The tour headed west this past weekend to San Francisco in search of Rice-a-Roni (it is the San Francisco treat) and a Lion victory against the 49ers. Yeah....right. Both goals weren't met as the Rice-a-Roni posse sold out to Quaker (looked it up) so no rice to be found in the establishments I hit. And I wasn't expecting a Lion victory; but they almost pulled it off. They still are bad though.
Seriously though, the trip was great as I rented a nice hybrid bicycle at the bike shop around the corner from my hotel and pedaled this wacky, beautiful city for four days. A few challenging hills that have you in extreme grandma gear but so very bicycle friendly. The pedal over the Golden Gate Bridge wasn't as daunting once you were up there as the sidewalk is pretty wide and you're more focused on dodging tourists than worrying about the fact that you're 240+ feet above the water.
I was in tourist mode Friday in doing the Alcatraz Island tour. One boat comes and goes every 30 minutes and tickets ahead of time are a must. The company that does the tour has the process of getting people in and out of there down to a science. If you're on the 11:30 tour, you know exactly where you're supposed to be when its time to be herded in with the couple hundred others with you. The prison itself had some of the best views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the city itself. Bummer for the prisoners there with such beauty only a view away but can't get to it. The solitary confinement area was very solitary and very confined and wouldn't last a minute in there.
As San Francisco is on Pacific time, my brain never did adjust so I 'slept in' until about 4 AM each day (7 AM in Michigan). To kill time, I put on the idiot box and witnessed commercials for things I don't recall being advertised in Michigan much; if at all. It is California though so custom closets and.....custom garage doors are apparently the thing out there. "Nice garage door you got there Bob" I don't recall ever being heard or said in my 50 years in the midwest.
A shout out to Donna and Eloi at Jack Clark's Pine Tar Grill for making my home base bar a great place to hang out. Great food and company.
"Not that there isn't anything wrong with it" as the Seinfeld line goes but in my tour of the city, I did venture into one establishment that had a 'johnson' illuminated on the wall so I quickly did a u-turn.
Canada has the fries with gravy and San Francisco apparently likes the garlic fries as multiple places had them. Food-wise, I'm not really a fish eater that San Francisco caters to but besides attempting (and not liking) the garlic fries, no food horror stories to report.
If you are heading to the area and doing the research online, all the hotel reviews will mention the many homeless in the area. They exist and are plentiful but most had dreams like you and me at one time in their lives. A 'good morning' and a smile goes a long way; their human. Locals told me the area is the most generous to the needy in the country with respect to services. The largest homeless population I witnessed in my city travels, no lie, was on Jones Street. A lot of Jones-en going on.
The mission for the trip came Sunday and again 'sleeping in' at 4 AM made for a very long day in that the San Francisco 49ers don't actually play in San Francisco but an hour south in Santa Clara; which by the way was quite beautiful. OCD Tim took the earliest train at 8 AM from downtown with a connection to a light rail taking about 30 minutes and dropping you right at the stadium. Public transportation; they have a great one (cough, cough; hello Detroit.....).
I was expecting the 49er fans to be diva-like as I see them as the opposite of Raider fans; who are legendary crazy. I was wrong as they are a rabid and passionate fan base. The Lion contingent attending the game was nothing to be ashamed of as there was a good portion of blue in the house. I enjoyed pre-game beverages with a group from New Hudson; small world.
The video below gives a few clips of the journey.
Trail Head
The tour headed west this past weekend to San Francisco in search of Rice-a-Roni (it is the San Francisco treat) and a Lion victory against the 49ers. Yeah....right. Both goals weren't met as the Rice-a-Roni posse sold out to Quaker (looked it up) so no rice to be found in the establishments I hit. And I wasn't expecting a Lion victory; but they almost pulled it off. They still are bad though. 
As San Francisco is on Pacific time, my brain never did adjust so I 'slept in' until about 4 AM each day (7 AM in Michigan). To kill time, I put on the idiot box and witnessed commercials for things I don't recall being advertised in Michigan much; if at all. It is California though so custom closets and.....custom garage doors are apparently the thing out there. "Nice garage door you got there Bob" I don't recall ever being heard or said in my 50 years in the midwest. 
