Weekend trip

Vacation weekends are great. An extra day off plus a bonus of having a holiday too. So this last weekend I used my four days to head to San Francisco and the Bay Area in general to enjoy better weather and a whole bunch of fun. There are a few standard things I must do, Oysters in Point Reyes, good food and wine, and sailing of course. So here are some highlights of the trip.

Early morning flights are hard to do unless it is for fun. But on this morning I was greeted to a wonderful sunrise as I flew towards the bay. Having to get up and drive to the airport at 5 am through the rain on a cold morning is never fun, you wish you could still be asleep. But once on the plane and with some coffee, things look a little better. Then once in the air and above the clouds, being greeted by the sun makes it even better.

 I landed in Oakland and rented a car, something I don't do but on this occasion I was going to need it so grabbed the car and headed over the new Oakland Bay bridge to San Francisco. They actually named the bridge after a living former San Francisco Mayor and state congressman, but I refuse to accept that name, we will always call it the Bay Bridge, end of story.

But once in 'The City', as the locals call it, I decided to head out to the Legion of Honor Museum out in the western side of the city, but first I had to take a look at the GG (Golden Gate) as I drove along the bay.

Once at the Legion of Honor Museum, I was greeted by a Rodin statue, the Thinker, which is in the entrance courtyard. The museum has a large collection of Rodin's work along with other paintings and statues. This is one of my favorite museums to visit in San Francisco and it is in a great location.

After the museum, a quick drive brought me to Sutro Heights Park. This has been a stop I always make when in the city. The park is on a bluff over looking the long Ocean Beach and the Great Highway on the western side of the city. The park is green and lust with some old foundations from past structures, but it is very nice to walk around and look out over the ocean.

After leaving the park, I drove down the Great Highway to Golden Gate Park and drove through the green grass fields, ponds and trees. I headed over to Clement Street, which is like a second 'China town', though it is more than that. It was close to lunch time so I stopped at a good Thai noodle place and got a big bowl of Pho. Really good and cheep... If you know where to go, you can eat great food for a little money.

 After lunch and looking in some of the shoppes on Clement, I drove over to the Palace of Fine Arts. This is the last remaining bits of the 1915 Panama-Pacific exposition. This park was meant to be torn down after the expo, but the city loved it so much they kept it. It is now a wonderful park to walk in and relax. When I think of San Francisco this is one of the place I think of.

 I was going to meet my brother once he was off work, so I drove across the GG (Golden Gate Bridge) and headed to Tiburon which is directly north of San Fracisco across the bay. Of course I had to stop at Sam's for a drink and this was going to be where I was to meet my brother. Sitting on their deck having a drink with a great view is a nice way to start an evening. In the summer Sam's is a crazy place but on this evening it was kind of quiet.

 The next day we were going to drive out to Point Reyes National Seashore and do what we do. That means Oysters!!! We always stop at Tomales Bay Oysters for the best fresh oyster. A shucker and some lemons is all you need. We got a dozen smalls and ate them there, then got two dozen more plus a sack of clams to be used later for dinner. It was a little cool but there was still a good group of people hanging out. There is another oyster farm up the road, but it is so expensive and it is crazy to go there. The same oyster at half the cost plus you don't have to deal with being charged to use a table...

 After the oysters it was time for a drink, so we headed over to the 'Road House' or better known as Rancho Nicasio. This is a destination for the Point Reyes and Marin County locals. It is an old ranch house that is now a saloon with live music and a great bar. If you are in the area, look it up and stop by for a drink at least or stay for the music in the evening. They do a great BBQ in the summer as well and the place can be crowded with the locals. Not a known place to tourists so it is in general a locals type of feel. But everyone is welcome to come in and no bad vibe at all.

If you love to ride a bicycle, then this is the area you want to be in. On the weekends the roads are full of riders and though it is hilly, the scenery is great. Renting a bike is a possibility so don't worry if you didn't bring your ride.

 One other thing about the Western Marin area is the Cheese... Napa and Sonoma counties are known for wine, but Marin is where the cheese is. Lots of organic dairies around and though Cow Girl Creamery is the most known, there are many other cheese makers. Some specialize in Brie and some specialize in firmer cheese but they are all great, plus you can get the cheese at a great price. At one location they had a 6 for $20 special and wheels of Brie for $8. It was so cheep we bough a ton... These are all the cheese we bought at the different shoppes we stopped at, just all great cheese.

At the end of the day of drinks, cheese and oysters, we had to make a Paella with the clams and oysters, plus chicken and vegetables we had on hand. Of course we cooked it traditionally over an open fire, while drinking Napa wine as we watched it cook. We ended up eating at the very 'European' hour of 10 pm, but we also ate several wheels of cheese and our party drank 7 bottles of wine... Needless to say it was a great night and great food, but this is the normal way we role...

Morning brought a big egg breakfast to help after all the wine the evening before. This was a sailing day so we needed to be fortified for the day of sailing. We needed to pack up and drive back to the bay to get the boat, we had all the supplies we needed, namely food and drinks plus the weather was going to be great for a February Sunday. The wind was a little light but the sun was out and it was going to be very comfortable on the water.

 OK, to many boat pictures to describe so here are just a few to give you the idea. We sailed out past Alcatraz Island and headed to the GG, then under and back.

 

The 'City Front' as it is called. Nice views of the buildings and of course "The Rock" in the bay.

At the end of the day we had to make a stop at an institution in the small town of Larkspur. The Silver Peso was a dive bar at one time, but since the area is now a very very wealthy area, the bar has changed a bit. It still looks the same and has the same drinks, but the people now drive up in BMW's, Porsche, and maybe a Ferrari. In any case a drink at the Peso is how we end the day, at least before we get home and have more local wine...

Point Reyes/West Marin County