The San Francisco Chronicles Day 4 - The Grand Finale

We have arrived at the final day of our California adventure. Originally, this day had been set aside to visit the Napa Valley but after our pathetic attempts at navigating parts unknown we decided to stick to what we knew and stay within the city limits of San Fran.

We had breakfast again at Mel’s Diner because it was close, reasonably priced and predictable. On our walk back to the hotel we decided to stop by Yerba Buena Gardens which we had passed by every day before. Since it was early, there weren’t many people around and it looked like a place for some good photo-ops. It had a magnificent fountain and the smell of the gardens was unbelievably sweet. We stopped for a while to watch a group of Chinese fan dancers. Not something you see every day in Spring Hill.

RubyDooby & Gator decided they would take the morning off and watch Little Ocho at the hotel so Handiman and I could see some sights on our own. We mapped out a plan, grabbed Hillary and took off. Our first stop?
The Painted Ladies! Better known to most as the houses behind the Tanner’s picnic during the opening of “Full House.” They are located beside Alamo Square which is a lovely, small park in a residential section of the city. And guess what else? There was a PLAYGROUND! Hallelujah and Amen. I insisted that we bring Ocho back later in the day and Handiman agreed. From there, we headed to 1709 Broderick St.
Better known as DJ Tanner’s House!!! Yes, my friends, I found it. This was the house used for the exterior shots on the show and you may remember it had a red door. For some reason, someone decided to paint it black, maybe to prevent stalkers like me from finding it. They obviously underestimated my stalking capabilities. I apologize for the lighting in the picture but this is actually someone’s house and we weren’t sure if they were home. We were also illegally parked so there wasn’t much time to adjust shading. We shot it and ran.

Since Handiman had accommodated my crazy demands I decided to let him pick the next stop. He voted for the Haight-Ashbury district. This is where the hippie movement of the 60’s was born and musicians like The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin originated. Apparently, he had watched some show on the History Channel that taught him all about it and he wanted to see it for himself. Driving through was like being transported back in time, therefore we didn't park. Wanna-be hippies were everywhere. Handiman wanted a picture of the intersection street sign to commemorate the occasion and since he was driving, guess who was put out in the middle of Hippie town? I tried to blend but I’m not sure I succeeded.

After completing my mission we headed towards our final destination, Chinatown. I knew it was famous and everyone who’s ever been to SF says you must walk through it to complete your experience. We walked down the main tourist block first and saw mainly people who looked like us buying authentic Chinese items made in Taiwan. This wasn’t good enough for HM so we went off the beaten path. Suddenly, it truly felt like we weren't in American anymore. We only walked a few blocks but it was very cool. We got a little bold and cut through a park where there were a bunch of elderly Chinese men reading newspapers and playing cards. We were the only Americans anywhere in the vicinity and I decided I needed to go back to my people. We took a few pictures and headed on our way.
I must point out that Handiman and I managed to see all of this in the span of 2 hours. We never got lost and we never had an argument. I’m just sayin.

We spent the afternoon back at Alamo Park so Ocho could finally play. We also finally took the picture I had been waiting for the entire time:

That night we had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and celebrated RubyDooby's Birthday. We left the next morning and had a pretty uneventful day traveling. There are only two things worth noting from that day. First, when RubyDooby returned the rental car (the one we didn’t have any paperwork for) it turned out to be the wrong car...again. It was registered under somebody else’s name. Also, RubyDooby got flagged by security at the airport for carrying a can of Vienna sausages in her purse. No. I am not kidding.

I will now take a moment to address a subject that I’m sure is on a lot of minds. You’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned the “circumstances” that might provoke awkward conversations with my daughter, like examples of lifestyles for which the city has become famous. (I’m trying not to use certain words and terminology because I don’t’ want this blog flagged on Google, so work with me). Well, I haven’t mentioned it because it was total non-issue. We saw nothing in the city that caused us concern. Nada. Zilch. It seemed no more obvious there than it does in downtown Nashville. The only time we were confronted with the issue was on our drive from the Zoo to Fisherman’s Wharf. We took a different route and traveled through many of the famous sections like Twin Peaks & Nob Hill. We eventually (and unintentionally) found ourselves in the Castro district, which is the place we knew to avoid (if you know what I mean). I must say it was pretty shocking for a small-town Christian conservative girl from the south. And I have cable. Ruby & I kept Ocho distracted so she never saw anything but I’ll tell you I got an eyeful. After a few blocks, it was over.

I would also add that the city was clean, the people were friendly and I never once felt frightened or uneasy, even on our walk to the hotel at night. The most unsettling part was the driving. You need to know where you're going and which lane your supposed to be in at all times or let's just say things won't go so well for you. Handiman did an amazing job and only got honked at once. He might have made a few illegal u-turns and there was that one instance where we were facing the opposite direction than the arrow on a one way street but we never got caught. That's what matters. And if by chance, a camera photographed our license plate? Well, that's not our problem thanks to the people at Avis. I do feel sorry though for the poor sap whose name was attached to the Big Blue Boat.

So all this is to say, if you ever have the chance to visit this city you must do it! I will never, ever forget it. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I will be forever grateful to my wonderful in-laws for taking us.

The End.