Thursday, March
11, 2010
San Francisco: Nob Hill, Chinatown, North Beach,
the Financial District
Up at 6:30 a.m. for the first day of the NCRA
conference. Tom still gets to be on vacation. The view
of the Oakland Bridge at dawn was quite pretty. The
weather is perfect today, warm and sunny, but I’ll be
inside until around 5:00.
Oakland Bridge at
dawn
As anticipated, “breakfast” here is yet more
meager. Not even all-you-can drink free coffee in the
lobby. There was a tiny coffee pot in the room, which
gave me the strength to make it to the elevator, and,
luckily, there was a 7-Eleven right across the street.
There was also a Starbucks, but I'm more of a 7-Eleven
gal.
Tom hadn’t been feeling great and decided to take a
lazy day instead of heading out into the city without
me. Our room is so luxurious I can hardly blame him for
staying in to enjoy it! At lunchtime he and I went
across the street to Taco Bell.
My seminar ended at 4:30. Then Tom and I hopped on the
California cable car just outside the hotel door and
rode to the top of Nobb Hill, a very upscale area with
fantastic views and the landmark Grace Cathedral.
Episcopal Grace
Cathedral
From Nobb Hill we walked to San Francisco's
Chinatown, the oldest one in America, established in
the 1850s as Chinese immigrants flocked to California
for the Gold Rush and to work on the Transcontinental
Railroad.
Dragon's Gate,
Chinatown
Next we wandered into North Beach, San
Francisco's "Little Italy" and adult entertainment
district. Yeah, baby! More interesting even than
Chinatown!
On Broadway in North
Beach
Then we found ourselves in the Financial
District, where San Francisco’s most recognizable
skyscraper, the Transamerica Pyramid, dominates the
skyline.
Transamerica
Pyramid
Just across the street from the pyramid is a
giant Church of Scientology. A Scientologist came out
of the building and invited Tom and I to “tour the
lobby.” Yeah, right! Tom successfully rebuffed him, and
we were immediately on our way.
Where are all the
celebrities?
We walked back to the Embarcadero and along the
waterfront, enjoying the nice night, then ate dinner at
Schroeder’s, a German restaurant at 240 Front Street.
Tom had bratwurst, and I had Hungarian goulash. His
bratwurst came with horseradish so strong it took his
breath away.
Tom and I shared a pitcher of beer, 64 ounces. There
were four Japanese salarymen at the table next to us.
They EACH ordered Das Boot of beer, 84 ounces apiece!!!
Two of the guys only made it about halfway through
their beers, but the other two guys were still drinking
when we left. I’m confident they were going to
finish!
Schroeder's Fine
German Food
That’s about it for today. I spent the remainder
of the evening perusing and discarding vendor
propaganda and turned in fairly early. Tomorrow’s
seminar finishes at noon, and our plane leaves at 1:30
a.m. I’ve arranged for a late checkout so I can change
clothes and pack before we go on our final vacation
adventure – to Alcatraz!
Coit Tower from the
waterfront
Tom Goetz's
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