SF
-I had my first In n'Out Burger! Upon telling a room full of people about it just now, I was also told that this is far too cliche for me, but what can I say? I've been to San Diego and Anaheim a pair of times recently, and te In n'Out has eluded me. When we saw one right after passing the Golden Gate Bridge, I didn't hesitate.
-Visited University Village in Berkeley, formerly the site of the grad student housing where I grew up. It now looks like the suburbs rather than a joyously campy left-over from the Dharma Project or something. Also, it likes rules.
-One of the Pyramid brewpubs moved into the old neighborhood in Berkeley! I stumbled upon it and killed two hours in there. Yum.
-The BART is so simple to use that it's almost complicated.
-SF busing: good. People on SF buses: hmmm.
-"Ah-eet Ash-buuuhy": much funnier with a thick French accent.
-The actual Haight: eww. Wanted to wear a full-body condom.
-The two places where I felt somewhat unsafe in SF: Tenderloin, Haight.
-The two places where I dodged human feces on the sidewalk in SF: Tenderloin, Haight.
-The two places where I heard people talking about their probation officers: Tenderloin, Haight. Draw what conclusions you will.
-My first visit to Amoeba. Picked up a Townes van Zandt, Ted Curson's Tears for Dolphy on cd (already have it on lp), some Unrest-related sideprojects from Teenbeat, and some Smokey Robinson.
-If I lived in SF, the only reason I would go to the Haight would be to visit Amoeba.
-Maybe people who visit DC feel the same way about Adams Morgan that I do about the Haight?
-Lots of love for SF though. I love the seediness as much as I do the yuppieness.
-This one's a delicate point: in SF, I was pleased to find that I was sketched out by white people. On the east coast, it just so happens I think that most threatening people you see on the street are not white. I don't want to speculate about the many socioeconomic factors at play, but to this day I remember the first time I had a white cab driver who spoke fluent English. It was in Boston, by the way. I also remember the first time I saw a black man in a suit in Brazil. Both were equally jarring to me at the time. Anyway, in SF you actually encounter sketchy white people. This is a relief, especially if you derive pleasure from finding that you are a class-ist rather than a racist.
Napa
-Pretty. Boring. Spendy. But very pretty. I can't tell if a whole week here would be fantastic or deadening, but I would like to try someday.
-Domaine Carneros: fantastic, worth the visit. Go, Taittinger!
-Schramsberg: fantastic, worth the visit. Their rose is a bit sweeter than Domaine Carneros'.
-People in Napa are amenable to my motto: "Rose is the new microbrew."
-Chateau Montelena: didn't do the tour, just hit the tasting room. Well worth it, though. The estate/reserve cabernets are special.
-I love the fact that you can ship wine to DC.
-Stumbled upon a recommendation to Provenance, which was also quite nice.
-The petrified forest? Not actually rock-trees! Just trees which have had their molecular strucuture has been totally replaced by, uh, something resembling rock. Silica or something? Ash-y things? Anyway. It was a good non-wine outing in Napa.
-On the way out, we visisted a place called Bouchaine that was recommended to us a few weeks ago. It was 60 degrees or so. We sat out on a porch, tasting something called a pinot meunier, with palm trees and vines in sight. We went on a self-guided tour, picked grapes off the vine, and took lots and lots of pictures. The tasting was $5 a head. Not to be missed. A great place to stop by on your way out if you're heading back through Oakland.
-I would like to think I have a good palate, or at least a decent one. I think I do, but I also think that the best way for me to learn about a wine and to recognize its characteristics is by sitting down with it and drinking a few glasses. There's a sameness that creeps into the tasting routine, created as much by the progression (chardonnay-zin-pinot-syrah-cabernet-riesling/gewutrz, more or less) as by the fact that a little sippy sip of wine tastes like just that to me: a little sippy sip.
-Auberge du Soleil was memorable: I had foie gras, scallops in a curry sauce, and morrocan-spiced duck. We drank a 2001 syrah, in honor (cheesily) of the year we started dating. For contrast, we had some great mexican takeout too.
Photos and more thoughts to come later, I suppose.
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