SF: Corner Store by Corner Store

Check out this article in the Bold Italic about the corner stores of the Western Addition, our old neighborhood.  The photo above is the store that we used to hit at least a couple of times a week--it stocked organic and health foods, as well as more mundane requirements like ice cream and beer.  It was right across the street from our apartment, which was so nice and convenient. 

Note the older gentleman on the right side of the photo--he is the usual fixture in that store, and one of the most crotchety figures I've ever come across!  I think it took almost a year of visiting that store before he did anything but frown in our general direction.  Strangely enough, I kind of miss his frosty ways.

I was also happy to see Sam (above) and his store featured (why did we think he was Russian?!).  This market was even closer to our old apartment and stocked a more limited selection of food but more wine, beer, liquor, and ice cream.  Sam helped us pick out wine on more than one occasion.  But most importantly to me, Sam was my knight in shining armor one afternoon when I got locked out of the new apartment, not long after moving in, and had no spare key, no money, no wallet, no phone.  He let me use his cell phone and phone book to call the property management company, lent me $20 for a cab to go retrieve a spare key, and even came out to the curb to hail a cab for me.  He'll always have a place in my heart because of that.

{Both photos from the article.}

Tradeoffs

{photo via}

Having worked at Google for almost a month now, I feel qualified to state the advantages and disadvantages to working in Mountain View versus San Francisco.  Working outside of San Francisco was always a sticking point for me whenever I was offered a project on the Peninsula or in Silicon Valley--we only have the one car now, and I loathe driving anyway.  I'm not a good commuter.  I have a touch of road rage.  Not to mention the environmental consequences of driving that much each day.

I doubt I'd have accepted the Google gig had it not been for the shuttle.  Every morning and evening, I board a posh tour bus, settle in with my book, laptop, or iPod, and get about an hour of downtime while traveling on the 101.  The ride can seem lightning-fast if I have something good to distract me.  When I don't, and when the driver punctuates the journey by slamming on the brakes, the ride eeks by while I look around for a barf bag.

There are things I unequivocally love about Google:  the (free, abundant, high quality, delicious) food and snacks; the bikes we use to get around campus; the weekly happy hours; the laid back work environment; the type of people who work here; and the great gyms.  Often when I'm riding between buildings, especially on a cool morning like we had today, I feel like I could be back in college at NAU--a strange but ultimately nice feeling.

The one obvious drawback to all of this is that I'm not in San Francisco.  I suppose I'd been taking working in the Financial District for granted these past two years.  No matter where I was working, I was within a stone's throw of tons of great restaurants, coffee shops, drug stores, boutiques, parks, and mass transit options.  That, in hindsight, was really nice.

Now, at Google, I have most of what I need at any given moment, but not all.  I can't casually stroll across the street to Walgreen's if I need something (even if it's more of a want--like a trashy celebrity magazine).  If I ever wanted or needed to leave early, I'm not sure how I'd get home, short of imposing upon a coworker to drive me back to the city (my shuttle doesn't leave until 4:45 pm).  And I can't take care of errands or go to appointments during the day anymore.  This definitely saves money, but isn't necessarily an efficient use of my time (and you know efficiency is always at the top of my list...that's the Shira way).

For now, Google still comes out on top and I'm quite pleased to be working here.  But now when I'm in San Francisco, I feel even more grateful to live in and experience all that it offers.

New Favorite Sub Shop

If you know me (and my sisters), you know that we're fairly obsessed with subs.

This past weekend, I had a particularly strong hankering for one.  My craving was not satisfied on Saturday, so on Sunday, in the midst of an epic walk from our place in Bernal Heights to Union Square (~6 miles when all was said and done), we were on the lookout for a sub shop.

As luck would have it, we found Miller's East Coast Deli on Polk Street.  And boy, did it satisfy my craving.

{Not the best pic of me, but you get an idea of the sandwich.}

I got a roast beef sub on a hoagie roll.  The roast beef was house-cooked and the roll was super soft and buttery.  Fixings included dill havarti, shredded lettuce, onions, tomatoes, mustard, and mayonnaise.  A nice big pickle came on the side, along with coleslaw.

Cole got half a tuna sandwich with potato salad and a cup of borscht.  Yum!

The sub was so huge--it could easily be shared by two people.  This is definitely a place I'd take visitors to.

Fit for a Picnic

A recent sunny, gorgeous Sunday afternoon saw us planning a picnic at Crissy Field, to be followed by a raucous hour of trampoline jumping at the nearby House of Air.

Samantha and I (OK, really just Samantha) dreamed up the perfect sandwich for this outing:  crusty country bread, topped with triple cream brie, fig spread, fresh arugula, and pear slices.

