Epicuriosity

Our second day in San Francisco was more laid back. We slept in, took the bus to Haight Ashbury and ate, walked and shopped all morning. Haight is the part of San Francisco where the hippie movement started. The Greatful Dead lived there and a lot of musicians got their start out there. These days it’s full of tie-dyed filled stores, tattoo and piercing stores, juice bars and bums, mostly 20 year olds, looking for their next high. Aside from the getting high thing, this is one of my favorite parts of town. Anywhere you can get fresh carrot-ginger juice, a great vegetarian meal and all natural fabric clothing I am in heaven. Of course, Mark was more into the books, music stores and tattoo shops.

After the Haight we took the bus and BART (Bay area rapid transit) to the Mission district in search of the best burritos ever. Every time I come to San Francisco I eat a giant burrito from this place a few blocks from the studio. Mark said he was tired of me teasing him with the yummy burrito stories so after walking around for about an hour through the Mission we finally found the place. We ate so well! Plus the watermelon juice was super yummy!
We also went to Lark in the Morning. This is a music store that only has world music instruments. This was definitely Mark’s happy place! He was trying out all the drums and a couple of guys that were playing Oud asked him to play. Suddenly the place was filled with awesome Arabic music. The guys were jamming and I had a personal concert right there in the store. They sounded really great and it was so cool to see Mark just jamming with these guys.

We were so tired after day seven we just wanted to go to bed. But when we got back to the hotel we realized we were pretty hungry so once again we headed out in search of food (this has become the theme of our trip). We figured we would just grab a sandwich from a street vendor, but we ended up in this fancy restaurant overlooking the bay and Golden Gate bridge. Two whole crabs, a glass of wine and a glass of scotch later we were practically falling asleep at the table. So relaxing, so full…we stumbled back to the room and ended our stay in San Francisco passed out and dreaming of ocean views and Big Sur.

I love San Francisco. The smell of sourdough bread, the historic buildings, the architecture, the food. We started our day on a 2.5 hour trolley tour. It was raining so there was only six of us on the whole tour. We got some great rainy, foggy Golden Gate Bridge pictures.

By the time the tour was over the rain had stopped. We headed over to fisherman’s grotto and had seafood and beer/wine for lunch. Mark got his crab and beer he’s been talking about since we booked this trip and I could see his face glowing with every bite!

After lunch the ten hours of walking began. Oh yeah. When we are on vacation there really is no relaxing (except for the cruise last summer). Of course, we make our pit stops along the way like the Buena Vista for Irish coffee, Ghiardelli square for fudge and chocolate sampling. I think we did everything today! We took the cable car to China town, had canolis in North Beach, shopped Union square and Pier 39. We even found a Scottish store that had an entire back room of scotch and whiskey. Mark was looking at a few and then the salesmen walks out with two glasses for him to taste. Our kind of store!

Needless to say we are exhausted and can’t wait until tomorrow!! We’re headed to Haight Ashbury to discover our inner flower child (well, mine is more of an every day flower child) and then having giant burritos in the Mission district.

Day five – Any day that starts with 12 glasses of wine can’t be bad. After a very yummy breakfast in Calistoga,CA we drove the Silverado Trail through Napa Valley. We stopped at a few vineyards, but had tastings at Joseph Phelps and Clos Du Val. Joseph Phelps had wine tastings by appointment only, but we walked right in and they offered us a tasting. This vineyard is pristine. You sit on top of the hill overlooking the vineyard as you try their reserve wines. Never will I taste a $200 bottle of wine with such a beautiful view (or really ever again at all, but let’s not spoil the dream).

Clos du Val was more our style. We love their reds and ended up leaving with a merlot and cabernet. I don’t think I could drink another glass of wine and Mark still had to drive us to San Francisco so we finished the trail and off to San Francisco we went.

