We spent a long weekend in California last week - visiting both San Francisco and the Napa Valley area. It was a much needed respite and a great time with friends.
Our first day was spent in San Francisco and, while I had hoped to do a little more sightseeing, the day got away from me due to work so I only had a little time before dinner to enjoy the day. The first stop for me was Chinatown. Last time we were in San Francisco, we spent a little time in this area, but really did not concentrate much on it. It was late afternoon, I was hungry, and I was determined to eat some good Chinese food.
I wandered through the streets of Chinatown, enjoying the sights and sounds and stopping into a few stores. Interestingly, several stores were sensitive to cameras and would not allow pictures to be taken. In particular, there was an entire store of what looked like variations of ginger root and other assortments that I was interested in. But, as soon as the camera came out, I was chastised…so I left.
Searching for that perfect place to get a late lunch, I ran across several options. There were tea shops (both regular and bubble tea), food stands, and other traditional looking restaurants with many tourists enjoying a bite. The options that I went for, however, was the least visually appealing one that I could find. In fact, it was the one with large glazed birds in the window that apparently had done a great job driving away tourists, since I was the only one there.
Despite the lack of tourists, however, the place was plenty crowded. I walked in and was immediately draw to two large tables, filled with plates of prepared food, located near a food preparation counter. There was a woman sitting nearby as well who appeared to be “guarding” the food in some fashion. I could not figure it out. Although I was curious to find out the meaning behind this, I went ahead and sat down to order my meal. I grabbed a seat near the back of the restaurant, to get the best people-watching vantage. Observing this large display of food and seeing people come in and out of the restaurant, I had a sudden “ah ha” moment…it was a version of take out! The premise, however, is that each portion is served on a regular plate, so that when the to-go patron comes in, they pick the plate they want and go to the service counter where it is put in a to-go box and bagged up. Interesting! I don’t know why it took me so long to figure out, but well, it did.
Once this mystery was solved, I was free to observe the other patrons of the restaurant. One table that I enjoyed, in particular, was a table of 6 or 7 old men sitting near me. They were doing nothing much…sitting around, some casually eating a bite, some drinking tea, others drinking beer…some reading the newspaper, others staring into space. Occasionally they would say a word to each other, which would strike a brief conversation, but this would end quickly and each would return back to their own doings. I was amazed. It was apparent that these old men had been coming to this restaurant for such a long time and were so comfortable with each other’s presence, that it was just habit to be there reading the newspaper, drinking a beer, and not talking. I both found comfort in these actions and felt sad as well. I am certain that these old men were not sad or resentful of being there. Nor did they seem resentful that they were not talking, but it did make me want to get together with a group of my best girlfiends and spend time…only we would be talking, all as one group, to share everything that is current in our lives. I left Chinatown, excited for the upcoming weekend with good friends and more adventures to come.
After Chinatown, I walked along the Embarcadero, past several piers and watching the trolley cars until I met up with Kyle. From there, we decided to hit the Castro District, which is a predominantly gay neighborhood of San Francisco. We didn’t do much, but walk along the streets and enjoyed the livliness of the area and its distict flair and pride of its residents.
We didn’t have much time in San Francisco on this visit, but I enjoyed the hours that I did spend. Our last visit was much more focused on Alcatraz, Haight-Ashbury and the Golden Gate Park. This was a relaxing break from the touristy areas, but also allowed us an opportunity to explore some great areas in a city that is full of culture. I’ll continue soon our Napa/Sonoma part of the trip…pictures galore!
PS - I just re-read my post and realized I didn’t say much about the food! Imagine that! I did enjoy my meal in Chinatown (BBQ pork and white rice) although I do wish I had gone with the beef and vegetables since the next table was enjoying it so much! We had a great dinner that night at really cool place, so I’ll dig up the pictures and share soon as well.
Posted on June 24th, 2008 by katiejocannon
Filed under: Food, Travel
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