They were phenomenal, to say the least (and looked cute to boot, wrapped in wax paper with festive tape).  We enjoyed our sandwiches in the sun with some country olives, kumquats, and a delicious trail mix.  Little did we know we'd need every ounce of this sustenance to carry us through the energy-sapping (but ridiculously fun) experience that is trampoline jumping.

We'd brought Cole's hula hoop and she took a few turns with it.  Then, fatefully, so did I.  As a result, I lost my wedding ring, but about 24 hours later, with the aid of the Bay Area's premiere father-daughter metal detecting team, I recovered it.  Whew.

What's your favorite picnic food?  And your favorite spot?  Crissy Field is pretty much perfect--plenty of soft grass for a picnic blanket, the beach for walking, and an unparalleled view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Room With a View

Whenever I need a break or a cup of coffee (or both), I'm treated to views from Alcatraz to Treasure Island.  The bay looks especially beautiful in the morning--wish these photos did it justice.

{Alcatraz, off to the right of the black building on the left}

{Treasure Island and the Piers}

{Looking down at Jackson Square}

{Looking down at Davis Street...this gives me the willies!}

*Apologies for the streaks on the windows (it's been real rainy here) and the not so great photo quality--I had to surreptitiously take these with my iPod touch.

A Slice of My Day

24th & Mission BART Station, where I wait for the 67-Bernal Heights bus every afternoon.  The 67 usually arrives at the stop about 10 minutes early and the driver takes a break.  During this time all of the regular riders loiter around different parts of the bus stop, trying to predict exactly where the bus will pull up in order to be the first on.  I stand back and watch the old ladies almost run each other down as they board the bus with their carts and grocery bags.

Directly across the street is a McDonald's, one half of which is painted with a dazzling mural.  Guess what?  Not once have I buckled under the waft of french fries and dashed across the way to purchase a fried treat.  But I'm not saying it will never happen.

Down the way from the stop is Carlo's Bar, out of which mariachi music pours.  Sometimes you'll see regulars gathered outside smoking and exchanging stories.

No lack of characters in this neck of the woods.

My 'Hood

{flyer for show}

As a more intimate, neighborhood-focused follow up to the big ilivehere: sf show, a gallery in the Excelsior is hosting a show for the ilivehere: sfers who shared stories from Bernal Heights, the Excelsior, Glen Park, and more.

I'm really looking forward to meeting some maybe-neighbors who also participated in this project!

{photos courtesy of Julie}

Twin Peaks

Today on the way out of town, we took a scenic route through the city, up and over Twin Peaks.  We've only gone this way a few times, and never all the way up to the top before, so today we stopped.  Wow!  The views are amazing.  I'm used to the splendorous 360-degree views from Bernal Hill, and these were just as good, but a welcome change of perspective.  It was cloudy, and I can only imagine how beautiful it is on a sunny day.

We could see all the way to the bay looking down Market (the large street you can see above).  You can actually just make out the spire of the Ferry Building at the end of Market.

It's wildflower season on all SF hills, Twin Peaks included.  I also saw wild poppies in both yellow and orange.

Remedy for a cloudy day?  A red fedora, of course.

Who knew there was a reservoir on top of Twin Peaks?  I sure didn't.  All of these "hills" are a lot more formidable (and developed) than I thought.

My New Favorite Theater

{image via}

Cole's dad was in town on Friday night and we took him to the historic Castro Theater, a place we'd been wanting to see a movie since we moved here!  It did not disappoint.  While waiting in front of the theater for the doors to open, we had time to admire all of the fabulous original tilework on the walls and ceiling.  Entering the theater itself (which was built in 1922) was awesome--there's an old school concession stand right as you walk in, and the auditorium is much larger than you'd expect, with decorative touches everywhere.  We were there to see my absolute favorite Hitchcock movie of all time, Rear Window, which made the experience even more perfect in my eyes. 

At this theater, instead of being forced to sit through the moronic ads that modern theaters play before the movie starts, moviegoers are treated to the musical stylings of a very talented organist.  The Wurlitzer organ rises up out of the stage in a way that was probably quite dramatic when it debuted.  The organist played some of the songs from Rear Window, which was very cool.  And then the lights dimmed, the red velvet curtains drew back, and the movie started.  No shameless promotion, no nothing.  It was lovely.

It was AWESOME to see this movie on the big screen and with a large audience.  They were showing it as part of a Grace Kelly film festival, and I wish we could have seen more.  It seems like the Castro shows a good mix of old and new films, so I plan to go back next time I need an old movie fix.

