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Sunday with the family (but not mine)
Feb. 13th, 2006 01:08 pmSunday I spent the day with a small portion of Josh's family (which is huge, apparently, but most of them live in Connecticut). This was because his father was in town on business, and since he had never been to the Bay Area before, we wanted to take him for some sightseeing.
Josh and I picked up his dad from his hotel in downtown San Jose around 9am, then had breakfast at a diner not too far from there. It was REALLY foggy, I couldn't even read the street signs until we were almost right in front of them; very strange. Around 10 we left the diner to go up to the James Lick Observatory (giant telescopes) on top of Mt. Hamilton, the highest peak in the area.
Okay, let me just say I'd never been up there before, even though I live basically right below it. Also, although the word "Mount" is in its name, it had never occurred to me that it really is a freaking MOUNTAIN. I tend to think of all the surrounding scenery here as "hills," not "mountains," even though that's apparently what they are.
So anyway, we went on a drive up to the observatory. I knew it would be a long, narrow, winding road; no problem, I like those as long as I'm the one driving (I start to feel carsick if someone else is behind the wheel), which I was. We went up...and up...and up...and up some more. I had NO idea just how far and how many thousands of feet up this place was going to be. It took like an hour just to get to the top from the base of the mountain (which I am now well aware really IS a mountain!). Also it was a tad bit nerve-wracking driving along the edge of the road because it was fairly narrow and there was no guard rail, and I'm afraid of heights. I didn't look at anything but the road ahead of me for sure! But eventually we made it to the top, where there are some really great views of the valley below. Although the weather was clear and warm and beautiful, unfortunately the valley a little hazy that day so it couldn't be seen very clearly, but it was still pretty neat. We walked around the observatory and looked at the telescopes for a while (those are huge), then headed back down to the valley. The drive down was a bit better because this time I knew about how far I would have to go...going up it was like driving into oblivion, you never knew when it would end.
When we came down from the mountain we went over to Josh's aunt and uncle's house to meet up with them for a trip up to San Francisco. Thankfully Josh's uncle drove (I hate driving in SF), so I didn't have to worry about that. It was me, Josh, his dad, his aunt and uncle, and one of their three daughters for the trip to SF. First we did the most obligatory thing for any tourist in SF, namely see the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove over it and then up to a lookout point just beyond it to take pictures. You couldn't have asked for a nicer day, either. This was one of the maybe ten clear days SF gets a year...the rest of the time the whole city is swamped in fog and you really can't see much of anything, the bridge included. I've never seen so many sailboats out on the bay at one time, it was kind of nuts. I don't know if they were having some kind of group outing or race or what, but it seemed like every fifty feet on the water there was another one.
After this we drove back across the bridge into the city and went down Lombard Street, the most crooked street in the world (or something like that). It's crooked all right, and it's also insanely steep; I really don't know how anyone can manage to live or park on a street like that (and there are plenty of steep ones in SF). One reason I don't like driving in SF is because of having to go up the hills they have there; you have to stop every block for cross traffic, and when you try to get going again you roll backwards a little bit due to the steepness. It's really freaky and I don't like it one bit.
Next we parked down by Fisherman's Wharf and went to the Buena Vista pub because Josh's aunt insisted we get Irish coffee there ("we" meaning the other adults, certainly not me! coffee with whiskey yeah don't think so). Oh my god that place was crowded. I'm sure a dozen or so fire codes were being broken. We got lucky and managed to actually get a table for the six of us just as some people were leaving, so they drank their coffee and I watched people going by outside. I saw a few horse-drawn carriages go by, but I thought they were being pulled by rather small horses for the job. Also there were people waiting for an hour just to cram themselves onto one of the trolleys that would just take them up a few streets, I guess just so they could say they'd ridden one.
After leaving the pub we went back to the car to drive to a restaurant called "Crustacean" that the aunt and uncle love for dinner. It seems to be a Vietnamese seafood place; excellent food but pretty pricey. The aunt highly recommended their famous garlic noodles, so that's what I had. Wow really good stuff! Josh got me to try some of his plum wine, which I was surprised by: it was really sweet and actually tasted good! Typically I can't stand anything with alcohol in it because it's just too...well I don't know how to describe it other than "disgusting." This is what I think of pretty much most wine. But if they can make wine that's sweet enough that even I can drink it, why don't they do that for all of them? Why are most of them so nasty... Well anyway, I liked it and he ordered a glass of it for me, which I tried to refuse because there's no way I can drink an entire glass of wine of any kind. I made an effort because I really did like it, and I did manage to drink most of it. So all of you alcoholicy friends of mine out there can rejoice, there actually exists an alcoholic drink that I like. =p
That was about all we had time for in San Francisco; Josh's dad had to get back to his hotel to meet up with someone he works with, so we all headed back to San Jose. It was a very tiring day, but I think we all had fun; at least I did. =)
Pictures coming soon!
