San Francisco smells like pot and the ocean.
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| Ocean Beach |
I'm just kidding. It mostly smells like pot.
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| "Special" Truffle Salesman in Dolores Park |
I went there for the first time a couple of weeks ago to visit some friends who have been living out there the past few years.
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| Graffiti in The Mission |
I arrived without much of a plan which was fine since my friends gave me a lot of guidance and let me tag along to places they were all ready going.
Of course, when I returned home, people were like, "Oh, you went to San Francisco!?! Did you do this and this and that...?" to which I replied, "Uhhhh, no."
Out of all I managed to do, I somehow missed a lot of tourist hot spots.
Ohhhh, well, I'll just have to go back, I guess.
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| Tourist Shot |
I did shuck oysters next to the body of water from where they formerly lived, and I'll never regret not going to Alcatraz instead.
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| My friend shucking oysters |
While I will spare you the details, I'll share a few careful observations.
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| There they are! |
Such as, people in San Francisco are very serious about their food and drink. It's wonderful and also really fun to make fun of.
"Oh, yes, I'll take the farm fresh egg for $18, please."
"I am SO glad their kale salad is young."
"That bartender looks so smart using that antique hand-operated coffee grinder."
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| Fisherman on coast north of San Francisco |
Of course, everything
was delicious
- one shocking thing is particular: Their
Toast.
Did
you know toast is in? It is
so in, y'all, and will surely be sweeping the nation to the east coast in a year or two. I can't wait.
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| Rooftop View |
Another thing I observed is that all people in San Francisco are in their late twenties or early thirties. All of them.
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| Highway one between San Francisco and Santa Cruz |
I'm exaggerating again, but while I did my usual people watching, walking the streets and museums and sitting in restaurants and coffee shops, it struck me that everyone was my age, which made me wonder:
If all these people who are my age are running this city, does this mean I'm an adult?
This thought was unsettling, but I'm shaking it off.
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| The Observatory Tower in De Young Museum |
My friend who has lived there a couple of years has a theory that people move to San Francisco to stop time. When the seasons change, the climate does not, and this alongside the ability to constantly be in an altered state of mind keeps many from acknowledging the passage of time.
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| Muir Woods |
Whether this is true or not, I got the impression that a lot of people move there for work but don't intend to stay there forever. But you could say that for a lot of larger cities.
Which is why, for me, it was a lovely place to vacation.
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| Looking out my friend's apartment window |
San Francisco and the Bay Area are beautiful, and I hope to return there one day. I'd like to see some more touristy things, but mostly I want to go back and eat toast and oysters and sushi and strawberries and drink a hundred lattes.
Until then, I will just have to be content eating farm fresh eggs (also known as "eggs") for $1 and drinking $3 beers in my hometown.
Oh, the humanity.
