Monday, December 10, 2007

I HEART SEALIONS

MY FAVORITE PART OF SAN FRANCISCO...besides the sour dough bread, the steamed crab, the hot chowder...



While I was in San Francisco I discovered THIS ONLINE
I met Martha O'Connor the author of Bitch Posse and had lunch. Jersy Boys was incredible. And I discovered that going to art museums can trigger masses of creativity. Try it sometime.
So does walking up long steep hills. When your vision fades and things go a bit black -it's almost like a hallucination caused by extreme exhaustion.
It can mimic brainstorms...
oh yeah...
and it's cold.
Very.
Very.
Cold.

22 comments:

Tyhitia Green said...

I have always wanted to visit San Francisco, well California period. I will----eventually. :*) Have fun and be safe! :*)

Gina Black said...

I love sea lions too. I grew up on the outskirts of SF and have a lovely blur of memories from my childhood that includes cable cars, downstairs Chinese food, an up-a-hill Ukranian bakery (where they always gave me a cookie), El Greco paintings, and tulips in Golden Gate park.

And, yes. It was always cold. Even in the summer.

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

That is very cool! I did a lot of research on San Fran for my book. One day I would like to actually get there!

Kanani said...

Ah, were you eating at Castagnola's at Fisherman's Wharf? I love watching those seals while it's cold outside and I'm inside eating clam chowder.

Melissa Amateis said...

Never been to San Francisco. When I was in California, I stayed in the LA area and didn't venture any further. Of course, I was only 15 at the time and chaperoned by dozens of parents from my high school classmates!

ORION said...

I'm BACK!!! and I'm warm now.
It's a unique city- if you are writing about it you should visit. The hills are something else and the cable cars too fun...I loved all the little restaurants- we ate Basque food. YUMMY!

Sustenance Scout said...

Yes, ello, you have to visit San Fracisco! It's a great city. Pat, love your note about practically blacking out while walking up those hills; funny I had a similar experience while shoveling this morning! K.

Val Cox said...

Love your post, thanks for the SF memories! Val

Aprilynne Pike said...

Cold!!! In SF?!?!?!?!?!

*grumbles in her 25 degree weather* Someone is very spoiled over there in Hawaii . . . .


;D Glad you had a great time.

Janet said...

Very, very cold? In San Francisco? Surely you jest. I think it's time you spent a few years in Edmonton, or something.

Martha O'Connor said...

Had a really great time! Pat is a doll! :) xo

Chris Eldin said...

Nice to see you back!

Brenda said...

Glad you had a good time, Pat! San Francisco is one of my favorite cities. My best friend lives in Berkeley, and when I visit, we always go to Fisherman's Wharf.

Michelle O'Neil said...

Everytime I go to the library I take out big heavy art books. Don't care what style, always something different. When I take a break from writing, I sit in a chair and look. Don't read the captions just look. I'm always refreshed and ready to write again.

Don't know what Bitch Posse is but I'm feelin' very bitch posse today.

Sandra Cormier said...

Oh, you HAVE to tell me all about the Basque food since my WIP includes a Basque freedom fighter. He picks up some food for them to eat and I'm trying to get some info about the cuisine. I can't afford to track down a restaurant in Toronto or I'd try some myself.

Cold is relative. When my hubby and I visited SF in June several years ago, it was sweater weather for us but the locals wore parkas!

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Ya gotta love that Lottery is right next to George Clooney in that link!

And I bet San Fran is warmer than Chicago right about now!

Holly Kennedy said...

Oooh, I saw those sealions myself when I was in San Francisco five years ago. I stood and listened to them for a good 15 mins! Amazing, aren't they? You lucky girl!!

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

Yes! I love the seals. What a great city. Enjoy.

writtenwyrdd said...

I lived in SF for twelve years, and the only time I would get to Fisherman's Wharf was when out of town guests came and we needed to do the touristy things for their benefit.

I hope you got to see the Asian Art Museum, the windmills and the buffalo in GG Park. And if you ever go back again, I highly recommend the diner by the Cliff House for breakfast and The Pacific Cafe for dinner. That's the best seafood place in town, IMO.

Still, if you want cold, go there in Summer when it's more humid and damp and the fog never leaves the Pacific side of town. I used to have 3 blankets on the bed, doubled over, and I still froze.

writtenwyrdd said...

PS, fyi to everyone: Nobody who lives there or is from California calls it San Fran or Frisco. It's The City or San Francisco. And I've also never heard anyone call California "Cali" that was from there, either! :)

Bookfool said...

Oh, that's a great photo. I'd love that, too. While you were in S.F. freezing, I was soaking up the warm breezes on Oahu. Ooooh, I love your home. I took 1500 photos, but some were bracketed to get the lighting right and that'll go down. The cardinals with the red heads . . . red-tufted? Red-crested? Love those little guys. I took loads of photos of them (and palm trees, sunsets, waves, surfers, blah blah blah).

Linda C. McCabe said...

Pat,
I wanted to apologize for not making it down to The City when you were there. It wound up being the weekend where my nine year old had his slumber party to celebrate his birthday that wound up being postponed a few times. It was therefore impossible to schedule in that kind of day trip which would have taken all day since San Francisco is a good hour and a half to two hour drive from Sonoma County.

It sounds like you had a wonderful time, I just wish I could have come down to meet you.

C'est la vie. I hope you got a chance to check out Tommy Joynt while you were there. It truly is my favorite haunt when I'm down there.

Linda