September 28, 2012
San Francisco RV Resort, Pacifica, California
Tuesday, we headed back to the “City by the Bay”. Geri and I have loved San Francisco for years, although we’ve usually visited later in the year. It’s easy to love a place when you always seem to visit when the weather is at its best. On this visit, that oft-quoted saying “The coldest winter I every spent was a summer in San Francisco” (variously attributed to Jack London, Oscar Wilde, H. L. Mencken and, of course, Mark Twain -- all disputed, by the way) seemed to be the order of the day. But, we’re a hardy lot and we survived quite nicely, thank you very much. Even Tanner wore his sweater when needed.
We stayed at a park in Pacifica, just south of San Francisco proper, situated on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. When we stayed here two years ago (when Pat and Al visited the last time), I mentioned that the oceanfront site we were in wouldn’t be there forever. Well, this time the whole row of ocean-facing sites was closed off, with a big porta-fence running through them to keep people away from the eroding and unsafe cliff. It looked like the sea and wave action claimed about 20-30 feet of the Park in the last two years. Of course, this just allows the Park to raise their rates to recoup the lost revenue.
Because we were right on the ocean, we had low clouds and fog, supplemented by drizzle, for most of the time we were there. Fortunately, the topography of the area allows the sun to burn off the fog in some areas, and we were able to go “over the hill” to San Francisco and actually have better weather a few miles away.
Wednesday, we took a ride south along the Pacific Coast Highway, CA-1, to Santa Cruz. It was nice but not as scenic as the coastline further south, past Monterey. But, we didn’t have time to go that far, as we needed to get back in time for one of the better dinners we’ve had in a while.
Geri’s a devoted foodie. And, like any good addiction, it means she’s always on the search for interesting things online. About six months ago, she came across an article about a chef who immersed himself in pasta. Not literally, of course, but he moved to Italy and worked in a bunch or restaurants to learn the secrets from the masters. Well, Geri did a deep dive on this and found that he’s opened a restaurant in San Francisco called Flour + Water. Get it? Flour plus water equals pasta. Clever.
So, knowing that we’d be stopping in San Francisco on our way south, we made a reservation a few months ago. Was it worth the wait and effort? You betcha! We had an early reservation (6:00 PM) so we were able to drive over, find the place in the Mission district, and find a place to park the Rover on a side street.
We ordered a bottle of wine to start while we perused the menu. After some discussion and cajoling, we finally agreed to the autumn pasta tasting menu (“whole table must participate, no substitutions”), coupled with the wine pairing flight. Pat and Al were a little reluctant to commit to a menu with rabbit, duck and quail courses, but they were eventually won over. Good thing, too, since it was fantastic! I’m now inspired to explore home-made pasta over the winter, but even more to learn more about the great sauces. For a guy who likes his South Philly “Gravy”, I was really taken with the lightness and flavors of the sauces. Mmmmm...
As a post-dinner treat, we headed downtown to find a little food stand called Smitten that makes fresh ice cream, while you wait. A long wait, you ask? Nope; they mix the ingredients in front of you then freeze them instantly with liquid nitrogen. Creamiest ice cream you’ve ever tasted. Double Mmmmm...
After such a nice evening out, nobody was moving quickly Thursday morning. This was OK, though, since there wasn’t much on the agenda. Al and I left mid-morning and headed for the BART station in Daly City, where we hopped on a train for Market Street downtown. From there it was a short walk to AT&T Park for a baseball game, where the Giants beat up on the Arizona Diamondbacks. In spite of the fog in Pacifica, the weather in town was crystal clear and we had a good game with great food (Al’s first Tri-Tip Sandwich) and beer (all overpriced, of course).
Today was their last day with us on this trip, and we used the time to head back to San Francisco, this time to the Embarcadero. We poked around in the Ferry Building Shops, picking up specialty cheeses, some mushrooms and a black truffle (leaving me wondering why on earth I left the truffle slicer in AZ), and some Italian specialty foods like Fregola and Marcona Almonds. We stopped by the wine bar in the Ferry Building as well for a round of flights and even picked up a couple of bottles that I’ve never had before.
From there, it was off to Ghirardelli Square for more shopping for Geri and Pat. Al and I retired to an Irish Pub for a Guinness. Back home early, we wrapped up the visit with a nice dinner of Honey-Sake-Lime Shrimp over rice. It’s been another nice visit, and we really enjoyed getting to meet Tanner.
We’ll call it an early night, since their flight is early in the morning and we’ll be up between 5:00-5:30 AM to get to the airport. Hmmmm...
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