January 25 - 27, 2020
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We drove from Santa Rosa to San Francisco without problem, where the weather was cool, no rain, some clouds. Shirley and I had booked a room as we often do at one of our favorite motels, the Geary Parkway Motel, which is right next to several bus stops that lead to anywhere you want in San Francisco. We checked in, did not get our favorite room, but still the room we got was ok. It was already ready for occupancy, even though we had arrived around noon. We also gave the manager several persimmons off the tree Shirley has grown in our backyard and which has produced hundreds of very tasty fruit.
We unloaded the car, set up the computer, and made a carryout order at an Indian-Nepalese restaurant that gets very good reviews - Rose Indian Cuisine. We picked up the order and continued our drive to visit Marian and Rob. Parking in a residential area in San Francisco on the weekend is a major problem. There were no parking spaces for blocks around their residence, but we finally found one by making a U-Turn as we saw someone pulling out of a metered space. We got it for two hours. Yes! Sometimes we can park blocking the driveway at Marian and Rob's, but others had blocked that option.
We all ate lunch together and talked and also called David in Alabama. Such an enjoyable time.
We drove back to our motel, then walked down Clement Street to visit Green Apple Books. As we walked we kept looking for a Dim Sum that sold sesame balls, but this late in the afternoon all were sold out.
Today was beautiful weather if a bit cool with puffy clouds and blue skies. We left the car parked and took buses and did lots of walking.
Our first bus ride took us down Geary Blvd to Arguello Blvd, where we got off to catch another bus. While we waited we saw, just up the street, at the Consulate General of India building, a very large crowd of demonstators, with police keeping watch. The demonstration was against India's recent passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The CAA provides a path to citizenship for many escaping religious persecution, but excludes such protection for Muslims.
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The next bus took us up within walking distance of the Whole Foods Market in the Haight-Ashbury. After buying our picnic lunch, we walked into Golden Gate Park and sat near the Koret Playground, which includes a wonderful indoor Carousel with parents and their kids riding all sorts of animals. We sat on a nearby bench and people-watched as we picnicked.
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Our next goal was to walk down Irving Street all the way to theT C Pastry, which is our favorite dim sum shop to get sesame balls. As we started our walk we came across pretty little gardens people had created just outside their homes next to the street curbs. Later we saw a game store which had shelves and shelves of board games, lots of tables, and many people sitting around playing the games.
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After successfully finding and eating sesame balls and pot stickers, and stopping at a grocery store to get tea and other items, we walked back to 19th steet (thus completing 2 1/2 miles of walking), caught a bus and returned to the motel. There we rested, went on-line to order some Chinese food from a restaurant on Clement St that we had passed on Saturday and that had many customers. It was a short walk to pick up our carryout and return to the motel. We spent the night watching TV and reading.
It had been an excellent day!
Our last day in San Francisco for this visit. Originally our plan was to go to the beach, but it was cold and drizzling outside, so we decided to simply load the car and head home. We left around ten thirty and have never seen so little traffic going to and from San Francisco. It drizzled off and on all the way to Santa Rosa, but was an easy drive.
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Bob Phillips [phillips bob 27 at yahoo dot com - no spaces]
Santa Rosa, CA
January, 2020