Monday, September 3, 2007 – The last day of vacation. As usual, it’s somewhat bittersweet. We’ve had a great time, but it’s also time to be heading back to the house, refreshed and with new ideas or approaches on who we are and what we want to do next. Eddie’s picked up a concept that we’re trying to employ – people don’t do great things, they just do a bunch of little things that add up to something great. Accordingly, we don’t need to be doing magnanimous ventures, we just have to figure out what the next step is.
For me, the next step is to get off the court appointed list. On Wednesday, when we return. First thing. That ought to free up some time to work on some other ventures we want to start, and it’s not turning enough money to justify the time expenditure anyhow. Not to mention the fact that it is absolutely soul-sucking and unsatisfying.
Julian (the lawyer from SF) picked us up for breakfast and, after figuring out that some places were closed for the holiday, we ended up going across the Golden Gate Bridge to Salisilito. Now, it’s an unusual set of events, but somehow we’ve ended up eating three different meals, on three different days, at the same little diner there. Not quite sure what the message is there, but it’s definitely an odd coincidence.
After puttering around with Julian for a bit and bonding with him more and more – you can’t help but enjoy his infectious smile and good-natured sense of humor, we went back and met up with Paul to tour “the Lower Haight and Valencia Street”. You may remember that Haight – Ashbury (which is an intersection there) was the birth of the “hippie movement” with all of its attendant issues.
Some of those issues still exist, but what you see now is a neighborhood that is on the cusp of gentrification. All over San Francisco there are incredible public facilities – women’s centers, parks, clinics, etc. – in the “lower Haight” they happen to have fantastic murals on them. They also have streets and alleys where murals are done by young artists (through a municipal program) on the side of the buildings. You see some pretty amazing things there.
The Haight is also known for its quirky shops. Although some were closed either because it was Monday or due to the holiday, the other thing you note is that they work on their own timetable – most didn’t open until noon. We spent the morning wandering in and out of them buying shiny things and other gew-gaws that we couldn’t live without. One herbal store had some really neat stuff – soaps, lotions, etc., and of course no trip would be complete without a stop at “Good Vibrations”, which originally started as a vibrator store geared to women. They didn’t have much that you couldn’t buy elsewhere, but they did have a very interesting display of vibrators that have been marketed since 1900. Only in San Francisco!
After we got back to the Castro, about 3 in the afternoon, Paul left us for the last time. He really is a nice guy, and we missed having him with us. Eddie’s parting gift to him was a book titled “How to Massage Your Cat.” This came after much good natured ribbing between Eddie and Paul about one love for and the other’s dislike of cats.
We went back through the Castro one more time, buying those things we’d seen that we couldn’t do without and collecting up other treasures that would barely fit in our already overstuffed bags.
For our last dinner, we decided to go back where we started, to Firewood. A sudden chill in the air sent us running for our jackets as we walked back up the street to our hotel to finish packing. The cab to the airport was coming at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday so that we’d be able to catch our 7:30 flight.
New Things We Learned On This Trip
a. San Francisco is a place where diversity is more than “tolerated”…it’s celebrated.
b. People in San Francisco aren’t interested in where you’re from or who your family is -- they’re interested in what you are now, and what you’ll be in the future.
c. Things that “get on our nerves”……”drive us crazy” don’t mean a thing to others..and when disclosed become quite humorous, i.e., undiscarded rubber bands from a newspaper (Eddie’s); double parked trucks (Paul’s); pigeons and Chinese drivers (Roberts); drivers talking on a cell phone (Larry’s).
d. When you’re around entrepreneurs, you tend to be more entrepreneurial in your thinking. The collective energy of the thought seems to lead you down different paths.
San Francisco is a great place, and I’m sure we’ll be back. Next time there’ll be things that we don’t have to do (i.e. actually step in the ocean to realize just how cold it is), and others we didn’t get to do that we’ll want to do (like actually go inside of some of the museum, rather than just looking at the outsides of them.) But for now, vacation’s over and it’s time to get back to work and start planning the next one.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Sunday, September 2 2007 - Hairrison Street Fair
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Especially on vacations, Sundays are intended to move a little slower. We were meeting up with Paul again, who had to be dragged out for brunch at a very nice place called 2223. I guess naming your restaurant after the address is something people in big cities do, mostly to suck in the tourist trade. Thus, we did brunch at 2223 Market Street, which was just around the corner from the hotel.