We stopped off in Murin County to visit some very sweet people I met last summer. Mark Bell and Ling Shin are some of the nicest people I know. Not to mention they are kick ass musicians that I listen to every day for the last 6 years. We had some great conversation and are looking forward to seeing them again the next time we are out here.

As we came down 101 off the mountain we turned a curve and there was the Golden Gate Bridge! It was beautiful and so huge. Mark’s never seen it and said it was quite impressive. I had never seen it at night so was giddy when we got to drive across it with the city all lit up over the bay! I love San Francisco and am so excited to be here. I can’t wait to wake up and show Mark the city and all the reasons I love it so much. If it wasn’t for the outrageous cost of living we would totally be moving here!

Tomorrow….sourdough bread, Anchor steam beer, Irish coffee, cable car rides and every tourist photo op we can find!

Day four – VOO DOO DOUGHUTS!!!!! Drool! We saw this show on Travel channel called Man vs Food. This guy was at Voodoo doughnuts in Portland and was attempting to eat a ginormous doughnut. These are no ordinary doughnuts. We bought a dozen and they consisted of: two voodoo man doughnuts (shaped like a man, filled with rasberry jam and it comes with a pretzel stick so you can poke him and make him ‘bleed’) FREAKIN YUM! We also had one covered in fruitloops, a chocolate one covered in cocopuffs, a snowcone shaped cinnamon one topped with maple icing and dipped in sprinkles, one covered in m&ms…..you get my point. The doughnuts must be made with crack because the line was a block long to get in!

Next stop….Powell’s City of Books. This is why we stopped in Portland. A three story, square block bookstore filled with every book you can imagine. All organized in color coded categories so you can easily follow the map you are given when you walk in the door. Um…heaven? Used books, new books, anything you want. They even had a book full of useless Japanese inventions. We bought a few books and back on the road we went.

The drive through Northern Oregon is BEAUTIFUL. We had no idea what to expect, but the lush forests and gorgeous mountains kept us “ahhing” for about 400 miles. We also had no idea they have more sheep than we have ever seen. We saw farmland, snow topped mountains, rivers, rolling hills and tons of forest. It totally made the long drive more than bearable!

600 miles later we ended our day in Corning, CA. Turns out it’s the Olive Capitol. We didn’t have the heart to tell them that they had nothing over France and Spain!

Next stop…..Napa Valley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day three – We took the coolest tour today! It was an underground tour of Pioneer Square in Seattle. We learned a lot about the pioneer settlers and how they built Seattle, problems they came across (like sewage going downhill at high tide is a very bad thing) and how they eventually made it all work to be a great city. We walked throughout the underground sidewalks that use to be the original ones. We saw old storefronts bricked up, saw the beams that are literally holding up the new sidewalks and even saw some old memorabilia down there like a crapper (which is what they used to be called). What a great tour!

Then we headed back over to Pikes Place. Marci’s flight was late coming in so we had all just gotten back from Pikes Place yesterday and she didn’t get to go. So Mark and I suffered (hehe) through another walk through all the yummy foods and crafts.

We walked our way to the downtown shopping district and ended up taking the monorail right to Seattle Center by our hotel. The monorail went right through the Experience Music Project museum which was an unexpected bonus and well worth the $2 it took to get us back.

Tonight was the Cues and Tattoos show. This was the whole reason we are in Seattle. Two troupes from opposite sides of the country came together and performed without rehearsal. Did I mention I love love love ATS belly dance? I danced to Ishwini Fik with Michelle and Kristine and then ended Caravan with Megha, Sandi and Carolena. Our monitors went out about half way through the set so we could barely hear the music. The zills got off for about 30 seconds, but hell, with 13 zilling dancers that can’t hear the music, I think we pulled if off quite well. Some video will be up on ATSDancer as soon as we have a reliable internet connection.

Another great day, another late night. Tomorrow morning we head for Portland and on to California!

