I tend to think I'm a pretty smart guy who knows a good amount about the world I live in. I'm not a Travel Channel expert or a Discovery Channel survivalist, but I know enough to get by. This weekend I found out that I'm completely and totally right. I know plenty about the world that I live in and that's about it.
I've lived in Texas for essentially my whole life and specifically Dallas for most of it. I enjoyed my brief stay in Austin, but Dallas will always be the city that I claim as my own and the only city that can claim me as its own. However, the four days I spent in San Francisco made me realize that although Dallas is my city, it probably shouldn't be my world. As much as this feels like a huge leap of faith to make after a four-day weekend, it feels equally like something I'm supposed to have realized a long time ago. I know and love my city but when people ask me "where have you been," my answer needs to be more than two words long.
So here’s where I’ve been this past weekend. I arrived at SFO around 7pm and got a ride to Oakland. During the drive, the driver mentioned to me "it's people like you that are going to make this city better and better." Thanks. Our temporary home for the weekend smelled like an antique store. This makes sense since it seems like that's where everything in that house was bought. Still, a quiet, comfortable, and really quite cute one bedroom apartment.
I went to have dinner with Molly and her friends at a sushi place. I don’t remember the name of this sushi place, and my taste buds didn’t seem too focused on this meal either. It was nice just seeing and hearing my girlfriend’s new friends.
From dinner, we got ready and made our way downtown. A quick stroll around the block was all it took for me to realize this city was different from what I was used to, and I liked it. Eventually, we made it to our reservations at Wilson & Wilson. The bar wasn’t quite as secret as advertised, but the hostess did a good job of pretending it was. Molly and I each did a “coursing” with three progressively boozier drinks. I don’t recall any of the cocktails’ names, but my drinks went creamy, spicy, and smoky. The last one did the trick for my night. Afterwards, we found Cafe Mason where we had pumpkin pancakes and a corned beef hash that was a little lacking in hash.
Saturday started with Bakesale Betty’s fried chicken and coleslaw sandwich. Not the chicken and waffles we were looking for, but a good meal on an ironing board nonetheless. We got a ride to Treasure Island from there. This driver validated my love of sports when we connected on a basketball level. A Californian for 27 years who happened to be a Heat fan talking with a lifelong Mavericks fan he's never met before. The Bay Area seems to have a lot of transplants and it's a great thing to witness and experience other cultures, even if that culture is just a different fandom.
Treasure Island hosted a flea market where people either presented their budding new business or sold off piles of old things. I’m a sucker for juxtaposition, but what really attracted me was the view across the water, the first of a few really good views on this trip. Molly bought socks, we took pictures, and got out of there.
After a long drive, we did some shopping at the Nike and Uniqlo stores in Union Square. No one bought anything, but virtual reality and photo machines kept us interested. We walked about a mile to Japantown to play games in the arcade and look at cute things at Daiso. Waraku served our dinner: the best ramen I ever had. The broth was careful not to be overly rich, the noodles were tender, the meat was perfectly cooked, and the rest of the toppings mixed in excellently.
The nightlife part of Saturday got started at Upcider. We split a couple of different flavors of hard apple cider before meeting up with Molly’s friend, Andrea. Many thanks to her for coming down to the city by herself to show us around. I don’t remember all the places we went to, but the drinks were good, the people were nice, and the porn was fun. Andrea took us to the rooftop of her boyfriend’s apartment building, where her and Molly threw their troubles off the roof. For me, this was just a time to take in probably my favorite view of the city.
Sunday had a pleasantly late start. We got to the ferry building where I geeked out at the market. S’mores bites were a fine start, Boccalone’s "tasty salted pig parts" lived up to their name, Humphry Slocombe was properly hyped, and weather was perfect for snack eating. Most of the piers were closed, so we basically went straight to Pier 39. It reminded me of a theme park. Highlights included a mirror maze, a puzzle store, more socks, a magic store, and a truly 7D experience. We caught a street show before walking along the Fisherman’s Wharf to Scoma’s. It was a good thing this was my last dinner of the weekend because the food was delicious and pricy. We drove through the darkness to find a spot to get a good view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Touristy, but there’s a reason these things are touristy. Molly and I went home and took a lava bath with a dragon’s egg.
Monday went by all too quickly. I walked Molly to Pixar before going back to clean the house. I came back to Pixar for lunch where I got a quick tour. The campus was about what I expected of the most successful animation studio in the world. I hugged Molly goodbye and that was that.
An aside for likely reader 1 of 1 of this post. Just like I think I’m smart, I also like to think I’m pretty self-sufficient. But after spending a weekend in a stranger’s home and being driven around by strangers, I started to realize how dependent people are on each other. If I can spend a whole weekend relying on complete strangers, how reliant am I on the people who actually care about me? I depend on you for things that are hard for me to put into words. It’s actually been a relatively quick six weeks, and I guess that’s not really a long time at all in the scheme of things, but I missed you beyond just wishing I could see or talk to you more often. Thanks for showing me where you’ve been, I get it now. Have fun. Do well. Be good. Much luv.
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