.  We are big on exploring by foot, and those hills were brutal.  But we did a decent job if I do say so myself.  I loved San Francisco.  It is probably one of my favorite places that I have visited (San Diego remains at the top…seeing a pattern?).

The eleven days did not fly by as quickly as I thought they would, but nonetheless the end came much too quickly.  I know that by the end of a vacation some people are happy to arrive home – you can sleep in your own bed, you have more space than a tiny hotel room offers, you can cook your own food.  Yes, I missed all of those things, but I am never happy to get home.  It’s not the laundry or the unpacking (although I don’t relish that) that gets me.  It’s that I’ve traveled to fascinating places that are so much more interesting than where I have to spend all of my days.  Beautiful scenery, awesome weather, interesting scenes to photograph, and inspiration everywhere you turn.

I’m trying not to focus on the fact that I am now back in my boring, brown environment.  Instead, I’m going to take the next few posts to write about our travels, what I learned, and what I experienced.  Surely traveling can only help me to one day realize my goals.

Bon Voyage

After a hectic week, most of the bags are packed, the dogs are at their respective temporary homes, and bed is about an hour away.  I can’t believe we will be gone for eleven days.  We are now down to the little things that can’t be packed away until the last-minute – cell phone chargers, computer (obviously!), toiletries, etc.

The one thing I always struggle with the most is figuring out what to wear on the plane.  I try to wear bulky clothes and shoes so as to leave more room in the suitcase, but when traveling from 30 degree weather to 80 degree weather, it can be tricky.  Our last vacation two years ago was to Austin, TX, with similar temperature differences.  I layered up for the plane ride, and we landed too early to check into the hotel.  We started exploring the city, carrying around one of the carry-on bags, and before long my face was bright red, I was panting, sweating, and sick to my stomach.  I definitely don’t want a repeat of that!

I hope to be able to do some short posts while we are traveling.  I hope to be inspired by new surroundings.  But for now, it’s time to finish up the last-minute details and try to manage five hours of sleep tonight!

Preparing for Vacation

I love to go on vacation, but I hate getting ready for it.  I always wait until the last minute to pack, shoving things into zippered pockets of the suitcase and putting my entire weight on the top of the suitcase as I try to zip it.  And that’s just my clothes.  I have a bag of other “stuff” for the trip – phone chargers, the computer (sometimes), hotel and plane information, camera and all accessories, sight-seeing recommendations.  Then I have my bag of travel activities.  I’m like a child.  I need my iPod, books, a notebook (what if a brilliant idea strikes me?), maybe some magazines.  All this packing is time-consuming, yet I always wait until the last minute.

We leave next week for our honeymoon, and we’ll be gone for ten days.  That’s a lot of clothes.  In addition, we are going to two different cities with two totally different climates – New Orleans and San Francisco.  So, even on the off-chance that I don’t spill on myself or sweat through my clothes during the first leg of the trip, I still have to pack more clothes for the second leg.  Luckily we are flying Southwest and bags fly free!  This trip we are definitely taking advantage of 2 checked bags per traveler.

I have no excuse for not packing ahead of time this trip because we will not be wearing any of the clothes that we will take with us.  No laundry to worry about, no needing to wear a certain pair of jeans during the week before we leave.  It’s going to be a while before shorts are in season here at home.  In theory, I could start packing this weekend, which is what I should do considering all that we’ve got going on next week.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings already have other obligations and our flight leaves at 8 am on Saturday morning.  Now that I think about it, we often leave at 8 am in the morning.  Why do we keep doing this to ourselves?!

I haven’t even touched on the other aspect of vacation preparation – getting work organized in a manner that won’t leave me stressed during the entire vacation.  If it were all in my hands, this would not be a problem.  But it’s not.  Before I leave, all of my cases will be up to date, deadlines met or extended, status reports complete, etc.  Inevitably, someone else will find something on his or her to-do list that will somehow become my problem.  Despite my intent to make it very clear that I will not be responding to emails or returning phone calls, I already anticipate receiving a flood of emails.  I’ve already decided that I will only check work email and voice mail at the end of the day, and with the time differences, it will be too late to respond!

Regardless, I am so excited to go I can barely contain myself.  We have not had a true vacation in about two years.  I’m like the kids in the Disney World commercials…”can’t sleep, too excited”.  And we’re still ten days away!  I think I can make it that long…

Is There Anything Better Than a Road Trip?