Eddie and I were early, so we wandered up and down the street a bit before we were to meet. Paul appeared freshly ironed and, as he put it, “dressed up pretty well for poor white trash.” We made plans for the day over breakfast and then separated to change clothes and make our way to the Hairrison (yes, they spelled it that way) Street Fair for the afternoon.
Hairrison Street Fair is like the better behaved younger brother of the Folsom Street Fair. They block off a section of the street and have various stages and bands, although some of the vendors are not what you’re used to seeing. I found it interesting that there were several vendors promoting STD testing, how to avoid or get off of Crystal Meth, and a housing project for drag queens with HIV / AIDS. Of course, there were all the usual beer sellers, etc. as well.
While there, we met Bruce and Greg again, our friends from St. Louis that we got to know on the first tour around the City. We whiled away the afternoon there people-watching. Ever notice how the first ones to whip off their shirts at something like that are usually the ones that OUGHT to stay fully clothed? Or that some people, older men especially, need the adult version of Gr-Animals to help them match clothing before they leave their house?
We left the fair at 5ish and met Julian, a SF lawyer who has escaped from the litigative life to pursue other endeavors, and went to dinner down on the Embarcadaro with him. Unlike lots of places with tourist food, there are really nice restaurants there and we ate at a great sidewalk café that had the advantage of letting you eat and people watch at the same time.
Julian then gave us his version of the tour around San Francisco, or at least some of the neighborhoods that we’d missed earlier. We stopped by his house for a drink and got to see what the inside of one of those beautiful restored places looks like. His building has four units and – something of a rarity in SF – a parking area underneath that covers goes under the entire building. Julian dropped us back at our B&B after we made plans to go to breakfast the next morning.
Especially on vacations, Sundays are intended to move a little slower. We were meeting up with Paul again, who had to be dragged out for brunch at a very nice place called 2223. I guess naming your restaurant after the address is something people in big cities do, mostly to suck in the tourist trade. Thus, we did brunch at 2223 Market Street, which was just around the corner from the hotel.
Eddie and I were early, so we wandered up and down the street a bit before we were to meet. Paul appeared freshly ironed and, as he put it, “dressed up pretty well for poor white trash.” We made plans for the day over breakfast and then separated to change clothes and make our way to the Hairrison (yes, they spelled it that way) Street Fair for the afternoon.
Hairrison Street Fair is like the better behaved younger brother of the Folsom Street Fair. They block off a section of the street and have various stages and bands, although some of the vendors are not what you’re used to seeing. I found it interesting that there were several vendors promoting STD testing, how to avoid or get off of Crystal Meth, and a housing project for drag queens with HIV / AIDS. Of course, there were all the usual beer sellers, etc. as well.
While there, we met Bruce and Greg again, our friends from St. Louis that we got to know on the first tour around the City. We whiled away the afternoon there people-watching. Ever notice how the first ones to whip off their shirts at something like that are usually the ones that OUGHT to stay fully clothed? Or that some people, older men especially, need the adult version of Gr-Animals to help them match clothing before they leave their house?
We left the fair at 5ish and met Julian, a SF lawyer who has escaped from the litigative life to pursue other endeavors, and went to dinner down on the Embarcadaro with him. Unlike lots of places with tourist food, there are really nice restaurants there and we ate at a great sidewalk café that had the advantage of letting you eat and people watch at the same time.
Julian then gave us his version of the tour around San Francisco, or at least some of the neighborhoods that we’d missed earlier. We stopped by his house for a drink and got to see what the inside of one of those beautiful restored places looks like. His building has four units and – something of a rarity in SF – a parking area underneath that covers goes under the entire building. Julian dropped us back at our B&B after we made plans to go to breakfast the next morning.
Saturday, September 1, 2007 - Touring the Castro
Saturday, September 1, 2007 -- This morning started at a slower pace again, which is what vacation is all about. Turns out we couldn’t have picked a better location to stay than the B&B we’re in. We are about as far away from Fisherman’s Wharf and the tourist areas as one can possibly get, which is fine. This is really more like a NY neighborhood in that the residential and commercial stuff is mixed, you can walk most anywhere and it’s all very convenient. What you can’t walk is accessible by public transportation.
We are less than 50 yards from the intersection of Market and Castro streets, which is “ground zero” for this part of SF. We walked a bit past that to a great little diner for breakfast and had something typically Californian – organic yogurt over fresh fruit with homemade granola. Being southern boys, of course, we also had bacon and eggs, too – no whomp biscuits this time!