Livability

Not just any quote makes our chalkboard in the kitchen, but this one did.  This came from a contest that SFMTA held to define livability in six words or less.

I really like the winner; hence, my ensconcing it in colored chalk in our kitchen.  In fact, I think this six-word definition is pretty brilliant and perfectly describes San Francisco livability:

--accessible places = pretty damn good mass transit, bike culture, entirely walkable city
--natural spaces = tons of parks (including Golden Gate), beaches, woods, hills, community gardens
--minimal traces = SF's landmark laws regarding mandatory composting, green building, energy conservation

How would you define livability in your neck of the woods?

We're Big in France

On the day that Judge Walker overturned Prop. 8, Cole and I took part in the rally in the Castro and the march to City Hall on that foggy evening.  After standing at City Hall for awhile, we sat down on a ledge right in front of the building to listen to the speakers.  At one point a photographer caught us kissing and started taking pictures of us, which made us laugh.  He was from the French-American press and asked how we felt about the ruling.

Anyway, I'd kind of forgotten about it until Cole found the photo this morning.

That photo reminds me of how great it felt to be celebrating after the ruling.  I just hope that in a few months we get further reason to celebrate from the Ninth Circuit, and then a final reason to celebrate from the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the meantime, I will keep kissing my wife, in front of City Hall and elsewhere.

Everything Will Be Okay

I saw this last weekend on Divisidero and had to believe that the city was sending me a message...

Deliciously Defunct

I just stumbled upon these photos of the soon-to-be-demolished Transbay Terminal.  I've never been in the building, although I was once outside of it last year when I accidentally forgot to get off the bus at my stop because I was too engrossed in my book.  These photos make it clear that I need to go check out the TT in person before it bites the dust this month.

For a good article on the history of the TT, check this out.

ilivehere:sf

I participated in this project.  Because if there's one thing that inspires me, it's living in this city.  And reading the stories of other people who live here and are similarly inspired.

Julie, the photographer and creator of the project/site, is having a gallery show in November that will feature 100 of the portraits taken over the course of the project.  From what she told me, it sounds like it'll be awesome.  I can't wait to meet more of the participants.

Adventures of a Chair

This is what happens when you lug a wooden beach chair into the BART station, through the mall to get takeout, up to Union Square to see an outdoor movie, and then back onto BART.

{Sam at the Glen Park BART station}

{Me at Powell Station}

I mean, if you've got a chair with you, why not take a load off while waiting for your train?

The outdoor movie was Dirty Dancing, by the way.  The St. Francis looked beautiful behind the movie screen.  I fought for our right to sit in our chairs, getting into a tussle with a girl who claimed we were blocking her family's view even though we were there first and they deliberately seated themselves behind us.  

After the movie we were punch drunk.  Maybe it was the (totally overpriced) Ghiradelli hot chocolate...but just the sight of these chairs cracked us up.

{Sam on BART but sitting in her own chair} 

There's just something so hilarious about that.  Maybe you had to be there...

The San Francisco Zoo

Two weekends ago, we checked out the SF Zoo.  Karie, Sam, and I actually chose this activity over shopping.  I know, shocking, right?

Yes.

This is truly even more shocking if you know me.  I am not a zoo person, an animal person, or a pet person (blame my allergies for that one).  While I have a soft spot for my owl collection, these guys, and the occasional narwhal, generally I remain nonplussed by the animal kingdom (although I do love me a good nature documentary).  I've been to plenty of zoos in my time, but going to the zoo would never be at the top of my list of things to do.

Unless, of course, that zoo is rumored to be rather defunct and decrepit.  Then, bring it on!

We were in the car heading to lunch at Nopalito when I floated the zoo idea.  Sam immediately brought out her Droid and began regaling us with tales of the SF Zoo's history.  In 1929, a man named Herbert Fleischhacker opened the zoo adjacent to the Fleischhacker Pool, which at the time was the country's largest swimming pool.  It was so large that lifeguards used kayaks to patrol it.

Although the zoo parking lot now takes up the space that the pool used to occupy, the poolhouse  still stands at the edge of the parking lot.  You have no idea how badly I want to get into that building to have a look around.  Especially when the Fleischhacker Pool Wikipedia entry warns that it is "currently derelict and occupied by the homeless."  Let me in!

{Fleischhacker Poolhouse}

Onto the zoo itself now.  I'll keep my commentary short and let my photos speak for themselves, but in general I liked the zoo's mix of old and new.  Initially I was concerned that it wasn't going to be defunct enough for me, but it turned out that most of the newer, gussied-up exhibits are towards the front.  The deeper you go into the zoo, the more likely it is that you'll see old, crumbling, empty concrete exhibits, overgrown foliage, and signs advertising abandoned animal houses.  You could say that my spirits improved considerably the farther we delved into the zoo.

