honey-mooning -- day 6

Yesterday was our last full day in San Francisco. We decided to go to the Castro district for some shopping and lunch. Castro is the center of San Francisco’s gay community and is known for its boutiques, restaurants, antiques, and of course the famous Castro theatre. We were fortunate enough to chat with a gentleman on our train who gave us some pointers as to where to shop and eat, which was helpful as we really had no idea where to go! We found a number of second hand stores, however they really carried more consignment/used clothes versus classic vintage items. At any rate, we didn’t find anything worthy of hauling home in our already bulging suitcases, but it was fun to look!

We checked a few menus and found a wonderful Middle Eastern restaurant where we stopped for lunch. I think it was called La Mediterranean. Chris enjoyed traditional middle-eastern coffee, salad and some filo sandwiches with spinach, garlic and cheese. I had a chicken and lemon soup, which was wonderfully rich and tangy. Along with the soup I enjoyed a couple of chicken kabobs, which were nicely seasoned and perfectly cooked.

I was getting a bit worn out at this point, so we decided to head back to our hotel room to regroup. We talked about going to Japantown or the SF MOMA, but ended up deciding to check out Valencia St in the Mission district. We took the BART from Union Square to 16th and Mission and wandered along Mission to the 24th station. We stopped in on a number of interesting stores, including a fabulous store with a number of Japanese designed briefcases, bags and suitcases. We also found a cool antique store, a Mexican arts store and a couple of neat clothing stores and thrift shops. We stopped for a break at an airy coffee shop that was jam packed with folks in their 20s and 30s, many of which were surfing the net/typing away on Macs. It was interesting to note how many more Macs there were than PCs. Guess Mac has done a great job of capturing the imagination of this demographic!

Feeling a bit more refreshed/caffeinated. We wandered on toward 24th, stopping at a music shop (Aquarius Records) where Chris found all kinds of neat music. I think it was really hard for him to decide what he really wanted to buy, as there were so many interesting things there!

Finally we were at the 24th station, so we rode the BART back to Union Square where we stopped off for some last minute shopping at a giant Urban Outfitters a couple of blocks up from the Bart stop. It was getting on near dinnertime, so made our way back to our hotel and decided to get dinner at Fino, the wonderful Italian restaurant next door to our hotel. We enjoyed a glass of tasty house red (our hotel provides for a wine reception at the adjoining restaurant in the evenings) while waiting on our table. Chris ended up ordering the ravioli special for the evening, a blend of chicken and roasted garlic that was fabulously rich and flavorful. I got a calamari steak, which was also very flavorful (in a wine, lemon and garlic butter sauce), literally melting in my mouth! It was a delightful way to wind down for the night.

The night was still young as we finished dinner, so we decided to head out to one last Tiki bar, Trader Vic’s. The original Trader Vic’s opened in Emeryville across the bay from San Francisco and was originally called Hinky Dinks before turning into the Tiki paradise that they then sent across the world—including locations in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The original San Francisco location closed after the first wave of Tiki ended, but now with the resurgence of all things Tiki they have reopened a new location. Interestingly enough the alley next to our hotel is Trader Vic’s alley. With that and the tiki from Tiki Bob’s down the block this area must have been tiki central in the 50s and 60s. After our heavy meal, we decided to walk the 10 blocks to Trader Vic’s from our hotel, which made for more interesting sight seeing. San Francisco is truly a diverse city. From one block to the next you can feel you have traveled into separate worlds. From the underbelly, with sex clubs and “Lingerie” shows to Range Rover dealerships and high-end boutiques.

Once we reached Trader Vic’s, I tried a Pina Colada and a creamy, dessert drink called a “white cloud” which was mostly cream and coconut with a splash of coconut liqueur. Very tasty, but very rich. Chris had a tangy drink called “Dr Funk of Tahiti” which had an interesting herbal taste. He finished off with a Coffee Diablo, which came flaming with a big cinnamon stick in it. It was pretty strong, so only made it part way through that drink.

They had some nifty merchandise for sale at Trader Vic’s so we caved in and bought a commemorative glass in the traditional “Easter Island” shape. We tried to catch a cab on our way out but ended up just walking back to the hotel, as cabs were difficult to come by, even though it was only about 9pm!
Reaching our hotel decided we’d wrap up our night with one last big hurrah and stopped back at the Italian restaurant for a slice of cheesecake. It was delicious and just the perfect ending to a wonderful trip – and a truly memorable honeymoon!

Though it has been SO much fun, we are actually anxious to get back to our home, our cats and our usual routines. Traveling is wonderful, but there really is no place like home!