Thursday, August 25, 2005
Our first stop was in San Jose to visit with JP's sister. We then went to lunch in Campbell, CA at Sonoma Chicken Coop. I had Beef & Sausage Spaghettini, N had Skillet Chicken Carbonara and JP had the Tropical Chicken Salad. After lunch we drove to Los Gatos and windowed shopped in various stores. A purchase of a beautiful washable suede jacket capped our day. Prior to heading back to our final destination, we stopped at Cold Stone Creamery.

Friday, August 26, 2005
JP and I ran an errand prior to driving to the Bart. We were there early so we walked around the embarcadero and saw the many stores. We went to the Ferry Building and bought one piece of Scharffen Berger Gourmet Chocolate. We then had lunch with my client. She took us to Sam's Grill. It was an "old boys" type restaurant. You could tell that in the olden days it was socialized by men. I had the fired seafood platter and I tasted fried oysters, not a favorite at all.

After lunch we went back to the ferry building to catch the trolley to Pier 39. We went to the The Boudin Museum & Bakery Tour. Through a compelling array of historic photos, artifacts, and interactive exhibits, discover the history of Boudin, the events and personalities surrounding its origins, and the art and science behind our original San Francisco Sourdough. At the end of the self-guided tour, we were able to sample four different breads (traditional sourdough, asiago cheese, garlic and chocolate and raisin) with 3 different oils and mustard. I liked the Asiago cheese bread with the mustard the best.

Then we went to Ripley's Believe it or Not. Spanning two floor and 11 galleries, we saw hundreds of amazing artifacts, including a giant dinosaur made entirely of car bumpers and a genuine Jivaro shrunken torso from Ecuador. They had this one interactive section where people tried to put their tongue on their upper lip or twist their tongue in their mouth. At the end of the exhibit there was a one-way mirror where we saw people doing these acts. It was funny.

We had to meet JP's sister and sister-in-law uptown, so we waited on this long line for the trolley. Two trolleys pulled up and we were not able to get on. This limo drove by asking if we wanted to ride uptown (Market St) for $5. We passed on it, but later we decided if another limo drives by, we were going to take it. Well, the limo just stopped at the corner and came back and JP mentioned a location and he said no but changed his mind when no one else took him up on his offer. All in all, he took 13 people uptown in his limo.

We walked from the Ferry Building to Pier 39, passing the restaurant that I dined in when I was in SF the last time on a business trip. We tried to get into the Hard Rock Cafe, but we had a 15 minute wait. N and I saw another restaurant across the way that served the same items and had no wait. So we dined on burgers, pizzas and salads before going to the theater.

Menopause, The Musical (Theatre 39 at Pier 39) is a celebration of women who are on the brink of it, in the middle of or have survived The Changed. It was created to be a grassroots movement that deals with life after age 40 with all the challenges that result in the mental, physical and spiritual freedom of over 38 million baby boomer females. A joyful parody of 25 re-lyricized classic baby boomer hits of the 60s & 70s, the 90-minute show features such chart-toppers as "I Heard It Thru the Grapevine; You No Longer See 39" and the disco favorite "Stayin' Awake! Stayin' Awake!" The production culminates with a high-spirited invitation to the audience to celebrate on stage.

Saturday, August 27, 2005
Prior to leaving for San Francisco, I discovered that a co-worker was leaving the same day and same airline that I was taking to San Francisco. She was on a later flight so I didn't get to see her and her fiancé before I boarded my flight. We had made arrangements to meet up at the baseball game. That's right, we both flew all the way to San Francisco to see the Giants play the New York Mets. We had good seats where we could see into McCovey Cove and we sat in the shade throughout all the game. The Mets lost to the Giants but I didn't care because 3 seats away was a fellow NYer who just happens to be a NY Yankee fan and he was listening to the game and the Yankees won. After the 4th inning, JP and I went looking for a geocache (an altoid mint can filled with items that was located in section 142 in the ballpark) and also to find my co-worker at the game. We were successful in both our endeavors.

After the game, we went to the outlet mall and then to dinner at Chevys Fresh Mexican Restaurant. All in all we had a good day.

Sunday, August 28, 2005
Back home to New York. What I enjoyed most about my plane ride home was seeing the view of Coney Island down below. I knew my place was nearby. Then I saw the UA Theater, Canarsie Pier and the new Brooklyn mall. Ten minutes later, the plane landed at JFK Airport. I wondered if one of the passenger was trying to make a fashion statement - she was wearing just a slip (yep, a slip that you wear under a skirt) with a tank top.