Spend the weekend California dreaming in San Francisco

This article was originally posted by Meredith Blakeway of S.O.F.T and was republished with permission.

The Cannabis Emporium underneath an apartment in The Mission/Castro district of San Francisco goes by the fancy name of ‘The Apothecarium’. Now that it is totally legal, I went in for a peek – it was like a packed waiting room for the dentist. Everyone looked a bit uncomfortable and a tad guilty – sadly I declined their offer of a free consultation. I had a manicure next door – and I was the only female, but at least Bob, Chad and Steve were wearing clothes – it was cold. It has been very chilly for July; a reminder of Mark Twain’s words: “The coldest winter I ever spent, was a summer in San Fransisco!”

The flight over was fabulous and I am now a converted business class customer. It is really worth scouring the the internet for a good deal. Darling, I can only fly BC!

I visited the new Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in San Francisco with a significant slab of jet lag, and even though I was overwhelmed by it all, it was worth it. There were some amazing works as well as specialty exhibitions, René Magritte being one.

The first-day disorientation soon kicked in and I walked the wrong way, turning left instead of right, then trying to catch the BART instead of the MUNI… Ahhhh! I am sure I was heading to Google Headquarters – all roads lead to Google in Tech City.

Beach Blanket Babylon has been on my list every time I have been to San Francisco – the longest running revue in the city. It is a political satire with ‘stunningly gorgeous’ hats, as you would expect for this city. Of course Trump was top of the list for the skits, but both sides of politics copped it. It was hilarious.

The food has been superb, but I still have trouble with the American version of coffee, and even though more Australian-run coffee outlets are popping up around the city, a request for a “long black with hot milk on the side” is still met with a blank look! I tried the all-time favourite of waffles with fried chicken and chilli maple syrup, which was interesting, but nothing I would queue for again.

I ended up in an amazing jazz bar on a Saturday, near the dodgy part of town. The Tenderloin, at the back of a sleazy pub, had famous singers and musicians popping in for a quick drink and performance between gigs. We had found out about it through Phoebe’s contact who was a performer. It was a fabulous night; I was served by a very grumpy gay guy who only served me. It appeared he couldn’t be bothered with the young millennials.

The San Francisco Botanic Gardens held a ‘Piano in the Gardens’ performance where pianos were scattered throughout the shrubbery and played by jazz musicians. It was free for local residents, but I managed to get my seniors’ discount without even having to ask… How rude!

We decided to stay for a week in Mountain View right in the heart of Silicon Valley, the complete opposite to The Mission/Castro area where my daughter lives. The CAL train out to Silicon Valley was full of tech nerds who stared at their devices for the entire one-hour trip; they were mainly male and under 30. While it is touted as being sterile and full of Google employees, which some equate with suburban ‘beige-ness’, it is nice not to be stepping over the bodies of the discarded homeless, and filth and junk of the inner city – and there was no noise! No wailing and midnight screaming or sirens blaring.

Mountain View’s main drag is Castro Street, which was surprisingly busy for a Monday night – all those wealthy techies with no cooking skills were filling all the restaurants and bars.

San Jose is not too far away from Silicon Valley, so when I flippantly asked the train conductor “Is this the way to San Jose?” he nodded at me and I hopped on the light rail. I should have hopped on to the CAL, which also goes to San Jose, but in just 10 minutes with a bullet train. Meanwhile I spent 75 minutes on the light rail, which took a circuitous route through Silicon Valley and stopped at every tech company known to the world, and more! Boring is not quite the right word to describe that adventure.

I had come to San Jose to visit the Winchester Mystery House built by Sarah Winchester, the widow of the Winchester Rifle magnate. She spent 38 years building 160 rooms with bizarre stairways and doors to nowhere – some say to appease the spirits of those who were killed by the Winchester rifles. As long as the renovations kept going the spirits were appeased or kept at bay.

It was a creepy experience and as much as I hate tours it would have been impossible to navigate the house solo with all its weird twists and turns – stairs to nowhere and doors on blank walls. I will now have to watch the movie of the same name featuring Dame Helen Mirren.

Mountain View has not been as vanilla as I thought it would be, though a decent coffee is impossible to find and it is predominately young male-driven. Next stop is Santa Cruz and Carmel by the Sea.