Toto, we’re not in Indiana anymore.
I landed in San Francisco at 12:30 pm – or 9:30 am. I still haven’t figured out the time change. I made it through the flight, avoiding my characteristic nervous breakdown. The lady sitting next to me was so sweet. She chatted with me through both takeoff and landing as if she knew that distracting me would keep me calm. Perhaps she was an angel sent to get me through the flight.
Seeing the bay as we flew in was breathtaking. I didn’t get to see the Golden Gate, but we did have a great view of the Bay Bridge. I felt safe all through the flight, and the pilot touched us down without even a bump. Best flight I can remember. No, I wasn’t afraid at all. Not until I got on the shuttle to go to the hotel.
The man driving the shuttle had a death wish. I was sitting next to a couple on their honeymoon and a physician from San Francisco. We learned quite a bit about each other. We bonded because we were all convinced we were going to die before any of us made our destinations. The driver was trying to check our reservation numbers, talk to his dispatcher, and drink from his bottle of water – all at the same time. Oh, and he was also driving way too fast and not paying a whole lot of attention to the lane markings. I guess he thought they were suggestions, not requirements. I tried to stop hitting the imaginary brake with my right foot and look at the scenery.
San Francisco is beautiful. So different from Indianapolis. The hills are everywhere, and every inch of space is used for houses. The physician lived in a neighborhood that is often used for movie scenes, and we got to see quite a bit of it because he got dropped off first. He said they close the street at least once a month to film some movie. It really did look familiar with the houses each rising a little higher as the hill steepened. I was fascinated with how tightly they were packed.
The Marriott is gorgeous. All of you RWA members coming here will be thrilled. It is, however, bigger than some cities. I’m on the fourth floor, but I think I’m six blocks from the lobby. I went down to get some coffee and got lost in the labyrinth of rooms. Of course there is a Starbucks everywhere you look, so I should be able to find one in the morning.
I was restless when I arrived, and my friend Peggy was still tied up, so I went exploring. St. Patrick’s Church. Yerba Buena Gardens. Union Square. And just to please my daughter, I went to Louis Vuitton and coveted the purses. I was again struck by how different this city is compared to home. No fast food restaurants on every block. No parking lots. There were cars, but most people were traveling by bus or Vespa. There were lines of scooters parked together about every other block. Since it dawned on me that it was well past lunch in “my” time, I grabbed a hotdog from a street vendor, sat at Union Square, and did my favorite thing. I watched people.
Peggy and I finally caught up with each other and headed out to eat a real meal. It was supper for me, lunch for Peggy because she’d already made the time change adjustment. She’d heard of a restaurant by the Bay Bridge that was run by men who had been released from prison, and she asked if I was adventurous. Me? Adventurous? Why not! So off we went on a brisk walk that took us past a bunch of piers, several neighborhoods, AT&T Stadium, and the Bay Bridge. When we hit South Beach, we found the restaurant – Delancy Street. It was closed on Mondays. Sigh. But the walk was great, and Peggy is just like me. She loves to stop and window shop or go in interesting stores. We also saw some very interesting characters – the most unusual being a man who looked fairly well-to-do. He was dressed in a suit and pulling a rolling suitcase and briefcase. The reason we noticed him was because he was shouting obscenities the entire time we followed him, which we did at a distance until he turned another direction when we were about to cross the street to avoid him.
Since the restaurant was closed, we took a different route home to see new things. We finally found ourselves back at a Mexican restaurant about a block from the hotel. We shared some crab and shrimp quesadillas, and when we were ready to leave, I asked for a pop refill in a to-go cup. All they had was a kiddie cup, so I got to head out with a cute little plastic glass with cartoons. Peggy laughed all the way to the hotel. I truly enjoyed her company.
Tomorrow, more of my friends will be here. I’m sure we’ll get into all kinds of mischief.
I’ll keep you posted.