
"The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco." | - Mark Twain |
California is beautiful! Sunny, warm, and soooo fabulous. That is, until you roll into San Francisco. Ready for our great shot of the Golden Gate Bridge? Check it out:

It’s oddly chilly in San Francisco during July. It’s not technically cold, but there’s a mist that sort of cools everything down the whole time. We were only there for two days this time, but we were told that this is pretty much the norm.
The drive into the city was surprisingly quick and painless. We were expecting a big hassle getting into town, especially since we were coming in via the Golden Gate Bridge, but much to our delight, the trip only took about 35 minutes. This gave us plenty of time to walk around, do some window shopping, and grab a quick burrito, all long before we even expected to be across the bridge.
We called Jenny’s cousin, Amy, who has an apartment in the city, to check in and see who was already in town for the wedding we’re all going to tomorrow. It turned out that we were pretty close to her apartment already, so we walked over there and hung out for a while before lunch. Jenny’s grandmother was taking all of the grandkids out to lunch, and since I’ve dated my way into that inner circle, I was invited, too. We went to a place called Modern Tea and it was pretty great. I won’t list the menu here, but I will say that I had some pretty off-the-hook polenta and some of the first tea of my life that I didn’t hate. That’s a medium to large-sized victory for San Francisco’s Modern Tea. Good work, team.
And OH boy! Japantown. Let me tell you about Japantown. It’s like other cities’ Chinatowns, but it’s all Japanese stuff, and that’s the only Asian stuff I’m really looking for. Gimme an issue of Famitsu Weekly and a Maneki Neko and I’m a happy guy.

Wait a minute. Maneki Neko? What’s that? Well, let me tell you. It’s something I’ve been trying to find for a long time, and Japantown finally delivered. Maneki Neko is a Japanese “lucky cat”. You’ve probably seen them at Sushi restaurants up by the front counter or the door. Legend has it that cats are super lucky, so it became customary to keep a ceramic cat, with one paw raised, by your door to welcome guests or customers and to bring good luck or money. Like most Japanese folklore, I discovered the Maneki Neko in a Nintendo game.
I think Jenny and I make some doggone lucky-lookin’ cats, don’t you?

We had a great time exploring Japantown with Jenny’s brothers Ted and Zachary, and Ben, Jenny’s soon-to-be cousin-in-law. Is there such a thing as a cousin-in-law? I’m not sure. Anyway, Ben and Ted tried some saki, and we all checked out about a zillion different shops. None of us had sushi, but we should have. Also, we saw someone throw a small log at a Catholic church in protest as we left Japantown. After the guy threw the log, he almost got hit by a car. I’m not lying.
On the night of day 7 of our great big trip, we all went to Pauline’s Pizza in San Francisco for Rob and Avery’s rehearsal dinner. Check out the view from the restaurant’s second story window:

And another shot of the nearby Levi Strauss mansion. I think that’s what it is, at least. Anyone know for sure?

And in the “only in San Francisco” category, once a month, a bunch of locals get on their bicycles and ride around several blocks in a loop to protest the war for oil.
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I can only assume this war has something to do with the war on terror, but it involves more bikes. And one guy was playing guitar while he rode. One of them flipped me off. Look closely.

This was an action-packed day in San Francisco. We got to meet up with a lot of Jenny’s family before dinner, and we spent all afternoon poking around the city. Lunch was great. Dinner was great. Everyone’s stoked for the wedding, which we’ll cover in the next post. Check back if you’re not whack.
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