A few weeks back my sister and her friend from New Hampshire, my brother-in-law from Connecticut and myself from Chicago all flew to San Francisco to run the Bay to Breakers race. For those that have never heard of the race I think Runner’s Worlds describes it best, “This 99-year-old 12-K is what you get if you cross an elite road race with Mardi Gras. Even when it’s not pretty, it’s pretty funny.” It was fact at times not pretty funny, and was definitely pretty funny. The whole weekend was a blast, the race was the icing on the cake. More on the race later, it calls for a post all it’s own.
We started with a pub crawl to the race expo to get our shirts. It will shock no one to learn I lost my race bib on the way to the expo. Hey, at least it was not by debit card. I guess I should grow up and carry a purse or something, by back pocket just does not seem to be working for me. We had some fun at the expo, my brother-in-law all but bought a new VW. Lucky for him he did not divulge his home phone number, my sister would not have pleased (or surprised). We pub crawled it back to the hotel eating dinner along the way. Then headed back out to a few more bars.
Speaking of quirky, the highlight of the evening was the bar XXX where you walk in to be greeted by a large man and his cat. He is the owner I believe, and takes greeting customers very seriously. It is just a little unsettling when he starts yelling as to the waitress as you enter and the oxygen contraption in his nose. Apparently he is part of the draw for people as the locals informed us. Great bar, great beer, and we talk with tons of friendly locals.
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| Delicious Latte from Blue Bottle Coffee |
Saturday morning my sister and I headed across the street to check out the Ferry Terminal building and get a cup of Blue Bottle Coffee that was highly recommended to me. It was as delicious as promised. We gathered up the boys and headed on another pub crawl to the hop on/hop off double-decker bus tour. We located the bus just below China Town and hopped on. We never did hop off until the end because out tour guide, Z, was flippin’ hilarious. It was his third day on the job, and he predicted his last. It was a beautiful day for seeing the city and the Golden Gate Bridge atop on open top bus.
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| Obligatory shot of postcard row. |
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| Pit stop on the bus tour, I feared Z was going to leave us. |
We headed back to the hotel and ate a dinner of fresh bread, cheese, vegetables, and fruit that we got at the farmer’s market that morning. It was delicious! Then off to bed to rest up for the race, well at least for a couple of us.
Everyone was so friendly! I always enjoy San Francisco, more and more each visit.
SF is one place I can actually picture myself living, I just love it.
You have to understand two things – Eric's first car was a VW fox – and when he had to part with it becasue he had two little ones in car seats it was tearful. Second – being a guy who can "work the crowd" Eric loves to engage another one of the same skill. I can just imagine Me and the kiddos with him like OH NO HERE WE GO AGAIN! Very good entry.
He made the VW girls day, she got to run her spiel by him. They were very cool cars though, have never seen them before.
I have heard some pretty good things about San Fransisco pub crawls. I wonder if they're all they are cracked up to be. Kickass.