The morning was spent doing a walking tour of the Castro called Cruisin’ the Castro. We were the only two on the tour, so got lots of individualized attention. Kathy, the owner of the business and guide, was a wealth of information on the neighborhood.
Turns out that the Castro has only been the center of gay and lesbian activity in San Francisco since 1967 – the “Summer of Love” (another event that occurred here, although in a different neighborhood), although there has always been a natural draw and respect for diversity. She attributes this all the way back to the gold rush, when so many young men (and some women) were traveling here in search of gold, free from the restrictions of family, government and church.
Much of the organization of the Castro is due to the work of one man – Harvey Milk – who was elected Supervisor of the City. Supervisors are like Aldermen – there are 7 or 9 and they are the liaisons between the neighborhoods and City Hall.
Harvey owned a camera shop in an adjacent neighborhood. At the time, the Castro was named after the local Catholic church and known as the “Most Holy Redeemer Parish”. It was also significantly empty, had cheap buildings and was ripe for renovation. He moved his camera shop over the hill to this neighborhood and within a couple of years 20,000 other gay businesses had moved in.
Harvey was apparently very charismatic. He was also a good businessman from New York – when they wouldn’t let him join the local business guild because he was gay, he started his own and called it the Castro Street Merchants, foreshadowing the name change for the neighborhood. Then he got a permit for a street fair, which made more money for the local businesses than any other fair ever had. The next morning, the other merchants were knocking on Harvey’s door wanting to join HIS guild and the Castro neighborhood was born.
Harvey was sadly assassinated along with Mayor Marconi by another Superintendent, who was a disgruntled cop named Dan White. The cop, incidentally, was convicted of manslaughter, served 5 years in jail and when he got out he found out that he had no friends and no one would hire him because Harvey and the Mayor were so well liked. He eventually committed suicide.
To get an idea of how important the Castro is to not just California, but to the entire United States, you have to recognize that it is only 44 square blocks with a permanent population of about 24,000 persons, of which roughly 80% are Gay, Lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.
San Francisco gay pride is the largest money maker in terms of street festivals in the United States. In California, incidentally second is the Rose Parade and Third is the Folsom Street Leather Fair another gay event that has a much more adult reputation.
OK, that’s enough history – there was lots more (it was a 2 hour tour), but I won’t bore you with the rest of it.
We met Greg, a professional friend of Eddie’s, for lunch at Catch, a seafood restaurant right around the corner. It’s great to be able to sit and eat outdoors here. Catch, incidentally, is located in the building where the AIDS quilt was started. Panels for the AIDS quilt are 3 ft. by 6 ft – the same size as a casket – Only one square is allowed for each individual who has died of this disease. When it was envisioned, the guy that started it had sewing machines available in the building for anyone who wanted to use them.
After lunch we went back for a nap, which was much appreciated, and ventured out for some shopping after that. Eddie found a great new watch.
While we were out, we stopped at a place called “Magnet”. This is a storefront business that is decorated much like a spa or hair salon. It’s a lot like going into the common room in a dormitory – there’s internet access, things to read, televisions, etc. One wall is all galvanized metal panels with magnetic letters like little kids learn to spell with. People put up messages – kind of like temporary graffiti.
The most important thing this facility does, though, is to distribute information regarding HIV / AIDS and other STD’s. You can get tested for HIV, Syphilis, gonorrhea and a number of other conditions there. If you have any of these conditions, they provide counseling and referrals to appropriate assistance locations. We got some great ideas to bring back to ALFA.
The rest of the evening was spent soaking up the atmosphere of Castro. It’s very much like a small village – complete with idiots, of course – but like the neighborhoods of New York and other cities is very self-contained. If you worked there, it’s easy to see how you wouldn’t necessarily have to leave the neighborhood for anything.
After dinner (and neither of us can remember where we ate) we decided to leave the neighborhood for a while so we went over to the Lone Star Bar on Harrison Street. We’d heard that this was (a) quieter than many of the dance bars in the Castro and (b) catered to a crowd more in our demographics. It was exactly that – a nice neighborhood pub, with some loud music inside, a nice heated patio out back, and the music at a volume that was tolerable to those who don’t have any desire to do further damage to their hearing. Of course….we were back to the hotel not much after midnight.