Josh and I picked up his dad from his hotel in downtown San Jose around 9am, then had breakfast at a diner not too far from there. It was REALLY foggy, I couldn't even read the street signs until we were almost right in front of them; very strange. Around 10 we left the diner to go up to the James Lick Observatory (giant telescopes) on top of Mt. Hamilton, the highest peak in the area.
Okay, let me just say I'd never been up there before, even though I live basically right below it. Also, although the word "Mount" is in its name, it had never occurred to me that it really is a freaking MOUNTAIN. I tend to think of all the surrounding scenery here as "hills," not "mountains," even though that's apparently what they are.
So anyway, we went on a drive up to the observatory. I knew it would be a long, narrow, winding road; no problem, I like those as long as I'm the one driving (I start to feel carsick if someone else is behind the wheel), which I was. We went up...and up...and up...and up some more. I had NO idea just how far and how many thousands of feet up this place was going to be. It took like an hour just to get to the top from the base of the mountain (which I am now well aware really IS a mountain!). Also it was a tad bit nerve-wracking driving along the edge of the road because it was fairly narrow and there was no guard rail, and I'm afraid of heights. I didn't look at anything but the road ahead of me for sure! But eventually we made it to the top, where there are some really great views of the valley below. Although the weather was clear and warm and beautiful, unfortunately the valley a little hazy that day so it couldn't be seen very clearly, but it was still pretty neat. We walked around the observatory and looked at the telescopes for a while (those are huge), then headed back down to the valley. The drive down was a bit better because this time I knew about how far I would have to go...going up it was like driving into oblivion, you never knew when it would end.
When we came down from the mountain we went over to Josh's aunt and uncle's house to meet up with them for a trip up to San Francisco. Thankfully Josh's uncle drove (I hate driving in SF), so I didn't have to worry about that. It was me, Josh, his dad, his aunt and uncle, and one of their three daughters for the trip to SF. First we did the most obligatory thing for any tourist in SF, namely see the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove over it and then up to a lookout point just beyond it to take pictures. You couldn't have asked for a nicer day, either. This was one of the maybe ten clear days SF gets a year...the rest of the time the whole city is swamped in fog and you really can't see much of anything, the bridge included. I've never seen so many sailboats out on the bay at one time, it was kind of nuts. I don't know if they were having some kind of group outing or race or what, but it seemed like every fifty feet on the water there was another one.
After this we drove back across the bridge into the city and went down Lombard Street, the most crooked street in the world (or something like that). It's crooked all right, and it's also insanely steep; I really don't know how anyone can manage to live or park on a street like that (and there are plenty of steep ones in SF). One reason I don't like driving in SF is because of having to go up the hills they have there; you have to stop every block for cross traffic, and when you try to get going again you roll backwards a little bit due to the steepness. It's really freaky and I don't like it one bit.
Next we parked down by Fisherman's Wharf and went to the Buena Vista pub because Josh's aunt insisted we get Irish coffee there ("we" meaning the other adults, certainly not me! coffee with whiskey yeah don't think so). Oh my god that place was crowded. I'm sure a dozen or so fire codes were being broken. We got lucky and managed to actually get a table for the six of us just as some people were leaving, so they drank their coffee and I watched people going by outside. I saw a few horse-drawn carriages go by, but I thought they were being pulled by rather small horses for the job. Also there were people waiting for an hour just to cram themselves onto one of the trolleys that would just take them up a few streets, I guess just so they could say they'd ridden one.
After leaving the pub we went back to the car to drive to a restaurant called "Crustacean" that the aunt and uncle love for dinner. It seems to be a Vietnamese seafood place; excellent food but pretty pricey. The aunt highly recommended their famous garlic noodles, so that's what I had. Wow really good stuff! Josh got me to try some of his plum wine, which I was surprised by: it was really sweet and actually tasted good! Typically I can't stand anything with alcohol in it because it's just too...well I don't know how to describe it other than "disgusting." This is what I think of pretty much most wine. But if they can make wine that's sweet enough that even I can drink it, why don't they do that for all of them? Why are most of them so nasty... Well anyway, I liked it and he ordered a glass of it for me, which I tried to refuse because there's no way I can drink an entire glass of wine of any kind. I made an effort because I really did like it, and I did manage to drink most of it. So all of you alcoholicy friends of mine out there can rejoice, there actually exists an alcoholic drink that I like. =p
That was about all we had time for in San Francisco; Josh's dad had to get back to his hotel to meet up with someone he works with, so we all headed back to San Jose. It was a very tiring day, but I think we all had fun; at least I did. =)
Pictures coming soon!
