California Dreamin'

I love my sister and miss her every day. I love California and miss it every day. When I have the opportunity to go to California to see my sister, well, that's just damn near perfect. This past weekend, Jersey and I flew to the Bay Area to stay with Lara, and we managed to squeeze in some sightseeing in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Santa Cruz. Though I've been to the area plenty of times, this was all brand new to Jersey. Here are some of the highlights (with a few lowlights thrown in):

Jersey and I decided to stop at a Mexican bar/grill in the airport to have margaritas and nachos prior to our flight. Worst.service.ever. And that's coming from two people with almost two decades of food service between them. I just don't think it's a good idea to ignore your table for 20-25 minutes after they have finished all of their food/drinks...they have a plane to catch and I'm guessing most of them will not hesitate to bail on their bill if it's between that and missing their flight. There was a lot more to this story than just that, but it was the last straw. I did pay my bill. I did not leave much of a tip.

The reason we didn't miss our flight was because the plane was late, so all was good. It got even better when we discovered that the airline doesn't charge the standard $4.00 for a cocktail when the flight is delayed. Free booze is their way of apologizing. I forgive them.

This was our first look at Lara's new place. Nice digs, cute cat. Plus, she gave up her bed to Jersey and me, which was very kind.

Saturday morning we drove to San Francisco, specifically the Pier 39 area. I love San Francisco as much as my sister hates it. It has character, which is the common trait of all of my favorite cities. Granted, I've never taken the time necessary to truly explore its depths, but that's on my short list of things to do. We saw the barking sea lions, took pictures of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge from afar, and enjoyed some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Oh, and I bought a pound of fudge that I really didn't need, but I gave myself special "traveler's dispensation" for all my caloric insanity. Shortly after purchasing the fudge, we walked to Ghiradelli's Square, where I giggled over a peanut butter hot fudge sundae. Mmmmm.

Despite being exhausted, my sister then drove us over to Haight-Ashbury because she's a doll who was willing to cater to our vacation whims. I had only been there once before and Jersey had been told to check it out by her mom. Our first stop in the famous neighborhood was in a cramped used book store that got us greatly excited...until we stepped inside. Almost immediately we were greeted, not by a "hello" or "welcome", but by a sneer, a once-over, and an accusation that our purses were too big. We were then followed around the store by one employee, while the other remained perched in her wicked throne behind the counter. Apparently the three clean-cut girls posed a huge threat to their business. Anyway, we were still happy to look for hidden bookstore treasures and proceeded to the checkout once we had found them. Then, a problem. For the first time in my 11 years of credit card experience, I came across a place that has a major issue with accepting credit cards with "see ID" written on the back. Now, I respect a business's right to run things by their own standards. If they choose not to accept "see ID" on the back of a credit card, that's their prerogative. What I do not respect is the decision to read us the riot act about how we were participating in fraudulent criminal behavior; the decision to treat us like the hoodlums they assumed we were from the moment we entered the store. I get that Haight-Ashbury isn't exactly Rodeo Drive, but that's no reason to assume the worst about everyone. What a shitty attitude to have through life. And what a shitty way to lose my business.

On the way home, we cheered up with a stop at Boston Market. I love me some Boston Market, but there aren't any in Vegas. And, yes, my day really did seem to revolve around food.

Sunday we headed to Palo Alto (after a stop at In-N-Out for an Animal Style Double-Double) and, specifically, to Stanford for a women's soccer game. Jersey and I don't know anyone on the team, but we thought it would be fun to see some sort of sporting event while we were there. Following a mini-tour of the University, we strolled downtown and filled up on some yummy sushi. Jersey really wasn't feeling well, so we didn't do much else. Just laughed a lot and enjoyed being with my sister.

Day three of our weekend was for my first trip, Lara's second, to Santa Cruz. It was definitely a casually silly day, but a nice way to end the vacation. We just walked up and down the boardwalk, eating junk food (which I suppose surprises nobody who has read this post from the beginning), people watching, and playing midway games. As for the running joke about who is the "man" in our relationship (it totally depends on the given activity in question, for the record), I totally got the designation yesterday when I won a stuffed monkey and gave it to Jersey with a kiss. Yay for smiles over something so child-like!

Alas, all good things must end, so we said goodbye to Lara at the airport, all of us looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend and our next gathering. I really had a great time spending time with my sister, sharing more firsts with Jersey, and seeing the two of them get along so well. Now, it's back to work and a countdown to the holiday season. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!