Time to head Down Under

My time in San Francisco, while short, was great fun. Dave and his fiancee Tiila picked me up from the airport and took me back to their apartment on Nob Hill. I was feeling the first class drinks, but was nowhere near the level of intoxication Dave had achieved during his day of boozing. After dropping off my belongings we had a couple drinks and then headed to a bar down the street called the Hemlock Tavern. Alli and a couple of her friends came over to meet us and we had a couple drinks. Dave had to call it a night on the early side of life, so me, Alli and one of her friends moved on to another bar whose name escapes me right now. Pretty fun Saturday night.



I spent yesterday doing the tourist thing around San Fran with Alli. We rode the trolley, grabbed a beer at Eldos Brewery and walked around Golden Gate Park for a little while. The weather was great and we had a very enjoyable time. Around 6PM we met Dave at a dive-ish bar called Finnegan's Wake where we had another drink or two and enjoyed some good conversation. Alli bid us farewell and Dave and I headed back towards his apartment by way of a big slice of pizza. We shared a couple beers (Anchor Steam Bock Beer - very good) and caught up a little bit before heading out to gorge on some great sushi. After the sushi feast we headed to a karaoke bar called Encore and settled into the bar. I was pretty beat (I think the travelling had finally caught up with me) and was practically falling asleep at the bar. So, I went back to Dave's place and he stayed out a bit longer, mostly in hopes of doing a rendition of Achy Breaky Heart up on stage (which fortunately for the patrons of Encore never happened).

Today Dave and I got up early (out of the house by 9AM) and enjoyed a fantastic San Francisco day. We were treated to some more fantastic weather and had the good fortune of driving Dave's Miata around with the top down. We headed towards the ocean and were treated to some great views of the Pacific and the Golden Gate Bridge.


Then we had some much needed breakfast at Louis' Diner in the Sutro District. Great view overlooking the ocean and some pretty standard diner breakfast food. We headed to Golden Gate Park in hopes of playing some disc golf but were thwarted in our efforts when all the disc golf baskets had been taken down. So, we had to settle for just throwing around a bit, which was enjoyable. After a little lunch, we started our trek to the airport. We made our way down the coast a bit along Route 1 (such a fun road!) and then wound our way back through the rolling hills, arriving at the airport just after 4PM for my 7PM flight. Everything went great with check-in and now I am sitting at my gate getting ready for the 13 hour flight. Good times!

So long for now America!