{Sam, Karie, and Cole with a majestic giraffe posing in the background}

Before I discuss the awesome defunct buildings and exhibits we saw, let me say a few words about the live animal exhibits that we thought were cool.  First, the whole African area at the front of the zoo is pretty amazing and very beautiful.  Second, all four of us loved the gorilla family--four adult gorillas and one baby.  The baby bounded around, playing, swinging, and doing somersaults.  The adults lazed about in the grass, or in this guy's case, directly on top of an uncomfortable-looking stump:

We also liked the kangaroos, wallabees, polar bears, and penguins.  The most sad exhibit involved a lonely seal in a very outdated concrete pen.  I'm actually glad that I don't have a photo to remind me of that.

{A slightly dilapidated building within the zoo.  I'm not sure what it's used for.}

Onto the Pachyderm House, easily the most fascinating and rundown portion of the zoo.  This is a big, Art Deco building that appears to be empty now but used to house the elephants.  In fact, as we wandered around its perimeter (while I tried the doors in an attempt to find a way inside), Cole remembered visiting it as a kid when it still housed elephants.  That is just really cool.

After trying one of the big, faded red locked doors, Sam and I braved some overgrown foliage to peek into the windows of the Pachyderm house.  Here's what we saw.

This is just a portion of the enormous space inside the Pachyderm house.  You can see a lot of discarded items as well as the big concrete spaces towards the back that probably used to hold elephants.  Right on the other side of those pens are some empty outdoor exhibits that probably functioned as the elephants' outside habitat.  Makes me wonder what the zoo is planning for these spaces.

Onto the Lion House.  This building is really dated (think 1930s design mixed with a lot of 1970s tile) but is still in use.  The lions and tigers prowl around in pretty small cages along the edge that connect to their outdoor habitat.

I really enjoyed this framed photo of Old George on the wall of the Lion House:

Sorry, but places just don't memorialize things like this anymore.  It's sad.

As we left the Pachyderm and Lion Houses, we started seeing more empty pens and exhibits like the ones in the collage below.

On our way out, I spied this sign on the side of the currently-closed South American Tropical Rainforest building:

Very cool.  In fact, quite a few of the exhibits were marked with WPA plaques.

All in all, it was a very fun and interesting afternoon.  I really enjoyed visiting a zoo with a sense of history.  The elephant and lion houses, as well as the bear grottos, have been around since the 1930s.  And the exhibits with moats around the edges were some of the first bar-less zoo exhibits in the country.

But the SF Zoo isn't completely mired in the past.  In 2006, it named a baby bald eagle after Stephen Colbert.  If that isn't awesome I don't know what is.

Closing the Loop

This weekend we kind of unintentionally checked the two remaining ice cream shops from the tour off of our list.  On Friday night, we walked through thick fog up the hill to Maggie Mudd for a scoop.  Cole and her friend Anne tried Moose Tracks (a chocolate/caramel/crunch concoction), Sam got Green Tea and I opted for Birthday Cake.

We were all impressed.  Sam's Green Tea ice cream had a nice, strong flavor to it.  My Birthday Cake made me think a lot of a Baskin Robbin's ice cream cake--which might be my favorite dessert in the whole world.  That frozen cake, that mint chocolate chip ice cream, that frozen icing...mmmm.

Even though it wasn't typical ice cream weather, we were glad to have braved the fog to visit Maggie Mudd.  This joint gets extra points for the larger than life ice cream cone statue on display in the front window.

Yesterday, we spontaneously decided to drive up to Stinson Beach.  It also happened to be perfect ice cream weather (sunny, not a cloud in the sky, a slight breeze, about 70 degrees) and we just happened to be driving right by Three Twins, so we stopped.  I was a bit disappointed that Lemon Cookie was not among the day's offerings.  All of the flavors had either been whipped up or renamed in honor of Pride weekend:  Pink Triangle, Hot Cookie (a bakery in the Castro), etc.  We tried the Hot Cookie, which was vanilla ice cream with large chunks of different kinds of cookie in it and it was fabulous.  Even better, in my estimation, was the Pink Triangle, a very dark chocolate ice cream with a hint of orange in it, complete with little triangle pieces of dark chocolate.  This flavor gives Swensen's Swiss Orange Chip a run for its money.

After visiting all five shops, I can confidently say that Humphry Slocombe's Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee still tops my list.  Coming in at a close second is the Pink Triangle from Three Twins, followed by Mitchell's Mexican Chocolate.  I sense a theme here...do you?

