Lucky for us, we packed last night before we headed out to the casinos, so all we have to do is get dressed and check out. We all stumble, zombie-like, towards the lights and then the bathroom. We finally make it downstairs with all 5 bags and 3 Macs and head out into the early morning. I feel like putting on sunglasses, these Vegas lights are so freaking bright.
We get into the taxi and tell the driver that we are heading towards McCarran airport, United Airlines. There's silence as we drive those 15 minutes; I think we might even have fallen asleep.
Sometime last evening, before we left the Hard Rock for the Vegas strip, we saw about 50 random people dressed in 70s attire. We wondered at it for a few minutes, but had no real idea what they were doing, so we forgot.
This morning, one approaches me after we've checked in. "Hey, where are you going?" "Cali" I say to him, barely acknowledging the fact that he's spoken to me. It's 4-freaking-30 am. Leave me alone. "What part of Cali?" He continues to pester me. "San Fran" I reply, trying to give him the hint by my short answers. "Us, too!" Luckily for me, Walter walks up from finalizing his check-in. I look at the guys and cut them off, "See you on the flight."
We make it to the gate and we are deliriously tired, but mildly entertained by these 70s clad 20-somethings.
We proceed to file onto the plane, promptly falling asleep before we even hit the runway.
We come off the plane and our bags get there just as we are walking up. I swear, I think that we are the only people who checked any bags. The 70s crew just went overnight, so they had nothing. But there is nobody standing by the carousel and no other bags in sight. St
range.
Susie, the freaking awesome lady who we are staying with in San Fran, pulls up to the curb and we pile our bags into her Camry. How the heck she got all of them into that trunk, I don't know - it's much bigger than I could have imagined.
We settle into the car, trying not to fall asleep as we talk to her. She's so nice, so friendly, and so hospitable. We drive to Chrissy Park, which has an incredible view of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. We take a few photos and march back to the car, ready to head home to an early morning nap. We stop at a Romanesque affair that was built for the Worlds Fair sometime in the early 1900s. I'm utterly intrigued by the ladies upon the top. There are these box structures, which are surrounded by 4 women each at the corners. The women are peering into the boxes, with their hands at their temples. Walt muses that they appear to be freaking out at whatever they are looking at. I make a mental note to check out this intentional design later. It's fascinating to me.
** I just looked this up, to find out this:
"There were ochre columns, topped by boxes, mixed with pale green ones. The boxes were originally meant to house small trees and hanging vines, but these were not planted for budgetary reasons. At each corner of the boxes stood statues of women looking inwards, sculpted by Ulric Ellerhusen. They were meant to represent the melancholy of life without art. The colonnades stood along the side of the lagoon, as can be seen in the second image, with the reflection of the tranquil water adding a pleasant element."
This meaning and symbolism is magnificent. I love it.
We finally make it back to the 3 bed/2 bath apartment that they live in. My mouth hits the floor: this place is GORGEOUS. We walk into the living room and the dining room, which have amazing and sizable windows that look out on both the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, where we are planning to go later today. Susie, sweet as she is, makes us at home and asks us to treat her home as our own. I wish she was my second mom, even though my real mom kicks ass. (That's a shout out to my moms, even though she'll be mad I cursed...)
We all 3 settle down in our new and temporary bedrooms for a 2 hour nap. Susie leaves to pick up Tiff from the airport, and we all take showers.
I hear Tiff a few minutes before I see her. "Thank you, Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" I hear her exclaim. I know, from an experience with heavy luggage and the stairs earlier today, that some random stranger is helping her lug her huge suitcase up the stairs. I run to the door as Susie opens it and give Tiff a huge, heartfelt hug. She's so cute. She's telling me how the man outside winks at her and says, "Chivalry is not dead!" as he pulls her bag up the stairs to the door. What a sweetheart.
We eat delicious bean soup for lunch with Susie. "A 2 hour nap, a shower, and this freaking soup, and I feel like a brand new woman." I say to the crew in the kitchen. Tiff has nicknamed us MWTJ until Leslie arrives, upon which we will morph into MWJLT. She says we can be a sandwich. She makes me smile.
We leave to tour Alcatraz - all of us are stoked to see this infamous prison. Walt and Mel continually quote Sean Connery from "The Rock" regarding Alcatrez, which then transforms into quoting him from Indiana Jones. They are cracking themselves up with their Irish accents. We arrive on the Island and take a tour of the buildings: the warden's home, the guard's locations (we find out some of them live there with their families, which is unbelievable...), the cells, the rec area, etc. The place is absolutely fascinating. Everyone does the audio tour, which tells of Al Capone, "The Birdman" and "Machine Gun" Kelly. Walter laughs that Al Capone was finally brought in for Insurance Evasion, as he was able to avoid being associated with other crimes he was overseeing.
We leave Alcatraz after about 2 hours and head into Ghiradelli Square. I love this place, and immediately remember my sacrifice for Lent: Desserts. It's bittersweet, because it's a tribute, but I adore Ghiradelli and I have to avoid the free samples. But it's worth it, entirely.
I forgot to mention we finally had an In-N-Out Burger near Fisherman's Wharf. The burgers are decent, but the fries are certainly overrated.
We head back to Susie's house and are now sitting around her beautiful and homey living room, chatting about her trip to London, blogging, photos, etc. Tonight is going to be a chill night, because none of us got more than 5 hours of sleep last night. Leslie comes in around 10 tonight and I'm excited to see her.
Tomorrow promises to be fun, seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, and various other San Fran favorites.
- Jeanne
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