SAN FRANCISCO IN 30 HOURS, PART I

I know, I know, 30 hours isn't much time in a city with as much to offer as San Francisco. But here's the story. My plans for the week included visiting my Aunt Marilyn, who lives in the foothills between Sacramento and Tahoe, a three-hour drive from SF. My Aunt Jeanette was also flying in to join us for the week. These two are a lot of fun - sort of like the big sisters I never had - and when you're vacationing with other people, and have lots of potential activities to fit into your allotted time, it's best to go with what works. What worked for us was to fly in to the San Francisco airport and spend our first day and a half there, packing in as much as we could.

We had several museums in mind, but when we started getting realistic about time zone changes and how long it takes to get between points A and B, we realized that by the time I retrieved my luggage from the airport carousel, at what was nearly dinnertime according to the time zone my stomach was accustomed to, we wouldn't have a lot of museum-going time Friday afternoon. Our solution was a visit to Golden Gate Park, and the first of many picnics.

Marilyn and Jeanette picked me up and we drove through the park and out to the beach near the Cliff House, which was so foggy I dispensed with taking any pictures. As we drove back into Golden Gate Park in search of sunshine and a pleasant place to picnic, we stopped at Queen Wilhelmina's Tulip Garden, over which towers this windmill. Wilhelmina's garden doesn't feature tulips this time of year, but the plantings sure were gorgeous.

Next we found a parking place and a picnic spot.

As we made our way to our picnic table, we heard music. At first I thought someone must have their car radio turned up awfully loud. But we were enjoying listening to "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," one of my favorite U2 songs, when it abruptly, and jaggedly stopped. Then started again. Then stopped, and started again. Marilyn had read that a peace rally was scheduled for Golden Gate Park the following day, and I surmised we were listening to a sound check, getting giddy at the idea we had happened on to a private preview performance that lovely afternoon. After we ate, I trekked up and over the hill. Sure enough, there were tents and a sound stage from where the music had emanated.

I held on to my delusions of being serenaded by Bono as long as I could. But I later googled for more information about the Power to the Peaceful festivities and could find absolutely no mentions that U2 were in town. According to the band's website, U2 were actually performing in Zurich that day. But while it lasted, it was a perfect fantasy for a perfect day.

After lunch and a bottle of wine, we had a short window of time before we needed to check in at our North Beach hotel and head for our sunset cruise on the bay. There is a hereditary strain of indecision on my mother's side of the family, and we debated what else to try to see as we moved the car to another spot in the park. We walked up to the Japanese Tea Garden, intending just to glimpse it from outside, when Jeanette, thankfully and impulsively, suggested we go in after all. Good thing I had cash on me, as my aunts had left their purses in the car. We didn't begin to see the entire garden, but what we did see was serene and inspiring, especially in the late afternoon light.

After that idyllic interlude, we ventured out into rush hour traffic, dropped our bags at the hotel, and hoofed it down to Fisherman's Wharf, just in time to make our sunset cruise.

I always love being on the water, and it's a particularly interesting vantage point from which to view a city as massive as SF. Our two-hour cruise took us past Alcatraz and Treasure Island and snug up against the Sausalito and Tiburon hillsides, before going out under the Golden Gate Bridge and back at sunset. We were also treated to a one-man blues band on the second deck, and heavy hors d'oeuvres from Boudin on the lowest deck - which were tasty, but not exactly photo-worthy after being plowed through by the other cruise-goers by the time we pulled ourselves away from the top deck in search of food and drink. We were lucky the fog had finally burned off an hour before we set sail, and I was glad I'd brought a couple layers of fleece. A bit windy and choppy at spots, but all things considered, a glorious night to be on the San Francisco Bay.

The sliver of moon you might be able to discern in that last shot would, of course, grow substantially during the following week of my vacation. What's not so "of course" about it for me was being able to see the moon and a sky full of stars every night for a week at Marilyn's place in the Sierra foothills, with little smog or urban lights to obstruct my view.

After deboarding the boat, my aunts indulged my request to check out Boudin, which was just across the parking lot from our pier.

Boudin is a bakery and restaurant known for its sourdough bread, which it fashions into various critter forms as well as baguettes, as I'd learned via the photos my sister and niece shared of their CA trip this summer to visit my nephew. I snagged a couple of theirs for an earlier post, but had fun checking things out myself now that I was there.

We thought about buying some bread while we were there, then settled on the idea that it would be fresher if we bought it the following day before heading up into the hills. Alas, our follow-up visit got derailed, but lots more delicious bread was in our future.

Reveling in the vibrancy of a city with so much going on after dark (and avoiding the Fisherman's Wharf T-shirt shops), we walked back to the hotel, making a stop at the Trader Joe's on our route so Jeanette could see what it's about, as a TJ's is set to open in Nebraska. Setting the tone for the rest of the week, we purchased some chocolate, an introductory 2-buck Chuck, and some more indulgent wine, then headed back to our hotel, where the beds and couch looked inviting indeed. It may have been only 9:30 California time, but it was after midnight for me and almost midnight for Jeanette, who'd risen crazy early to catch her 6 a.m. flight from Omaha. We needed to sleep and recharge for our Saturday morning trip to Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, which was all I'd hoped it would be and more. I have so many photos from that lovely experience that I'll be back with another post. Soon. I promise.

Meanwhile, because I can't get this song out of my head, I'll leave you with this U2 clip. I did find what I was looking for on my CA vacation, but I still love this song, even if Bono wasn't personally serenading me :)