SF Royal Pacific Nov 10, 2000
"San Francisco, finally." We can live without getting up to the city for quite a while, but then it hits both of us and we desperately need a "City Fix" and this must have been one of those times. We checked into the Royal Pacfic Hotel on Broadway in North Beach, room 218. To the best of my recollection, it was an okay dokay room, probably would receive a 0 right up to check out when the clerk's attitude made the place a negative one. The bathtub/shower floor felt like we were standing on a waterbed, but the aura of the place was fantastic. Streamlined modern fifties style all the way.
We saw our first Hummer limo and what I wrote down was a "sub limo." For some reason, I truly think we saw a submarine style limo, but who knows now? We ate dinner at the Gold Spike (again) and sat in the corner where an old woman right out of Mary Poppins came by with long stemmed red roses. Mine is still hanging above the curio cabinet in our bed room to this day.
Breakfast was at Curly's on Powell, a neat little place and very, very busy because they serve good, homemade food and the price was more than reasonable.
Next stop was the Farmer's Market. If you go, make sure it is before breakfast, not after. You can taste test yourself all the way through the entire throng of people, and easily purchase more than you can carry.
I have always wanted to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge and walk we did, stopping half way to gasp as a full freighter past beneath us. Truly awesome. Did you know there are phones on the bridge with signs that say "Suicide Helpline?" Wow.
We spent sunset sitting at the famous Cliff House sipping something or another watching two dogs play on the beach with sheer delight and joy. That made us miss our own dogs terribly and the stories of journeys with dogs prevailed into the night.
Back to the motel where my daughter called to let us know her school band won two Sweepstakes awards, two firsts and three second place awards at the Merced Band Review!!
We could not get in at the Massawa Etheopian restaurant in the Haight, so we ate at the Eritrean Etheopian restaurant at Ervine and Twelth instead. This was followed by another trip to the Green Apple book store as well as another visit to Andronico's delightful import grocery store.
The next morning we wandered around, stumbling on Moe's on Grant for breakfast. Yes, they decorated the place with Moe from the three Stooges in mind. I wonder if Moe and Curly know each other. This place received darn near a score of three. We watched them cook the breakfast as we sat at the counter, placed within direct view of the grill. The man was an artist. The food was great and cooked just like Mama would do it, price was quite reasonable for the product and atmosphere, well...it captivated us the whole time we were there. Service was not bad. You just yelled at Moe and he brought it.
We wandered through Chinatown looking for my favorite melon candy and left with incense and fortune cookies. If you ever in San Francisco, the Fortune Cookie factory on Waverly is an absolute must. I won't ruin it for you by telling you what it is like, but I guarentee you, it will be a surprise. Besides, you can pick up a bag of cookies for a buck. We found the perfect Chinese purple slinky dress for Jena, silver findings for me in Haight and stopped for falafael's at a deli at Clement and Irvine. One last stop for a piroski at Cinderella's on Balboa, highly recommended by an old friend, Joe Hoffman, and it was worth all the circling around the block just to find a parking space which we never did find. I jumped out, bought the piroski and caught David as he turned a few more blocks.
Back home. It's always good to get back home, making that last turn and seeing the house.