San Francisco

My trip through Chilly California continued with a weekend in San Francisco. I was lucky enough to get put up in a great spot in the Nob Hill part of the city, and even luckier to have gotten a parking spot on the street next to where I was staying. Parking spots in a San Fran are more difficult to come by than cheap places to rent, apparently. In most places I've stopped, I've had to pick a spot, walk the two or three accessible street near my car, and then drive somewhere else. Not in San Fran. In addition to being near the Chinatown area, the entire city is set up like most European towns, with townhouses stacked tightly together on top of tiny, intimate shops. This makes for fun walking, since there is always something to see instead of walking by a Wal-Mart parking lot for 1/2 a mile. My first night there, after taking in the Giants game, was spent wandering throughout the city, watching a fun band with a wild saxophonist, and avoiding the Cougar who was hunting me.
I spent some time the next day in the Marina Area, where I found the Musee Mecanique, which contained old contraptions from ages ago that you could play for one quarter. What kind of contraptions you ask? Well, for your amusement, and to save you the fifty cents it cost me, I've posted them in video form below, along with the one homeless man I've seen in all my travels that knows how to earn his keep, aside from the rest of the San Fran bums, who just build pillow forts in the middle of the street. What I couldn't get a video of was Ramses answering my question by spookily nodding his skeleton head.

After my inner child had been placated, briefly, I got to explore the town with my friend Taylor, who has been up in the city for a while now. He took me through the parts of town I couldn't walk through, or wouldn't want to, and also set me up with a great meal from one of the thousands of Taquerias. I swear, this place had some of the best salsa I've ever eaten, this coming from a Texan who ate salsa out of the bottle as a babe.

My last impression of the City by the Bay was at Zeitgeist, a San Francisco Bar where I definitely stood out. Not for my flaming heterosexuality, as many people (myself previously included) think that the city is one gigantic silk hankerchief, but rather for my polo shirt and tattooless skin. Bike messengers city wide congregated here, and the hard rock music seemed to screech as my Vineyard Vine shirt entered the door. Despite it all, I still managed to enjoy my Anchor Steam beer, and got to catch up with Taylor, and am very jealous of his getting to live here. Congratulations San Fran, you've taken the lead in my "Favorite Cities" list.