San Fran's Forefront society

9/28/11

As you approach San Francisco, you can't help but to feel elevated to the highest states of what a human should strive to be ( or at least has been thought to think it, should be) I know it sounds a bit much but it is certainly true. The city has pioneered much of what is today's standards for green living and cultural tolerance. Furthermore, access to probably the best crops in the world and diverse demographics makes it a culinary  melting pot. Of course, I can't leave out excellent public transportation. 

So pretty much all I love (m)  culture, food and nature's ways. Unfortunately our pockets are too small to afford this city. The median salary of a family in SF is ~89,000. We learned that renting a room from a house where you live with other strangers in other rooms is $~850.

So, at the advise from our friend Drew we decided to explore the following parts of the city In 2 days,

Fillmore St.
Mission Neighborhood
China Town
Haight St.
Castro an
Fisherman's Wharf

Originally we meant to have breakfast at Fillmore St. but a typing mistake in Yelp (highly used in SF area) sent us to the ultra popular Mama's in Filbert St. It was Wednesday at 10am and there was a line. This place was well worth it. We shared there egg Benedict's and their Swedish cinnamon pancakes. Their benedict's are the best I've had in a long while. A spicy papricky kick at the end of the hollandaise sauce and the real deal runny poached eggs. 

Next we actually went to Fillmore street to do our laundry. We did it at the Royal Cafe which had laundry and a coffee shop. Paul describes this part of town as sophisticated. For example, the retirees at the coffee shop were discussing -heart of darkness- and -apocalypse now- . We also learned that San Franciscans are promoters of lowering the waste produce by embalming and body burring using natural preparations and cardboard boxes instead of coffins. BTW, tossing your coffee paper cup could be confusing in SF because they have 3 trashes namely, composting, recyclable and landfill. Something I liked a lot, but it takes a second to do it right. 

We drove to Mission, the up and coming Latino neighborhood. There we ate tacos at the taqueria, served by a Nicaraguan cook. They were really good. I could not avoid noticing that there they did not separated their trash into compost, landfill and recyclable. 

China Town was one of the places I really wanted to go, hence, we headed there at the end of Wednesdays. Just to give you perspective, 1 out of 3 people in San Francisco is Asian so this China town is a big deal. That, plus having had  Benton, a SF born Chinese at my thesis lab talk about it for years, built my expectations.  Once we arrived we stroll the streets and serendipitously met Uncle Gee. We heard "Get in here,  RIGHT NOW!!!" . It was startling but somehow we obeyed. He sat us in -Vital Tealeaf- tasting bar and we sampled more than 10 teas ( to my entire happiness) as we heard Uncle Gee discuss tea knowledge with some Brits that turned out to be -self-made locals- and very helpful. Unknowingly we had stumble upon a Chinatown celebrity so we would have been happy with that experience by itself but we kept going. 

Here is a link to vital tea leaf and Uncle Gee FB page 
http://www.vitaltealeaf.net/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Uncle-Gee/103767649924?sk=wall&filter=12

Next we sample steam buns and noodles from stores where we saw only chinese clientele, hoping to catch the right places. I think we did. The last streets we walked before leaving, led us to a small plaza were a bunch of Chinese/Asians were gambling at.  They were mostly men but also some women had their separate groups. It looked like serious matter. 

Then lovely Drew called us and we went to dinner with him at a Latin restaurant called Pasion. There we talk about family and salary. We stayed with Dre and decided to visit the rest of the neighborhood tomorrow.

Redwoods are tall

9/27/11

We pulled into Redwood Park late at night and had to wait for the morning light to reveal the giants towering around our campsite. The Redwoods had stood here for hundreds of years, but our visit would only last part of the day.  We began the day with breakfast of eggs, sausage and pancakes cooked at the campsite on the portable stove. The Redwoods at our campsite were impressive, but not the largest that we saw. 

After breakfast, we visited a nearby ranger station and got information on a local hike. We then drove to Stout Grove where we were told that we could see some really magnificent specimens. We learned that Redwoods are the tallest living organisms on the planet, reaching more than 300 feet. We spent a half hour at Stout Grove, taking pictures and looking up in awe, and then proceeded further down the road to the Damnation Creek Trailhead where we embarked on a hike to the coast.

The trail at Damnation Creek started at 1000 feet above sea level in an old growth Redwood area. Over 2 miles, the trail descends to the edge of the Pacific. The hike to the coast took about an hour and gave us a great opportunity to take in the magnificence of the trees. For nearly all of the hike, they blocked our view of the ocean. The view upon arriving at the ocean was spectacular. Twenty foot waves were crashing on the rocky shoreline and creating a mist along the coast. There was a rock outcropping at the end of the trail with a narrow natural bridge to climb out on. We sat on the outcropping and watched the waves and ate a snack before heading back.

The way back was more strenuous, but we made good time by completing the 2 miles in about 45 minutes. We then began the 6 hour drive from Redwood Park to San Francisco. Arriving at San Francisco, we could tell that it is a cool city. We met with Drew for Sushi and he gave us great advice for attractions around the city. We then went to his sister Erica's apartment were we spent the night. Although Erica was working the night at the ER, her husband Justin welcomed us in. He was very helpful in giving us advice about other outdoor excursions around California. We then took our first showers in 3 days and got a good night rest.