Mission Dolores

So we've found the SF equivalent of that first day of spring in Minnesota. You know, the one where everyone thinks it's 15 degrees warmer than it is and go out in tank tops to drink beer on newly opened patios all over the city. The Bay has had a warm spell the last two weeks (it was 70 degrees today!) and everyone is taking full advantage of it. We had heard that when it gets nice in SF, everyone heads to Dolores Park...so we figured we better check it out.

Dolores Park is a famous gathering spot in the Mission, our favorite neighborhood in the city so far. The Mission is full of delicious Mexican food, Tartine bread (WHICH YOU NOW HAVE TO RESERVE 72 HOURS AHEAD OF TIME - WTF?), great watering holes (The Monk's Kettle), hipsters galore, and the occasional drug dealer, crackhead, or random shooting. We try to avoid the latter. It's actually the site of the oldest settlement in San Francisco and if we lived in the city, it's probably where we would live. 

On the weekends, especially when it's warm, the hipsters swarm to Dolores Park. This weekend, we found out why...but not without a TINY detour down the peninsula to San Bruno. We were tooling around in SOMA after visiting the Chrome SF store and the UTAH Saloon (where we met our new favorite Scottish bartender and saw a live performance of "Hot for Teacher" by SF's own teenage version of "School of Rock") before heading over to meet one of Aaron's co-workers at the park. We thought we were SOOOO clever and jumped on the 8X bus to get there. Not actually that clever. Before we knew it, we were the only non-Asian people on the bus and rapidly heading south on the 101. Fortunately, we landed in San Bruno, a sunny, though remote, locale for public transit aficionados (thanks, Google). As luck would have it, our bus back to the city arrived in less than ten minutes, it was daytime, and we were back on our way to the Mission. A minor hiccup in our day's agenda.

We got back just in time to stop for sandwiches and a bottle of wine at the Bi-rite Market, walk to the SW corner of Dolores Park, meet the Mace-man (Aaron's co-worker), enjoy the remaining rays of sunshine, and peep out the view of the city. We felt REALLLLLY old, considering the fact that the Mace-man and his buddies were a full decade younger than we are. Yikes. But, the view sort of makes up for it. It was pretty awesome.

Take a hike.

We ventured to Marin County for the first time today. Incredible. Really. We started out early on our walk to the wonderful rent-a-car, where we were promptly handed the keys to a lovely Hyundai Accent that smelled like fish - like someone had used the car for fish & chips delivery for several weeks before returning the car. Actually, it is O-town, so it's a distinct possibility that the car was used for that purpose. It was really gross but whatever. Anyway, the great thing about getting up early on the weekends in the Bay is that you generally beat the traffic or whatever crowds there might be.

We went on a hike recommended by my boss who has hiked a great deal in Marin. She promised a GORGEOUS hike and she didn't disappoint. We made our way over the San Rafael bridge, shrouded in fog, and began our long ascent up to Mt. Tamalpais State Park. Holy mama, those roads were as windy as can be, almost 10 miles to the ranger station where we parked. And we saw A LOT of bikers on the way up; grinding, grinding, grinding their way up the mountain. The roads are very narrow and VERY steep. At one point, I was so nervous to pass one of them that the biker ended up leading a procession of about 15 cars before I got up the nerve to very carefully pass him.

Part of the trail loop was closed because it is "winter" here (HA HA HA!!!) and they were doing repairs. We ended up doing an out and back that basically started close to the top of Mt. Tam, descended all the way to the Pacific Ocean (Stinson Beach) and then returned to the starting point. I can't describe how beautiful it was so I'll just post some pictures. I don't know how many times we commented today that we cannot believe this park is a mere 20 miles from San Francisco. It is crazy. We felt like we were in Jurassic Park, minus the dinosaurs. Although signs did promise rattlesnakes!

Aaron at the trailhead:

An inkling of the massive trees:

The entire trail followed a ravine (thus the "Steep Ravine" name of the hike) that was bubbling along, as happy as can be, all the way to the ocean. It smelled amazing, was cool, and the sound of the ravine was a pretty fantastic accompaniment.

And then we had to climb down a ladder. For real.

And then (for KA and Ross), we got to the site where the next LOST series will begin. The new hatch.

The last mile of the descent started here:

You know how you have those moments when you're hiking in the forest and suddenly you emerge from the damp, dark woods and come into the light? This was basically the ultimate experience of that feeling. You ascended a very, very steep hill, nose to your knees, and emerged to see the Pacific Ocean.

Wow.

Here was our view from where we sat and ate lunch.

Incidentally, our lunch should not go without mention. Stinson Beach is a very simple, tiny town on Hwy 1 that doesn't have much in the way of amenities. We ventured to the town market and bought 2 wraps that looked like standard gas station food. But PEOPLE, this is California. These wraps were made locally, were vegan, extremely healthy, AND delicious. What a lovely surprise.

It was about 65 F today and we were both sitting in only t-shirts when we heard, "Wow, it's almost warm today!" We looked over and what did we see but a true Californian - decked out in a fleece and a down vest. Some people were wearing boots and down jackets and then some people were running into the water in their bikinis. It's a crazy place.

We left the beach, very sadly, to slowly make our way back up the hill. By the time we returned to our car (around 2 pm), the trails were pretty busy and we had a tiny traffic jam at the aforementioned ladder. In any case, a beautiful hike and perfect weather.

We stopped at Tiburon on the way home to have lunch at the famous Sam's Cafe. It's been around for 90 years and is ALWAYS packed. The first time I went there, it was over an hour-and-a-half wait. When you see the view, you can understand why - especially on a clear day:

But today, one bloody mary later and we were at our table. We stayed until the sunset (and Aaron finished watching the football game) and then made our way back to O-town. 

In other news, our cat is obsessed with onions. OBSESSED. Witness:

He's a fiend. He's resting up now so he can attack again tomorrow when we bring the bags home from the Farmer's Market.

Don't Believe the Hype!

With apologies to Flava Flav, I must interrupt normally educational and rant-free blog to discuss our activity from last night. And with further apologies to all my film nerd peeps, lovers of The Dude, and St. Louis Park-ians (St. Louis Park-ites? Park-itans?), let me say this: we saw True Grit last night, and it was a letdown. Please, please, please do not believe any of the reviews claiming that the Coens' version improves on the original or is more faithful to the novel. None of the people writing such reviews, I repeat, NONE OF THEM have seen the original True Grit. The Coens did not change, improve upon, expand, or re-imagine the original film in any meaningful way. I don't know who those guys are in bed with, but they are printing money, and clearly I'm upset about it.

/end rant (I think that's what the kids are saying on the blogs these days).

In brighter news, we saw the movie in the beautiful Grand Lake Theatre . As we once again forgot our camera, I will rely on the ever-helpful Google Image Machine to provide you with a pho-to-ga-raphic memento (HT Bozo the Clown) of the evening:

I heard from a co-worker (yes, I now have a job. More on that another time) today that they even have an organ player on the weekends. It's beautiful inside, though not completely restored, and the outside of the building is a work of art, as well. We are continually amazed at all the beautiful art-deco buildings in this city. Again, we will one day remember our camera and take actual pictures, but our friends at Google just called me to say that they, too, have wonderful photos the theater's facade.

That's all for now, though we should tell you that we write this post while enjoying a glass of St. George's Absinthe, distilled right here in Alameda, CA. Oh, do we have stories to tell about absinthe and Alameda. Stay tuned...