Some weekends can drift by, washing over us in a pool of laziness, while others can wash over us as we gently dull our senses in whichever way we see fit. For some folks in San Francisco April 20th, or in local parlance 4/20, would have been an excuse to get horizontally stoned. Not that, judging by the smell in any local park, down on Market or 50% of passing cars, this would be have been different from any other day. They do like their weed in California. 420 is US slang for the stuff and so on that day Twitter was alive with gleeful stoners. Well when I say alive, I mean there was some slurred bro-ing and dude-ing going on. A local wine bar marked the day after with....
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| "Here all week, you must try the veal" |
It's a shame I don't smoke weed, for my weekend was full of gourmet munchie material. Starting with my first visit of the year to Off The Grid at Fort Mason, the largest food truck rendezvous of the SF weekly calendar. Last years hit, chicken and coriander gyoza from Happy Dumplings, was ignored this time for some new experiences. The two standouts were extremely food filthy "Mac 'n' Cheese Spring Rolls with Hot Fondue Sauce" (dirtier than a Game Of Thrones outtake) and the "Sexy Fries" from Curry Up Now - waffle fries smothered (this is the US so definitely smothered) in surprisingly spicy chicken tikka masala. Again, not so much "sexy", more "dirty" in a Christina Aguilera way. I was high on carbs - I must be getting old.
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| Courtesy of http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/pop-up-shops/ |
Saturday brought the real heat. As if the mayor had suddenly remembered where the thermostat was (he's about as good as controlling the heat as the super is at controlling the central air to my building) temperatures soared over the weekend. The change was well publicised and the whole of SF made plans to enjoy the first real sauna blast of the year. Another reason why SF is like London, when the sun comes out, so too do the summer dresses and every patch of open space is full of basking people. Why is SF better than London in this case? You don't have to become a pompous Londoner in Brighton to enjoy the beach, just stroll down the hill. It doesn't matter which one, there are many.
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| The Marina in The Marina who'd have thought it? |
The Missus and I decided to brave the bros and head down to Crissy Field. Plans for a Nigella Lawson style picnic went out the window as time ticked on, so a quick trip to Whole Foods rendered enough provisions to see us through. A spell at the beach for me is governed by a) how long I can put up with sand in my food without throwing a hissy fit (I hate that odd crunch on bite down - "Is that a tooth disintegrating or just a bloody piece of beach") b) Have I accidentally burnt myself again? or c) I've run out of BBC Radio 4 podcasts to listen to. While a) was touch and go for a while, we did well to stay until the Pacific wind began to whip in. We'd also run out of cheese.
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| Let's ALL go to the beach |
Being a people watcher, going to a crowded beach is a lot of fun. What people bring, what they do and how they interact is fascinating. It can maintain anyone's interest long after the podcasts run dry. The dude who uses his admittedly very cool "I'm going to dig for china" dog to chat up non-plussed women in their bikinis. Even though the mutt would play dead when the owner gestured to shoot it with his hand, still dude went home accompanied only by his canine.
There's the "are you really twenty-ones" flying on their first ever drink in the sun. The couple bickering over who forgot the mayonnaise (no that wasn't me and The Missus). The super prepared who bring enough food and utensils to make Jamie Oliver blush. They all provide excellent entertainment. Also astounding, the variety of beach activities that must take a packhorse to bring. My favourite, a mini trampoline that a group of people use to bounce a ball off. The game looks like inverted volleyball and seems like a lot of fun, albeit hard work in 90f heat.
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| The local yacht club race...spinnakers at the ready |
When The Missus and I finally traipsed back up the hill, for all that goes down must go back up, the reward was a stop at Cultivé Frozen Yogurt. Here you can indulge in serve yourself healthy froyo treats. Healthy that is until you slather your pot with offerings from the racks of toppings available. If M&S did pick and mix...
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| FroYo Smug |
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