Blogetary (Weblog + Commentary = Blogetary)

I’m taking a page from my friend Jim’s blog and uploading my trip in stages. And of course, all vacations begin with a journey.

May 2, 2009

I traveled by train since I am not a fan of planes and their excessive fees and security measures these days. Traveling should be fun and not a drag. If I have time and the price is right, I go by Amtrak. Amtrak owns the trains but not the tracks so they have to be a little creative going north, though you have better luck training all the way coming back south. You can either bus up to some place like Bakersfield or San Luis Obispo and then train to Emeryville and bus over to San Francisco or some other combination thereof. I ended up getting a train up to San Luis Obispo and then a coach bus that went the rest of the way into the city and dropped me off at the Ferry Building on The Embarcadero.

The train trip up to San Francisco was pretty uneventful in the first half. I did some writing, some reading, and some snoozing in. Good thing, too, because I hadn’t gotten to sleep until like 2 AM and got up at 5 AM for a train that was scheduled to leave at 7:30 from Union Station. (It’s a beautiful station. If you’re ever in downtown LA you should swing by and see it, and while you’re at it, see Olvera Street right across the street from there. It’s the official heart of Los Angeles.)  With all I thought I had done packing, I was not organized enough to take the bus to the Red Line to the train and ended up just calling a cab and getting to the station way too early – oh well.  And again, as organized as I thought I was, I found I had done some weird things upon arrival in San Francisco, like tossing a pad of paper and a travel size hair gel in a small make up container for no very good reason. I also packed two extra pairs of shoes I never, ever used while I was up there, and not enough clothes, really.

Anyway, the first half of the trip on the train was quiet, though I sat near some women I had chatted with while waiting in line, I basically kept to myself. The second half of the trip, however, on the bus, I ended up getting to know one of the women who was going on a further. She hadn’t taken Amtrak before and she being an extrovert and a little nervous, I think she was trying to help herself be less nervous by chatting witha friendly face. It was interesting and pleasant and entertaining as, if you know me, you know that even when I’m trying to speak quietly my voice carries. Good if you’re shouting out drink orders in a bar, not so good if you’re trying to not disturb people on a quiet bus. Anyway, the teenager (? – coulda been 20 at the most) sitting in front of me on the bus rolled her eyes when I kept talking to my friend who was sitting across from me and eventually flounced into the seat in front of my friend. Then, when we just wouldn’t shut up (oh, you could just see how annoyed she was) she flounced back to the back of the bus to flirt with the guys back there. I was entertained, not sure about anyone else. It was also interesting to speak with a young woman who still believes that when a woman gets married it’s up to her to quit her job and take care of her husband. I haven’t been around that kind of thinking in a long time. She’d been married a year and a half and as an intelligent person was of course bored and looking around for something to keep her occupied, like getting involved in her church. She had some good ideas and I tried to encourage her, but I think she has a lot of tapes telling her she’s not good enough. I hope she uses those ideas though cuz if she doesn’t go back to work and doesn’t find an outlet it could be bad news. People need to be able to express themselves and use their brains.

Eventually she got off the bus, much to the relief of the teenager, who had no patience with my friends points of view on religion and marriage. And while they weren’t my cup of tea, either, well you attract more with honey than you do vinegar.

The bus had made a couple of stops that were extra or longer so we were running a little late and I got dropped off around 6:30 instead of 6:05 at the Amtrak station near the Ferry Building. You can see the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island from The Embarcadero where the Ferry Building is (these pics were taken a few days after I got there, but this is what you could see).

Above the Bay Bridge from San Francisco. Below, the rest of the bridge as it gets to Treasure Island.

From the Ferry Building, my sister met me, took me back to her place where we dropped my stuff off, freshened up and then went to the last night of a play by the Off Broadway West Theatre Company called The Homecoming by Harold Pinter. The Phoenix Theater is a very intimate venue consisting of a large room that is the “stage” and the chairs are set around the edges, the ones in back being put on risers. It puts you “in” the play.

This was HILARIOUS!  My sister was doubled up laughing and I was snickering the entire time. The thing is, it’s a really mean comedy. Very British. Working class British. Pinter is known for his uncomfortable pauses and “comedies of menace”. If you know that then it’s funny. If you don’t know that, then you’re wondering why you’re watching all these people be so weird and mean to each other.  Being English-American we thought it was sick and wrong and funny. And since this was the last night of the show, they had a party afterward with snacks and wine and champagne and such and many people came up to us to ask us why we thought it was so funny. Heh. That was even funnier! All we have to say? “You ate my cheeseroll!” (It’s a line from the play – they had cheeserolls at the party – you had to be there.)

After the wrap party, we decided we needed something a little more substantial both food and drinkwise. Thing about San Francisco is that other than bars, everything closes up so early!  It’s not like in New York where the restaurants stay open late especially for people going to plays and shows and such. We weren’t sure what we’d find, but on the recommendation of some people at the play party, we walked around the corner to a place called Max’s and had appetizers and martinis. At this point, if I’d been thinking, I would have taken pictures of the food and drinks. But I didn’t. But you’ll get more later. We had an asparagus and artichoke plate with some dipping sauce and of course I had a dirty martini.

We weren’t ready to hit the hay yet, but we didn’t feel like going out, so after stopping by a store to get some gin (I wanted to introduce my sister to Plymouth Gin), we headed back to her place and sat outside in back talking.

Imagine this place, only after midnight….

And after that, we made our way slowly into sleep. And that was the first day of my vacation.