chase the light

Well hello San Francisco! Nice to see you. A few months ago, late a night, an email pinged loudly into my inbox. Actually it kind of startled me. It was a birthday invite from school chum Shelli for school chum Keith’s birthday. They’re married for clarity. The invite was complete with a picture of Keith from the 80s that I shot while we were in University! Nice. I didn’t even really read the email or the dates and time. I just clicked Yes because I’ve got nothing going on this summer and it’s a good excuse to fly down to San Francisco. Kind of my second home after L.A. and filled with so many memories. So, how can I do this sort of on the cheap? I can’t do it in one day because the party is on a Saturday night. Okay one night of hotel. Which leaves flying up Saturday morning and flying home Sunday evening. Rental car? No. So I have to stay nearby transportation. I want to stay in the city. You know what? Staying at the Hyatt Regency at the Embarcadero has always been a wish list thing so why not? It’s the largest hotel lobby in the world by the way. Or was, or still is west of the Atlantic. Who knows. Oof though, $500 a night. Wait, let me check if Disney has hotel rates with partner companies. Buddy boy! Sho’nuff! $299, okay done! Flights? Magically easy, I found some good rates flying in the morning and out later on Sunday. More oof, I’ll have to head to the airport at 4:30 am though. Now, what can I cram in to two days!?

Saturday I flew into SFO. Caught BART in the wrong direction of course so lost half an hour. I got to Embarcadero and took in the scenery as I couldn’t check into the hotel yet. I only had a backpack. I tool a streetcar down to the wharf area and just did sightseeing. Sea lions, check, Pier 39, check, Ghirardelli, check. Cable Cars, check. Just the usual suspects. Headed to Boudin for some clam chowda’ of course. Some of the old school restaurants are closed now for not paying rent. Covid lockdown victims. Fisherman’s Grotto was kind of sad to see as I always went there with my family and grandparents. After a little walk around I headed back to the hotel to check in. Great room that looked out over the bay. After a short rest I headed to the greatest burrito place on the planet. My beloved La Cumbre. It was just as good as ever. Long live the Mission Burrito! After the early dinner it was time to head to Oakland for the birthday. Hopped on BART and got off in Oakland. Not going to lie I was a tiny bit hesitant to be walking though Oakland at night in an unknown area for about 5 blocks. All was good though! Had a fun party and a crazy cake as seen below. I was freaking tired though after leaving the house (in another country!) at 4:30am! I headed out from the party and thankfully got a lift to the station for the ride back to SF. Caught the second to last train though so that was close.