Driving into the city was beautiful. Traffic was no fun but we made it down the embarcadero and met up with one of my nearest and dearest, Ryan, who has been for about 28 years. We had a fabulous lunch upstairs at the Franciscan overlooking the piers- yellowtail, crab dip, calamari and clam chowder in big sourdough bowls. Delish!
Walking around Pier 39 wasn’t super fun as it was too crowded. I wanted the boys to see the golden gate bridge but the traffic on it was hellacious so we hopped on a cruise around the bay. The only place the chair could go was in the downstairs of the boat so we carried AC to the top for some gorgeous views of Alcatraz and the bridge. Lots of beautiful parasails blowing around the bay. It was pretty spectacular seeing the bridge from underneath it.
After we left the pier we went to check into the hotel. Ok, well it was supposed to be a hotel. It was much closer to a hostel, shared bathroom and all. At first it was a bit unsettling. Deedee and I couldn’t stop laughing ‘cuz it was such a divergence from all the other places we had stayed the whole trip. It sat right on the edge of China town with a “massage” parlor next to it. It was not at all what was pitched on the internet.....they have a fabulous web designer. Once we got over the initial concerns, we decided it was going to be very late at night if we tried to find a new place, so we decided to take it as just part of the adventure.
As we walked down the street, we realized we were also on the edge of Little Italy, so in short we had an excellent dinner in a very quaint bistro. The boys had fun with all the crazy sights and sounds. AC almost wrecked his chair when some of the lovely ladies came out of one the nearby businesses scantily clad. It was pretty funny seeing his eyes as big as they got and even more exciting hearing my boys philosophically debate the difference between a stripper and an exotic dancer.
As we all lay trying to ignore the mardi gras of sounds traveling up from the street below, we lay listening to Oliver’s hilarious commentary on the events unfolding throughout the night. We all laughed and laughed and as awful of a choice as it was, it will definitely be a memorable part of the trip. Perhaps, one I will probably never live down, but none the less, remembered forever.
As I lay there trying to fall asleep, I pretended I was in some exotic country, you know, like Bangkok, and thought about how compelled I feel to always find the silver lining. I think that’s because deep in my heart, I know the truth…..all those less than perfect experiences we share now, may in fact, someday be ones we wish we had back. And whenever I find myself rushing through something because it’s not ideal, I remind myself that when I look back, these days will most likely be the best days of my life. For that,I am very grateful for the consciousness this journey has brought me. I am awake and I'm not going to miss a thing.
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