21 San Francisco memories

Taking a cue from Stephanie Nielson, (who recently did a blog post entitled Nie York City where she shared 20 moments from a family trip), here are mine from San Francisco.

21. Leaving Wednesday at noon and hitting traffic in LA that didn’t stop until we made it to the Grapevine. It took us five hours to get to that point, 9.5 to our hotel in the city. Shockingly, I was the most antsy person in the car.

20. Driving across the Bay Bridge and talking to the kids about the location of San Francisco and the three bridges that lead in. Nathan thinks the bridge is called “The Babe Bridge.” We almost don’t correct him. For the rest of the trip, we constantly ask him if he wants to go look for babes on The Babe Bridge.

19. Waking up Thanksgiving morning with nothing to do but whatever we wanted.

18. Taking the kids across the street from our hotel, to our favorite breakfast spot Pergamino Cafe. One that we have talked about to the kids for years. It is an extremely casual place, with the most friendly staff. You seat yourself, you get your own coffee (from a huge selection of random mugs and coffees along one wall – so charming), and you get enough homemade food to fill your belly all day. Drew ordered banana pancakes and you get one pancake, only it is the size of a turkey platter. His eyes BUGGED out of his head.

17. How Anna found nooks and crannies all over the city, and then posed in them while asking me to take photos.

16. The day Mckenna had to go to the bathroom every twenty minutes. Leaving me trucking all over to find her one, washing our hands raw every twenty minutes, and leaving the rest of the crew bored, even while patiently waiting for us to return.

15. Getting to do this with all six of us at the Musee Mechanique.

14. Waiting in line for the cable car and taking these photos. We were all in the best mood, even though we were cold and tired from walking. Watching Drew and Anna hold onto the sides as we careened up and down the hills. Hearing Mckenna laugh every time the bell clanged.

13. Jeff looking at me over dinner and telling me that I was so happy I was glowing.

12. Taking in views like this while my heart wanted to burst with happiness for being there, happiness for being with them, happiness for all that we have come through, and happiness for all that we have yet to do together.

11. Getting to the end of the trolley ride and realizing we are far too exhausted to make it to our 8:30 Thanksgiving dinner reservation at “our” Italian place, Mona Lisa. So we stopped for french fries at Burger King (the only thing open in Union Square on Thanksgiving) and ran six blocks and up four floors through the inside of the closed mall (with Christmas music playing) to get to the 7:15 showing of The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Our words echoed off the walls as we stripped off jackets and scarves. Mckenna shuffled along behind us, going as fast as she could, getting pulled along by Jeff, singing the words. The movie was brilliant. I sat, grinning, through the whole thing.

10. Hailing a cab while watching their wonder and amazement at the newness of the situation, and piling in and having it take us to Denny’s for our Thanksgiving dinner. Where we dined romantically on appetizers and banana splits before heading back to our hotel, hopping the fence, and crashing into warm beds.

9. Waking up late and lazy and taking the kids to  The Exploratorium. Mckenna avoided us and sat down on benches or chairs. She wasn’t all that interested. Jeff and I followed different groups around while we all took turns testing out the hundreds of experiments and hands on goodies. Such a trip to see that not much has changed since I was there last at the age of 18. I have a photo of me with my younger sister Alisha (aged 5) in those same exact BIG/LITTLE chairs.

8. Driving around and around and around and around North Beach looking for parking so that we could make it to our second reservation at Mona Lisa. Walking up the streets in the dark, with the bustle of Chinatown all around us, holding each girl by the hand. Eating in the tiny, loud, adorably kitchy restaurant and getting very warm and flushed after sharing a bottle of wine with Jeff. I can still taste the Salmon Alfredo. (Slurp.)

7. Getting to see this dear lady. Joan is the owner of Timeless Treasures, an incredible shop I have posted about many times before. She was thrilled to meet the family, and gifted me with a beautiful necklace made by a local artist named Adjowah Brody of Oakland.

6. Spending twenty minutes to myself after completing my last session of the trip. I drove around with all my windows down, blaring Dead Heart Bloom. It was a PERFECT DAY, the weather was insanely beautiful and warm. I could drive up and down and around that city allllllllllllll day, just taking in the architecture and people that I love so much.

5. Walking along Haight Street in the sun, all of us taking up the sidewalks. This I think, is my favorite memory of the trip. HOW LONG have I longed to bring them here? Popping into shops here and there to pick out trinkets and treasures with the kids. I felt so at home there. Haight Street smells like incense and pizza.

4. Ending the day (and our trip) at Golden Gate Park. It has been a dream of mine to bring my kids here and sit with them in the sunshine on Hippie Hill. As we entered the park, and I heard the drums, my eyes welled up with tears. I turned around and looked at Jeff and said, “We are here!” The environment could be seedy or wonderful depending on what you see when you look around. I just see people being. They are playing drums, throwing frisbees, laying in the sun, and just feeling the magic of the place.  The drum circle just takes you to another place – there isn’t any judgement from anyone.

3. Hippies are selling rocks and homemade items along the sidewalk path. Nathan and Anna sat for twenty minutes talking to a young couple and haggling over rock prices. Anna surprised me by buying a gold butterfly charm with her last dollar. She loved giving this to me, and I loved receiving it.

2. Bringing them here after wanting to for years and watching the PURE UNADULTERATED JOY in their faces as they zoomed down the cement slides in the best park in the world. And that no one started bleeding. And how much Nate loved it when he won the race on the last trip down.

1. Saying goodbye, as always with a heavy, heavy heart. With questions on my mind as to where we should live and why I feel so drawn to this place. How hard it is to want to be in two places at once. As we drove out of the city and got onto the freeway, everyone plugged into their personal entertainment devices and Jeff and I put on Bob Marley. It was the perfect way to start the drive home. Then I saw this sign coming up and luckily had a break in traffic in order to get this shot. I am not sure, but I think it was there just for us.

xo

Tara