We are less than 50 yards from the intersection of Market and Castro streets, which is “ground zero” for this part of SF. We walked a bit past that to a great little diner for breakfast and had something typically Californian – organic yogurt over fresh fruit with homemade granola. Being southern boys, of course, we also had bacon and eggs, too – no whomp biscuits this time!
The morning was spent doing a walking tour of the Castro called Cruisin’ the Castro. We were the only two on the tour, so got lots of individualized attention. Kathy, the owner of the business and guide, was a wealth of information on the neighborhood.
Turns out that the Castro has only been the center of gay and lesbian activity in San Francisco since 1967 – the “Summer of Love” (another event that occurred here, although in a different neighborhood), although there has always been a natural draw and respect for diversity. She attributes this all the way back to the gold rush, when so many young men (and some women) were traveling here in search of gold, free from the restrictions of family, government and church.
Much of the organization of the Castro is due to the work of one man – Harvey Milk – who was elected Supervisor of the City. Supervisors are like Aldermen – there are 7 or 9 and they are the liaisons between the neighborhoods and City Hall.
Harvey owned a camera shop in an adjacent neighborhood. At the time, the Castro was named after the local Catholic church and known as the “Most Holy Redeemer Parish”. It was also significantly empty, had cheap buildings and was ripe for renovation. He moved his camera shop over the hill to this neighborhood and within a couple of years 20,000 other gay businesses had moved in.
Harvey was apparently very charismatic. He was also a good businessman from New York – when they wouldn’t let him join the local business guild because he was gay, he started his own and called it the Castro Street Merchants, foreshadowing the name change for the neighborhood. Then he got a permit for a street fair, which made more money for the local businesses than any other fair ever had. The next morning, the other merchants were knocking on Harvey’s door wanting to join HIS guild and the Castro neighborhood was born.
Harvey was sadly assassinated along with Mayor Marconi by another Superintendent, who was a disgruntled cop named Dan White. The cop, incidentally, was convicted of manslaughter, served 5 years in jail and when he got out he found out that he had no friends and no one would hire him because Harvey and the Mayor were so well liked. He eventually committed suicide.
To get an idea of how important the Castro is to not just California, but to the entire United States, you have to recognize that it is only 44 square blocks with a permanent population of about 24,000 persons, of which roughly 80% are Gay, Lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.
San Francisco gay pride is the largest money maker in terms of street festivals in the United States. In California, incidentally second is the Rose Parade and Third is the Folsom Street Leather Fair another gay event that has a much more adult reputation.
OK, that’s enough history – there was lots more (it was a 2 hour tour), but I won’t bore you with the rest of it.
We met Greg, a professional friend of Eddie’s, for lunch at Catch, a seafood restaurant right around the corner. It’s great to be able to sit and eat outdoors here. Catch, incidentally, is located in the building where the AIDS quilt was started. Panels for the AIDS quilt are 3 ft. by 6 ft – the same size as a casket – Only one square is allowed for each individual who has died of this disease. When it was envisioned, the guy that started it had sewing machines available in the building for anyone who wanted to use them.
After lunch we went back for a nap, which was much appreciated, and ventured out for some shopping after that. Eddie found a great new watch.
While we were out, we stopped at a place called “Magnet”. This is a storefront business that is decorated much like a spa or hair salon. It’s a lot like going into the common room in a dormitory – there’s internet access, things to read, televisions, etc. One wall is all galvanized metal panels with magnetic letters like little kids learn to spell with. People put up messages – kind of like temporary graffiti.
The most important thing this facility does, though, is to distribute information regarding HIV / AIDS and other STD’s. You can get tested for HIV, Syphilis, gonorrhea and a number of other conditions there. If you have any of these conditions, they provide counseling and referrals to appropriate assistance locations. We got some great ideas to bring back to ALFA.
The rest of the evening was spent soaking up the atmosphere of Castro. It’s very much like a small village – complete with idiots, of course – but like the neighborhoods of New York and other cities is very self-contained. If you worked there, it’s easy to see how you wouldn’t necessarily have to leave the neighborhood for anything.
After dinner (and neither of us can remember where we ate) we decided to leave the neighborhood for a while so we went over to the Lone Star Bar on Harrison Street. We’d heard that this was (a) quieter than many of the dance bars in the Castro and (b) catered to a crowd more in our demographics. It was exactly that – a nice neighborhood pub, with some loud music inside, a nice heated patio out back, and the music at a volume that was tolerable to those who don’t have any desire to do further damage to their hearing. Of course….we were back to the hotel not much after midnight.
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