Oh, Humphry Slocombe...You're Too Much

This third and final installment of the ice cream tour saga continues with the journey from Bi-Rite to Humphry Slocombe, the shop that we were most excited to visit.  This was mostly due to the Food Network's coverage of it and rumblings I'd heard about town regarding its crazy flavors.

{An incredibly cool building we passed on the way to HS}

If you paid any attention at all to my Google map, you might be wondering what happened to our stop at Three Twins on Fillmore.  Well...just minutes into the tour, we started batting around the idea of axeing it because we weren't sure if our stomachs could handle FIVE ice cream shops in one afternoon.  After our scoops at Bi-Rite, it was clear that the only way we'd be able to try anything at Humphry Slocombe was if we saved Three Twins for another day.  {I will be stopping in to try their Lemon Cookie sooner rather than later, though, let me tell you.}

From its understated blue awning and facade, one would never guess that an entire world of  ice cream riches is contained within the modest walls of Humphry Slocombe.  It was overwhelming.  In a good way.  Kind of.

{Karie pre-ice cream.  That soup can behind her head was Fetal Kitten-flavored.}

Now, the flavors at this place were so outlandish that we had no qualms about trying a few before committing to anything.  Sam tried the Salt & Pepper and rejected it, describing its flavor as "sweaty."  I tried the Peanut Butter Curry and really liked it, which led Karie to order it as one of her scoops and then promptly become disgusted by it ("I feel like it should come with a side of chicken and rice," she groused).  Karie tried the Milk Chocolate Passion Fruit and enjoyed it enough to order that as her second scoop.  So at least she had one flavor she found edible.

{Possibly my favorite photo of the day}

By this time, Sam was actually pretty repulsed by ice cream in general, so she ordered a cookie, thinking it might settle her stomach.  WHAT?  As soon as it was in front of her she questioned the logic of her choice.  It was a dang good cookie, though.

I ordered two extremely tasty flavors:  Secret Breakfast (bourbon and cornflakes) and Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee.  Secret Breakfast, besides having possibly the best name ever, was really pleasing--definitely a hearty cornflake flavor with the sweet bite of bourbon.  But the Vietnamese Coffee, which had little bits of coffee grounds/beans in it, was my favorite flavor of the entire day.  It was creamy, sweet, and espresso-strong.  Looking back, I really enjoyed my flavors together too--I mean, what's better than coffee with cereal?

We did note that the Humphry Slocombe ice cream left a strange dairy coating on the roof of our mouths.  It dissipated after awhile, but we didn't like it.  We did like the fact that HS had a nice water dispenser with glasses right on the counter.  Water is a crucial part of any ice cream tour.

We left Humphry Slocombe a little overwhelmed by ice cream.  If we had been physically able, we would have tried some of the other insane flavors in the case:  Jesus Juice (wine and Coke), Basalmic Caramel ("vinegar, vinegar, vinegar!" the sign said), and Candied Ginger.  This place definitely wins the prize for the most imaginative flavors.

{Tracking our progress from the Mission into Bernal Heights}

After making the hike up Bernal Hill to Maggie Mudd, we decided we just could not take any more frozen concoctions.  To our credit, we did actually walk into Maggie Mudd, but after about five seconds we were out the door and headed home.

Stay tuned for another ice cream tour next time the three of us are here together.

Bi-Rite or Bust

The ice cream tour continues.  Here's part two of the saga: from Mitchell's to Bi-Rite Creamery; Noe Valley to the Mission.

The kid-sized scoops at Mitchell's whetted our appetites for more ice cream.  As you may have seen from my Google map, we headed up Guerrero to 18th in order to get to our second stop, Bi-Rite.  The walk up Guerrero was quite invigorating, as it gets pretty steep in places.  This street is also home to some amazing houses, such as these two beauties above.  They made us think of Disneyland--high praise when coming from a member of our Disney-obsessed family.

{Karie happily waiting in line outside Bi-Rite}

Now, Bi-Rite was the only shop on the tour that we'd been to before.  It has basically become the pinnacle of ice cream for us, so I had to include it.  Karie was dead set on getting her signature flavor, Salted Caramel, but I decided I needed to try a brand new flavor, so I got the Cherry Almond.  Sam chose Roasted Banana with a peanut brittle topping.

Consensus:  AMAZING ICE CREAM.  Not a surprise.  The Salted Caramel was as delicious as ever.  I loved the creaminess of the Cherry Almond, along with the frozen cherries inside.  Sam's concoction was to die for.

Stopping at our favorite ice cream shop was not a mistake.

Next:  we make our way through the Mission to Humphry Slocombe.