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Things Learned on Bay Area Quest 2012
13 years ago
General
I didn't think I would take this trip. For about a month before, I was being very flaky. It wasn't until roughly five days before that I decided I was going. It wasn't until I entered San Francisco that I believed I was going. In all, I'm glad I made the jump. Here are a few of the things I learned.
1. I never lost my obsession with Lilo & Stitch. It has just lay dormant, waiting to be unleashed upon someone. I somehow forgot how much I loved the film (and that I apparently have over 75% of the lines memorized).
2. A proper living area should be filled with things to look at and notice, showing personality and interests.
3. Finding a parking place in San Francisco sucks. In related news, I took a crash course in parallel parking in tight spaces.
4. A car isn't needed to visit San Francisco. Walking and public transportation will do the trick. I also found, once again, my walking stamina is impressive.
5. Creative ice cream flavors done right are Wonderful. I recommend Humphry Slocombe to anyone who wants non-conventional ice cream with a kick. My personal favorite was a close race between peanut butter curry and butter beer. Their staple is Secret Breakfast which is bourbon and corn flakes (worth at least a taste).
6. Blue Bottle Coffee poured coffee on a few scoops of ice cream and it was the Tastiest Thing Ever...until it was overshadowed by Humphry Slocombe a few hours later. (Humphry Slocombe also has a Blue Bottle Coffee flavor, I believe)
7. I never thought a Sushirrito (sushi + burrito) would be so good. It's pretty much a whole sushi roll served to you, but with more materials inside. My Cali Loco with fried cream cheese at it's center was lovely.
8. If you drink and like cocktails, SingleBarrel in San Jose is the place you need to visit. I have never had a more pleasant experience at a bar. Our server made cocktail mixing look like a dance, adding a bit of Bill-Nye explanation flair to any drink served. Plus, all the drinks were fantastic (Blood & Sand, Monarch, and the Hotel Pillow Flip).
9. The Winchester Mansion does not look at scary without blurry film work, crooked camera angles, and a weird narrator...but still a cool stop. If I'm ever a tour guide, it'd be worthwhile for making dumb jokes alone. :3
10. Out of left field plans can be nice. At the last second, decided to stop by Furries in the Wild 2 in Oakland. Met a lot of peeps briefly and had a good time overall. Don't know if I'll remember them all (or they will remember me), but connected to as many via Twitter as I could. Strangely enough I was the only furry from Wyoming there.
11. All Dogs Go to Heaven is a hilariously odd movie and, apparently, the only thing I remembered about it was the characters' names. Considering how little I remembered, I'm not sure I even watched it as a kid. (Heck, I remembered at least /pieces/ of Rock a Doodle Do.)
12. I would totally watch another sequel of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure if both Keanu Reeves and Fred Winters came back.
13. Otters are still the bestest.
14. Absinthe is not meant to be swigged.
15. It's impressive how much distance (joke-wise) a couple of furries can get out of a drink called The Knot.
16. Good friends can turn any vacation from "good" to "brilliant"
17. The trip back from vacation is Much Longer than the trip there. I am definitely either taking someone with me or splitting the trip into two days next time.
18. Elko, Nevada smells like a gas station restroom.
19. Takes a long time to walk over and back on the Golden Gate Bridge (which apparently is held up by gorillas and elephants...)
In closing, I have to thank Julian, my non-furry friend, for contributing his endless knowledge of San Francisco locations to led me about and told me all the information in-between. I also have to thank Farallon Otter for letting me couch-crash and his general awesome nice-ness. It wouldn't have been half as nice a trip without them.
And now I'm gonna slump over.
1. I never lost my obsession with Lilo & Stitch. It has just lay dormant, waiting to be unleashed upon someone. I somehow forgot how much I loved the film (and that I apparently have over 75% of the lines memorized).
2. A proper living area should be filled with things to look at and notice, showing personality and interests.
3. Finding a parking place in San Francisco sucks. In related news, I took a crash course in parallel parking in tight spaces.
4. A car isn't needed to visit San Francisco. Walking and public transportation will do the trick. I also found, once again, my walking stamina is impressive.
5. Creative ice cream flavors done right are Wonderful. I recommend Humphry Slocombe to anyone who wants non-conventional ice cream with a kick. My personal favorite was a close race between peanut butter curry and butter beer. Their staple is Secret Breakfast which is bourbon and corn flakes (worth at least a taste).
6. Blue Bottle Coffee poured coffee on a few scoops of ice cream and it was the Tastiest Thing Ever...until it was overshadowed by Humphry Slocombe a few hours later. (Humphry Slocombe also has a Blue Bottle Coffee flavor, I believe)
7. I never thought a Sushirrito (sushi + burrito) would be so good. It's pretty much a whole sushi roll served to you, but with more materials inside. My Cali Loco with fried cream cheese at it's center was lovely.
8. If you drink and like cocktails, SingleBarrel in San Jose is the place you need to visit. I have never had a more pleasant experience at a bar. Our server made cocktail mixing look like a dance, adding a bit of Bill-Nye explanation flair to any drink served. Plus, all the drinks were fantastic (Blood & Sand, Monarch, and the Hotel Pillow Flip).
9. The Winchester Mansion does not look at scary without blurry film work, crooked camera angles, and a weird narrator...but still a cool stop. If I'm ever a tour guide, it'd be worthwhile for making dumb jokes alone. :3
10. Out of left field plans can be nice. At the last second, decided to stop by Furries in the Wild 2 in Oakland. Met a lot of peeps briefly and had a good time overall. Don't know if I'll remember them all (or they will remember me), but connected to as many via Twitter as I could. Strangely enough I was the only furry from Wyoming there.
11. All Dogs Go to Heaven is a hilariously odd movie and, apparently, the only thing I remembered about it was the characters' names. Considering how little I remembered, I'm not sure I even watched it as a kid. (Heck, I remembered at least /pieces/ of Rock a Doodle Do.)
12. I would totally watch another sequel of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure if both Keanu Reeves and Fred Winters came back.
13. Otters are still the bestest.
14. Absinthe is not meant to be swigged.
15. It's impressive how much distance (joke-wise) a couple of furries can get out of a drink called The Knot.
16. Good friends can turn any vacation from "good" to "brilliant"
17. The trip back from vacation is Much Longer than the trip there. I am definitely either taking someone with me or splitting the trip into two days next time.
18. Elko, Nevada smells like a gas station restroom.
19. Takes a long time to walk over and back on the Golden Gate Bridge (which apparently is held up by gorillas and elephants...)
In closing, I have to thank Julian, my non-furry friend, for contributing his endless knowledge of San Francisco locations to led me about and told me all the information in-between. I also have to thank Farallon Otter for letting me couch-crash and his general awesome nice-ness. It wouldn't have been half as nice a trip without them.
And now I'm gonna slump over.
8. May we schedule a meet-up there now?
But I'd totally be down with doing it again with some fursuiting thrown in. :3