where I'm calling from

Jim and I took our first trip together last week: A mini vacation to SF. The trip started pretty awesomely as the cast of the FX show, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" was on our flight. I snuck a snapshot picture with my grainy zoom lens. Imagine my surprise when Danny Devito waddled up to join the crew just minutes before we boarded the plane. Off we went!

We immediately met up with Randar, Sabs, Scottel, Anneh, and her roomie Meg in The Mission at a joint called Monk's Kettle. Sour Flemish ales were had. I also tried a lovely black currant cider and some of the best pomme frites ever! We skipped over to an authentic taqueria and gorged ourselves on greasy OG Mexican cuisine. Afterwards we landed at the Elbo Room where my best DJ mate and former mentor, Fuchsia, was throwing her decadent monthly goth night. All the other kids begged off but Jim and I listened to the swirling gloaming for another hour or so. He really liked the music so I told him to raid my collection when we got home. There's plenty more where that came from.

The next day we walked through the Not-So-'Tender'loin and over towards the Castro. Our plan was to hit the Academy of Sciences after breakfast. Problem was, there were no cabs to be had. We hoofed all the way over to the park from Union Square. By the time we got there, my feet were not ready for the museum shuffle. However, the newly-refurbished place was well worth the look-see, especially the spiraling rain-forest exhibit where we met geckos, snakes and billions of butterflies.

We hopped over to the De Young Museum for the expensive and popular King Tut exhibit. They could have told us at the outset that King Tut was not physically present. Not even a single sarcophagus was there. I guess if I knew my current affairs, I would know that Tut is not permitted to leave Egypt any longer, but since I am 100% American, I slapped down my $30/head and expected to see a shriveled old boy king. Instead I saw a lot of King Tutankhamen's gilded stuff and wooden boxes. Neat, but a little deflating.

Later Jim and I went to AT&T park where Mark Twain's adage "The coldest winter I every spent was a summer in San Francisco" came true. Billowing icy mists froze us out as the Giants blew a 9th-inning lead to the Cubs. We were so beat down from our multi-mile trek that we wrapped up the evening with Guiness pints at a local Irish Pub where, unknown to us, it was the official 250th birthday of Guinness. Doesn't that beat all.

On Friday we rode the "Ding Ding Ding" up the hill to North Beach where we carbo-loaded on Italian food. The sun shined hard and hot, so we walked to the wharf. It didn't take Jim long to recognize that tourist trap for what it was, so we wasted time by touring underneath the Golden Gate Bridge on a short bay cruise. We were lost in such a thick fog we had to hold our ears as we passed the fog horns.

Later that night we met with Randar and Sabs to tour Alcatraz at night. It's creepy by day, but at night, the crowds are thinner and extra super creepy rooms are open. We shuffled through the scary dilapidated salt-eaten rooms, glued to our audio tours. Sabs and I discussed an award-winning historical novel idea that I am kicking around in my head rather seriously. I showed them the fake blood on the ceiling of the Hospital Ward left over from the movie, The Rock. We cruised back to the mainland sitting atop the roof level of the ship as twinkling San Francisco rose in front us.

After dinner, Irish Coffee and a shared cab, it was time to head back to the hotel and say good-bye. Our short vacation was already over. We crammed in so many memories in such a short amount of time. My legs ached from the walking, but I felt happier than I have in a long time. I feel so lucky to have such marvelous and genuine friends and the most caring, attentive, loving boyfriend ever invented.

Let's do it again!