I love road trips.  I always have, even when I was a kid and we were just traveling three hours to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  I love that road trips afford the opportunity to see parts of the world that you otherwise would never come across.  My first real road trip happened the summer that I turned 13 – literally my 13th birthday was during the two-week trip.  I went with my aunt, uncle and cousin on a trip out west.  We saw the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, the Painted Desert and ended in Mexico.  It was a great experience, but a long trip.  I think everyone was frustrated by the time it was over.  Two teenage girls can only keep themselves entertained for so long.  On that trip I learned that I would never again stay in a Motel 6.

My husband and I take at least one road trip a year, even if it’s only to visit family.  Sometimes we take the dog, which always makes for an entertaining trip.  The most important part of getting ready for any road trip is selecting the snacks.  We don’t stop very often (only for infrequent bathroom stops and maybe one full meal picked up at the drive through).  I must have the equivalent of three meals a day or else I become very irritable.  So, it’s important to select filling, yet healthy, snacks and to find drinks that do not increase the need to go to the bathroom (ie, limit caffeine).  There are also a couple of other food-related rules – nothing that is too messy, and snacks must be able to be eaten with one hand for the ease of whoever is driving.  There are two things that always come with us on a trip – Twizzlers for me (they’re a low-fat candy!) and peanut M&Ms for him.  I can seriously eat a 2-pound family sized bag of Twizzlers on a trip (let’s not get into whether that changes depending on the length of the trip).

The second most important part of getting ready for a road trip is figuring out what you are going to take with you to occupy your time.  CD selection is paramount.  It’s not just selecting artists and albums, but also determining the order in which they will be played.  Next, what books to take?  How many?  I only do a little bit of driving (I’ve offered to do more…) so I can usually cruise through a decent number of pages.  Finally, how much (if any) work do I take with me?  I know, sad that I consider that, but such is the nature of being an independent contractor.

I get that road trips aren’t for everyone.  Some people get car sick.  Some people get bored and cranky.  But for some people, the best vacations are road trips.  Yes, it takes longer to get there (sometimes), but there’s no hassle of airport security, making sure your carry-on is the right size or not over the weight limit, and no restrictions on when you can stretch your legs or go to the cramped bathroom.  For me, the road trip part is like a vacation within a vacation.  Uninterrupted time together to talk, laugh, and just be.

My favorite road trip to date was when we drove to Arlington, VA to visit my brother and sister-in-law, then drove to near Atlanta, GA to visit my husband’s sister, stopping on the way to have dinner with a friend from law school.  It was in October, so it was a great time of year to be traveling around that part of the country in the car.  The colors were beautiful and the temperature was perfect.  We don’t yet have any road trips planned for this year, but it is only February.  We like to travel to places we haven’t been before.  Perhaps we’ll take a look at one of the northern states this time.  Any recommendations?

Positive Thinking

Today’s suggested topic about what you are looking forward to in the coming year could not have come at a more perfect time.  My husband and I just booked our honeymoon!  We got married last October in Vegas, so that was a mini-honeymoon in and of itself.  But it was still kind of stressful with coordinating everyone to the ceremony site, dinner, etc.  We had planned from the beginning to take a belated honeymoon – mostly to save up some more money and vacation time (as it turned out, the vacation time was no longer an issue even before the wedding).

We had been bouncing around ideas of where to go since we got engaged in December of 2009.  We knew we wanted to spend part of our time in New Orleans.  We had more trouble deciding where to spend the second half.  We contemplated some place with a beach and golf, a cruise, Europe (and thus scrapping the New Orleans leg), but we finally settled on San Francisco.  Neither of us have been there and I am so looking forward to it.  We have been to New Orleans together once, and he has been one other time.  As the trips were work related, there wasn’t much time to truly explore the city.

I’m looking forward to getting away for eleven days, relaxing, and celebrating our marriage.  I’m looking forward to exploring cities I’m not familiar with and finding great photo opportunities.  It’s been about two years since we’ve been on a real vacation, but I think this will be worth the wait.  I hope that by focusing on this fun trip that will take place in a little over two months I will be able to keep a positive attitude at work.

As I write this, though, I am thinking about what else I am looking forward to this year.  After all, the honeymoon will be here and gone by the beginning of the second quarter of the year.  That’s a whole lot of year left.  So, here’s what else I’m looking forward to: running my first marathon, learning more about photography, making connections that could lead to a career in photography, and focusing on the power of positive thinking.  And of course, I’m looking forward to meeting the challenge of blogging every day this year.  Happy 2011!