The First 24

Ben and Noreen landed in San Francisco 24 hours ago and in that time we have had quite a whirlwind adventure. We started off at O’Neills Pub around the corner from where Candace lives. The food was so-so but the beer was tasty. We then took off for a drive around the city including a jaunt down Lombard Street and a spin though Chinatown on our way to Golden Gate Park. After that it was a drive up some more of the curviest most dangerous roads that I have ever seen, to the top of Mt. Tamalpais. From the top parking lot a quick ½ mile hike yielded some stunning views of the entire Bay Area. Despite it being windy enough to the point we were looking for Dorothy to come flying in, it was a beautiful day for the walk up the mountain.

We then drove back into the city to the Haight – Ashbury neighborhood for some dinner and jazz. The jazz club that we were at was Club Deluxe and the band was tremendous. The drinks of the night were primarily mojitos and a “SPA Collins”. Both of which were stronger than they were delicious. And they were SUPER tasty. After our first sip, we looked at each other and knew it was going to be one of “those” nights. We met some of Candace’s friends and spent a few hours talking with them and listening to the band. After several more mojitos, G&Ts and a couple of shots, we were off and running. Noreen and Ben had been awake for about 24 hours at this point and while Candace brought Noreen back to the apartment to got to sleep, Ben, Brian and I went to The Utah, a bar around the corner, for a night cap or three. After a bizarre discussion about how good Maine Blueberries are with the doorman, and despite the realization that the ratio of women to men was 1:83 we knew it was time for a drink. We had a couple of beers and listened to some more music while admiring the King Tut bust that had antlers attached to it. After a couple rounds it was about 2:00 AM and we decided we should go back home and call it a night.

We walked back to Brian and Candace’s and introduced Candace’s apartment building to which can only be described as the Drunken Maine Tornado. Stumbling into the apartment like a bull in a china shop, we came across the Flying Monkey on the table which was just begging to be thrown around. If you have never had the joy of shooting the flying monkey through the air, the arms act more or less like a slingshot which catapults the monkey through the air. And as it flies, it releases a screeching howling monkey sound at about 428 decibels for 20 seconds You can only imagine what that sounded like with Ben, Brian and myself launching it around the apartment for 30 minutes… at 2:00 AM. How Noreen did not wake up with a screeching monkey flying over her head, will be one of the great all time mysteries of mankind. I am fairly certain that the Officer 5920 heard it all the way from Arizona and was preparing to write us a ticket for disorderly conduct. Luckily the exhaustion of the day finally took over and we settled down for a few hours of shut eye.

This morning, we decided to walk off the fuzz in our brains by heading to the Farmers Market which is on one of the piers with outstanding views of the Bay Bridge. It was a beautiful morning and after coffee and food we walked around picking out the fresh ingredients to make our dinner tonight. For now, it is off to ride some cable cars, dinner and then drinks in The Mission followed by some relaxing in the hot tub.

I love vacation.