Greetings from San Francisco Pride! - Page 2

JWBear · 06-25-2006, 10:33 PM

Day 3:

We spent most of Saturday morning lounging around the hotel room, just resting. For lunch, we went back to the Cove Café in the Castro. It was very busy, but the wait wasn’t bad. There were a number of woofy guys there!

After lunch, we went to the Civic Center to check out the smaller version of the pride festival that happens on the Saturday of Pride. We did a little shopping, and some ogling. Overall though, there wasn’t much happing, so we went back and lounged in the room for the rest of the afternoon.

(Gratuitous celebrity sighting: As we were entering the hotel, we saw Reichen
Lehmkuhl from The Amazing Race.)

We went up to John’s Grill on Ellis (near Union Square) for dinner. John’s Grill is a San Francisco landmark. It’s been in business since 1908. Dashiell Hammett was a regular there, and he made a favorite hangout for Sam Spade as well. The place reeks old San Francisco – dark wood paneling, turn of the century light fixtures, white tablecloths, Waiters in ties and those long white aprons tied at the waist. I had the Sam Spade – lamb chops, tomatoes and a baked potato. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. This place is a must visit if you are in the city!

After dinner, we strolled around nearby Union Square. A high fog was rolling in – obscuring the tops of the surrounding buildings and giving everything a magical glow. It made for a very romantic evening.

JWBear · 06-25-2006, 10:38 PM

Day 4:

Parade day! We left the room early in order to stake out a good place to see the parade. We walked a couple of blocks up Market and grabbed an empty section of curb… and waited… and waited. It took forever for the parade to reach us. First up, Dykes on Bikes. Hundreds of them. It took a good 10 minutes for them all to pass! Then… more waiting. The rest of the parade was another 10 minutes behind the dykes. I won’t describe the entire parade. It was over 3 hours long! There was a lot of eye candy though, and we took lots of pictures! I’ll post some when we get back.

After the parade, we went back to the room to have a late room service lunch.

What is it with this hotel and food service? We called room service and ordered 2 french dip sandwiches. Simple order… You would think. We got one. When we explained the mix-up to the waitress who brought the food, she apologized profusely and promised to bring another immediately. A half our later… no second sandwich. I was just about to call the front desk when it finally came… Oh well. At least the food was enjoyable.

I wish I could say the same for the festival. It was twice as large in area as the day before, with about 20 times as many people! You could barely move in some areas! The leather area was especially crowded, as it was all packed in to one small block.

The second place we wanted to check out was the Bear Garden; a place set aside for bears and their admirers to socialize, according to the official program. We found the area marked on the map – nothing. Not a sign of it. I asked about it at the main info booth. The person there knew nothing about it. Strike 2.

There were a lot of hot guys, and we tried to get some picture; but again, It was almost impossible in the packed conditions.

(Another gratuitous celebrity sighting: Sister Roma.)

We tried to walk around and browse the booths; maybe do some more shopping. Bad idea. You couldn’t get anywhere near most of them due to the crowds.

Strike 3. We left and went back to the hotel.

The festival is famous for being free to all. This creates the out of control crowd sizes, IMO, that make it hard to enjoy the festival. They either need to start charging admission, or increase the physical size of it, and spread things out.

In the evening, we headed back up to The Castro. It was hopping! We had dinner at The Sausage Factory. I’ve eaten there before and highly recommend it - good food, cheap price.

We had talked about going to The Lone Star (SF’s main bear bar), but by the time we finished eating we were tired. So, back to the hotel.

Tomorrow, we go home.

Not Afraid · 06-26-2006, 10:50 AM

It sounds like a wonderful trip! (But, toss the crowds.) Thanks for the report. 'm excited about going in July!

lashbear · 06-26-2006, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

It sounds like a wonderful trip! (But, toss the crowds.) Thanks for the report. 'm excited about going in July!

Make SURE you go to Beach Blanket Babylon

It's a Must See.

jdramj · 06-26-2006, 09:08 PM

Bugger I just found this thread and your trip is over!

I would have recommended Harris for dinner, expensive, but wonderful!

I also would have recomended going to Sutro baths. They are great ruins to walk down to and enjoy the surroundings with crashing waves on the coast. The Cliffhouse looked like a great restaurant, but we skipped it and went back to our hotel to rest after our major car accident with our rental car.

(Did I mention it was the Ramada Plaza on Market? LOL! We were there a month ago.)

The baths were on the coast at the end of Golden Gate Park. We did see the Tea Garden and even had tea there. The gardens in there are beautiful! I'm sorry you missed it.

MickeyLumbo · 06-26-2006, 09:51 PM

nothin' says SF more than baths and tea rooms. well, maybe rice-a-roni.

j/k

thanks for the trip report and hope you had a great time!!

JWBear · 06-27-2006, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

It sounds like a wonderful trip! (But, toss the crowds.) Thanks for the report. 'm excited about going in July!

It was a nice getaway.

What are your plans for when you get up there?

JWBear · 06-27-2006, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdramj

...I would have recommended Harris for dinner, expensive, but wonderful!

Where is it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdramj

...I also would have recomended going to Sutro baths. They are great ruins to walk down to and enjoy the surroundings with crashing waves on the coast...

Been there, done that. It's neat the first time... but not really worth a second visit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdramj

...We did see the Tea Garden and even had tea there. The gardens in there are beautiful! I'm sorry you missed it.

We've been to the tea gardens before. We mostly went to GGP to see the new de Young, as it wasn't there last time we went to San Framcisco.

JWBear · 06-27-2006, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lashbear

Make SURE you go to Beach Blanket Babylon

It's a Must See.

