I guess the theme of this trip can be defined by songs about San Francisco. I can certainly see how the city can inspire. Being a peninsula, SFO is surrounding by the sea and so one is never far from the 'dock of the bay' but I must admit, I didn't do too much sitting this day.
We slept in on Sunday morning as Glen figured he could miss the first sessions of his conference. We had a leisurely breakfast at Lori's Diner. This is a 50s style eatery with fantastic food and great music. Ed told us how his grandmother loved corned beef hash for breakfast and since it was on the menu, I decided to try it out. I didn't realize it came with two eggs as well. However, it seemed to slip down and was tasty. Glen had sourdough french toast with strawberries and declared it very good. Ed enjoyed a spinach omelet and Tim, a taco one so despite all the food at dinner the previous night, we all had appetites.
We dropped Glen off at the convention centre for his lunch meeting (not sure how he ate it but he said the salmon was good), then Tim, Ed, and I headed for AT&T ballpark, home of the San Francisco Giants. It was built in 2000 to replace Candlestick Park in an area that once housed old, abandoned warehouses. Ed, who had lived many years in SFO, had never seen the park except on TV so both were happy to take me there to find two letterboxes.
The first thing I noticed, though, was not the ballpark but the bridge. It was the same one used in the James Bond movie, A View to A Kill. Called Lefty O'Doul's Drawbridge, its counterweights crush a few SFO police cars in the movie's chase scene.
AT&T ballpark hugs China Basin, also called McCovey Cove (named for Willie McCovey and not really a cove). To reach the letterboxes, we walked along the basin's 'dock of the bay'. Embedded in the sidewalk were brass plaques to some of the great Giants' players. Some I even recognized like Willie Mays and Barry Bonds. During the Giants' games, boats choke the cove as many home run balls exit the park to land in the waterway.
Our first letterbox was at the Willie Mays gate and Ed easily found it. He'd read about letterboxing when I told him of my hobby but didn't understand how thrilling finding one was. The second box was dedicated to Brian Wilson who grew a beard (which he dyed black) during the 2010 World Series and opponents were told to "Fear the Beard". After much searching, we had to admit defeat as we could not find the box. Disappointed, we headed back to Union Square for lunch at the top of the Macy*s store.
The Cheesecake Factory restaurant there offers great views of Union Square. The temperatures were pleasant in the shade so we opted to sit outside. We had a 20 minute wait but after our large breakfast, this was not a problem. Tim ordered the avocado eggrolls to start and they were delicious. I then enjoyed my first Anchor Steam beer and had shrimp summer rolls for my main. I ordered off their Skinnylicious menu which offers lighter fare. Apparently in California, every restaurant must provide patrons with the calorie count of each dish as well as its nutritional details. Tim had a Santa Fe salad while Ed enjoyed a Greek Farro Salad. He wanted to know what farro was and since I had seen it mentioned in the Food & Wine magazine, I was also curious. He declared it much like quinoa even though the former is a grain and the latter a seed.
After lunch, we returned to the hotel. Tim and Ed had to head out to the airport. Tim was off to Guatemala City while Ed was going home to Newport Beach. It was hard to say good-bye but we're hoping to connect again in Florida next January.
Glen arrived back at the room not long after and we got ready for dinner. He had made reservations (gotta love the Open Table app) at a restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf. We met up with Neil and Jennifer then walked down to the cable car which would take us there. Union Square is a terminus for the tram and it had a long line of people waiting to board. After doing the math, we figured we'd miss our reservation time if we waited for a cable car so hailed a cab. Having ridden in a SFO cab before I wasn't surprised at the speed hills were ascended and descended but Jennifer was not happy. Both she and Neil had lived part of their lives in the city but I guess never had gone anywhere by cab.
We arrived early at Alioto's Italian Seafood restaurant perched on the 'dock of the bay' but they sat us anyway. We then enjoyed a decadent meal of clams/mussels (me), crab cake (Glen) and garlic barramudi (both). I've never had barramundi (often called Asian sea bass) but it is a delicate white fish. Unfortunately, it was slightly overcooked so not as tasty as it might have been. Dessert was chocolate fudge cake (Glen), strawberries (me). Jennifer indulged her love of scallops while Neil had salmon. They shared a cannoli for dessert.
Since both gentlemen had to rise early the next day, we headed back to our hotels then had a night cap before turning in.
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