Saturday 6-30-2007, San Francisco here we come

Saturday dawned clear and bright. We have a skylight in our room at the Old Monterey Inn, so waking was easy. I was up about 6:30, before the coffee is ready, so I took the Mustang out for some exercise. Down to the harbor, found some coffee, then cruised the waterfront while Monterey woke up. Back to the Inn, read the paper in the garden. The flowers are happy, the birds are singing, Scooter Libby is happy, the world is right. Dee joined me at 9, and our breakfast was served in the garden. We had the place to ourselves, as everyone else slept in. The lady serving us joined us, at my request, for a cup of coffee and a chat. She is from Indonesia, Jakarta, and has been in the states for 8 years. The world seems so much smaller when you travel, and this morning was no exception. Breakfast was started with fresh squeezed OJ with thin slices of banana, a ramekin of honey poached pears and berries with a granola crust, and a small casserole of "Eggs Buenas Dias", a mixture of egg, corn, chilis, cheese. Well fed, we packed the 'Stang and headed to Scott's apartment. He was actually awake and ready to go, so, top down and tank full, we headed to 101 South and San Francisco. It was about 10:30. The drive, in daylight this trip unlike our late arrival Thursday, was through vast fields of garlic, orchards of cherries, and fields of artichokes. The fields were being worked by some of those immigrants who have been at the head of recent political discussions in Washington. I didn't see lines of Anglos waiting for a chance to pick, weed and hoe. WScott's puperb mapreading skills, we pulled in front of the Warwick Regis Hotel at about 12:45 (http://www.warwicksf.com/), dropped our bags and the car, and headed up Geary Street to Union Square. What a cool place! Huge public square, lots of places to sit, fountains, folks playing music, and, yes, panhandlers (can I say "bums"?) We wandered up Stockton into Chinatown, and selected R.G. Restaurant at the corner of Kearny and Commerce for a late lunch. Scott ordered for us, and chatted with the waiters. Unlike our favorite Chinese restaurant at home, the owners, cooks and waiters here are actually Chinese. Dee and I started with hot and sour soup, and shared an order of beef and chicken skewers. Scott had an order of kung poa chicken. He eats just like a Chinaman, stuffing his rice into his mouth with the chopsticks as fast as he can. No one left hungry. We next walked up to California Street, and took the cable car down to the Embarcadero, the waterfront. A lesson was learned. The $5 ticket for the cable car is good for one way only, no matter how short the ride. Ours was maybe two blocks. A lesson learned hard is a lesson learned well. The Ferry Building is just below California Street, and is now filled with speciality shops and restaurants.