You know... It's amazing that as many times as I've been to the city, I've never gone to see this show. One of these days...

Not Afraid · 06-27-2006, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JWBear

What are your plans for when you get up there?

We're going to be staying with MousePod and the Mrs. We're going up early Friday morning and leaving on Monday night, so we have lots of time to play. I know we are going to see the Disney exhibit in Oakland and go to a Flaming Lips concert in Berkely on Saturday. Otherwise, MP is thinking up fun things to do.

I used to go to pretty SF regularly so I'm not too interested in the standard touristy things. Swanky restaurants are always good. I actually was thinking about visiting Greens restaurant. But, I love most areas of the City and surrounding areas, so I'm game for just about anything.

06-25-2006, 10:33 PM	#11
JWBear Worn Romantic Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Long Beach California Posts: 8,435	Day 3: We spent most of Saturday morning lounging around the hotel room, just resting. For lunch, we went back to the Cove Café in the Castro. It was very busy, but the wait wasn’t bad. There were a number of woofy guys there! After lunch, we went to the Civic Center to check out the smaller version of the pride festival that happens on the Saturday of Pride. We did a little shopping, and some ogling. Overall though, there wasn’t much happing, so we went back and lounged in the room for the rest of the afternoon. (Gratuitous celebrity sighting: As we were entering the hotel, we saw Reichen Lehmkuhl from The Amazing Race.) We went up to John’s Grill on Ellis (near Union Square) for dinner. John’s Grill is a San Francisco landmark. It’s been in business since 1908. Dashiell Hammett was a regular there, and he made a favorite hangout for Sam Spade as well. The place reeks old San Francisco – dark wood paneling, turn of the century light fixtures, white tablecloths, Waiters in ties and those long white aprons tied at the waist. I had the Sam Spade – lamb chops, tomatoes and a baked potato. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. This place is a must visit if you are in the city! After dinner, we strolled around nearby Union Square. A high fog was rolling in – obscuring the tops of the surrounding buildings and giving everything a magical glow. It made for a very romantic evening. __________________ Unrestrained frivolity will lead to the downfall of modern society.
	Submit to Quotes

06-25-2006, 10:38 PM	#12
JWBear Worn Romantic Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Long Beach California Posts: 8,435	Day 4: Parade day! We left the room early in order to stake out a good place to see the parade. We walked a couple of blocks up Market and grabbed an empty section of curb… and waited… and waited. It took forever for the parade to reach us. First up, Dykes on Bikes. Hundreds of them. It took a good 10 minutes for them all to pass! Then… more waiting. The rest of the parade was another 10 minutes behind the dykes. I won’t describe the entire parade. It was over 3 hours long! There was a lot of eye candy though, and we took lots of pictures! I’ll post some when we get back. After the parade, we went back to the room to have a late room service lunch. What is it with this hotel and food service? We called room service and ordered 2 french dip sandwiches. Simple order… You would think. We got one. When we explained the mix-up to the waitress who brought the food, she apologized profusely and promised to bring another immediately. A half our later… no second sandwich. I was just about to call the front desk when it finally came… Oh well. At least the food was enjoyable. I wish I could say the same for the festival. It was twice as large in area as the day before, with about 20 times as many people! You could barely move in some areas! The leather area was especially crowded, as it was all packed in to one small block. The second place we wanted to check out was the Bear Garden; a place set aside for bears and their admirers to socialize, according to the official program. We found the area marked on the map – nothing. Not a sign of it. I asked about it at the main info booth. The person there knew nothing about it. Strike 2. There were a lot of hot guys, and we tried to get some picture; but again, It was almost impossible in the packed conditions. (Another gratuitous celebrity sighting: Sister Roma.) We tried to walk around and browse the booths; maybe do some more shopping. Bad idea. You couldn’t get anywhere near most of them due to the crowds. Strike 3. We left and went back to the hotel. The festival is famous for being free to all. This creates the out of control crowd sizes, IMO, that make it hard to enjoy the festival. They either need to start charging admission, or increase the physical size of it, and spread things out. In the evening, we headed back up to The Castro. It was hopping! We had dinner at The Sausage Factory. I’ve eaten there before and highly recommend it - good food, cheap price. We had talked about going to The Lone Star (SF’s main bear bar), but by the time we finished eating we were tired. So, back to the hotel. Tomorrow, we go home. __________________ Unrestrained frivolity will lead to the downfall of modern society.
	Submit to Quotes

06-26-2006, 10:50 AM	#13
Not Afraid HI! Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 17,108	It sounds like a wonderful trip! (But, toss the crowds.) Thanks for the report. 'm excited about going in July!
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06-26-2006, 09:08 PM	#15
jdramj Trying to sleep Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 201	Bugger I just found this thread and your trip is over! I would have recommended Harris for dinner, expensive, but wonderful! I also would have recomended going to Sutro baths. They are great ruins to walk down to and enjoy the surroundings with crashing waves on the coast. The Cliffhouse looked like a great restaurant, but we skipped it and went back to our hotel to rest after our major car accident with our rental car. (Did I mention it was the Ramada Plaza on Market? LOL! We were there a month ago.) The baths were on the coast at the end of Golden Gate Park. We did see the Tea Garden and even had tea there. The gardens in there are beautiful! I'm sorry you missed it.
	Submit to Quotes

06-26-2006, 09:51 PM	#16
MickeyLumbo thankfully grateful Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: shangrila Posts: 1,388	nothin' says SF more than baths and tea rooms. well, maybe rice-a-roni. j/k thanks for the trip report and hope you had a great time!! __________________
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