San Francisco - Day 1 (August 29)

This morning we dropped the boy off at his grandparent's house, and headed for a weekend away. Andy has to work in San Francisco all next week, so he planned a few days for us to be alone before then. We hopped a short flight to SF, and were there in time for lunch. We picked up the rental car, got settled at the hotel, and then found a great little 50's diner where he had a club sandwich, and I had french dip. After that we did the most heavenly thing that we haven't done in ages -- we took a long, uninterrupted nap.


I like these pictures because we have this really nice room at the downtown Hilton, with all of the upgrades, and then in the middle of the room is this ghetto little refrigerator plugged in.

After our nap, we got dressed in our fancy clothes and went to eat at The Market Street Grill. We had heard rave reviews about the place, but after eating there, we decided it was more about ambiance than great food. I had a steak and Andy had a seafood gumbo. They were just okay. The butterscotch creme brulee', however, was divine.

After dinner we crossed the street to the Orpheum theater where we did something I have wanted to do FOREVER. We saw Wicked.

The play was pure magic and lived up to every bit of the hype I've heard about it. Andy said it was one of the few times as an adult that you get to feel like a child and see something you've never seen before. The actors were perfect, the sets and costumes were amazing, and the whole performance was just enchanting.

We had great seats. I wasn't supposed to take pictures, and my phone isn't great, but this shows you how close we were to the stage. Of course the whole row in front of us was little old ladies and tiny Asian women, except for the one seat in front of me which was occupied by a wide, tall man. Just my luck. Despite the blockage, the whole evening was one of the best I've ever had.

The one complaint that we have about SF is that it's really kind of scary. The traffic congested roads are all over the place with no rhyme or reason, the streets were filthy, and there were more homeless people than I have ever seen anywhere. Andy kept saying that he felt like if he looked at someone wrong, he was going to get AIDS.

We had walked to dinner and the theater, deciding that since we wouldn't be coming home until about 11:30 pm, we would definitely take a cab on the way back. The walk was only a mile, but there were a few blocks that didn't feel safe at all. The only problem was that when we came out of the theater, we weren't able to get a cab, and it was pretty cold, so we decided to start walking. We got followed, jeered at, and generally creeped out most of the way home. I had guys calling out at me, and I felt like saying "seriously? I'm 7 months pregnant and you're hitting on me? Life can't be THAT bad!" So we hustled back to the hotel.

Once we got in, I was on a high from the day and didn't feel like going to bed. I felt like some hot chocolate. The room's mini-bar didn't have it, room service didn't have it, the gift shop was closed, and the Starbucks inside of the hotel was closed. We had seen several Starbucks down the street, so I called a few of them and found one two blocks down that was open until 1 am. Andy was not pleased with the prospect of going back out into the scary, hobo ridden streets, but we dressed down and headed out into the cold. 20 Minutes later we were back in our room safe and sound with hot chocolate and an apple fritter. The perfect night cap after a fantastic day.