Day two in Seattle – This city has a time warp! Today felt like the longest day ever, but in a good way. We woke up and headed towards Pike Place Market. My iPhone got us lost so we took the long, cold way downtown (and by foot!). But it was a great opportunity to walk along the pier and even film an episode of Devyani TV. We’ll upload that to Youtube as soon as our Internet connection is better.

Pikes Place Market was really cool. We saw them throw the fish at the market entrance. If you don’t know the story about fish throwing the short version is: several decades ago the market was dying and vendors were looking for a way to get people back to the market. The fish salesmen started throwing the fish across the stall to get wrapped/rang up by another employee and before long people were gathering to watch the guys throw the fish. Kinda odd, but a must see in Seattle.

We walked through the market, saw local artists, tons of beautiful tulips. We bought a cute magnet with a stick person that says “stick people have rights . Mark bought an awesome Tibetan jacket and I got a cute little wrap skirt cause you know….the other 20 I have just isn’t enough.

We found the original Starbucks!! They sell the same as any other starbucks, but it was still pretty cool. Of course we all had to get our caffeine fix before trying to find some lunch.

On the way back to the hotel we found an African restaurant. Can I just say…YUM!!! I had fava beans with jalapeños. Mark had a sampler of Ethiopian bread topped with collards, green beans, cabbage and lentils. The spices they use in African food is so delicious. If you ever see an African restaurant you really must go.

Later that evening we met up with the FatChance ladies, had some drinks and had a way too late dinner at an Indian restaurant, Chutney’s. Any place that ask you to tell them a number of how spicy you want your curry is a great place..

Our feet hurt, our legs hurt, and we are so full….definitely seeing as much as we can in the few days we are here! Seattle is really great, just really cold.

Day 1 – What a loooong day! The flights were pretty good, only short delays due to wind. I finished my book, Eclipse, in only 8 hours so at least I felt productive as I sat on my arse all day.

Seattle is rainy and cold. Just as I expected. It’s kinda nice. I think I would have been disappointed if we spent our first day here in sunshine and warmth. That would not have been the Seattle I imagined and read about all these years.

We arrived around 4pm, our town car was at the airport waiting on us. We were at the hotel for approximately 10 minutes and then hit the streets. We walked across Seattle Center and headed straight for the Experience Music Project. After all, we still had three hours before our dinner reservation and we didn’t want to spend it being bored in our room. Not when there was SO much out there waiting for us to see.

We just so happened to get to the Experience Music Project on a night they had free entry On an eleven day vacation….free is always good. We saw tons of Hendrix memorabilia and music history of all genres. It was pretty cool.

Then we headed over to the Science Fiction Museum. Ok, I’m not a “trekkie” but this place rocked. We saw the original dress the girl wore in Logan’s run, the costuming of Planet of the Apes, the chair of Captain Kirk, the exoskeleton of the Terminator and SO much more. They even had a display of laser guns from tons of sci-fi movies and shows. We had fun remembering our favorite childhood shows and movies and realizing we were bigger geeks than ever admitted before

Afterwards, we headed to what was going to be the perfect ending to a long day. As we climbed the elevator to the top of the space needle I became breathless. The view as you are going up the glass elevator is priceless. It takes your breath way, but you just can’t stop looking. We walked around, took photos and enjoyed the sunset (which you can’t actually see when there is no sun) from atop the city. As dark hit, we made our way to the restaurant. I was so excited when we had a quaint little table for two right at the window of the revolving restaurant.

We had our first ever bottle of Washington Cabernet and it was so good. We finished off the bottle which made the mile walk back to the hotel a lot more bearable then the cold, wet, trek out there.

A perfect first day I must say so myself. Tomorrow…..Pikes place market!

We have our first day blog ready and a few photos. We’re staying at a tiny hotel downtown and their wifi is down so we’ll find a Starbucks later and post. I hate to retype the whole thing from my iPhone
But we are having a blast!!
In the meantime…here’s a photo of Pikes Place market!