San Francisco – Riveted

A Few Days in the Bay Area

Laura Domela — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 02:19:49 +0000

We left Anacortes on Friday morning (after returning from The Willows Inn on Lummi, and after stopping to look at a couple more boats) and drove back to Portland. We didn't get in until about 10:30pm on Friday night, and as Kevin brought in the last of our stuff from the truck, said "Please tell me you already brought my laptop bag into the house."

[crickets]

Well shit. Guess where Kevin's laptop was? Waiting patiently in the pilothouse of Airship, back in Anacortes, four and a half hours away. We had a flight to San Francisco on Sunday morning, a birthday party for a good friend in SF on Sunday night, and then starting Monday mid-day in San Jose: meetings meetings meetings for two days. The presentation we'd been working on was on Kevin's laptop and we couldn't make do without it. So, guess what we did on Saturday? About nine hours of driving to go get that laptop (and give Airship another little pat on the bow). It was super windy and pouring rain for most of the drive, to boot! (See, it's not all rainbows and unicorns around here.)

We made it fine to SF and had a great view from our room at Hotel Nikko (above). The birthday party for our friend Tad was a wonderful evening with an incredible group of people. I've known Tad Savinar since I graduated from art school when, based on a recommendation from one of my professors, I became Tad's studio assistant for a few years. Tad is many things…among them, a visual artist. Now days we are friends, and I help him realize his work using some of my skills…photography, Photoshop, some printing. He's inspiring to work with, but more importantly he is one of the most wonderful people I've ever known. Everyone at the party last night had something amazing to say about their friendship with Tad, and it was a beautiful thing to experience. The party was in the Salesian room of Original Joe's in North Beach. What a great venue! Upholstered walls and cool old signage…dinner was delicious, and the service was impeccable, but really it was all about the people.

There were a few people at the party with late November/December birthdays, and Tad made sure to recognize each one of them by giving out beautiful flower leis. This was Kevin's:

We gave Tad (and his wife, Kate) a portrait session in the studio. I said they could choose the style of their choice, but that I had some suggestions, and that dressing up was a must. (This will be a fun one!!)

(Side note: Tad and Kate are the couple who got married in Florence, Italy in May of 2014, and were the reason we went to Italy in the first place last year.)

This morning we drove into San Jose for a couple of meetings and presentations, and then I Yelp'd us a cool place to grab some dinner afterwards. On a previous trip I found a little place called Kenny's Cafe that had a delicious bibimbap (among many other things), but Kenny's closes at 3pm. We had a little bit of a jones for bibimbap, and I found a new place not too far from where we were called Mixed Roll & Bop, a new Korean Asian fusion spot with (from the reviews) the BEST bibimbap, as well as good spicy chicken wings, and sushi. We tried the stone pot bibimbap with spicy pork, some spicy chicken wings, and a spicy tuna roll (yeah, spicy seemed to be the theme, I know). It was all great, but the bibimbap!!! It was THE BEST! (Preparing it in the stone pot gives the rice some crunchy goodness on the bottom.)

This is their funky little sign out front:

Highly recommended. It's very small, and the environment is definitely on the "fast food" side, but the food was delicious and we'll definitely go back!

Tomorrow is another day of meetings and then we'll fly back to Portland tomorrow night.

SF to Bodega Bay

Laura Domela — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 19:59:49 +0000

So happy to be back here.

We are over at Porto Bodega Marina this time, parked right on the bay. (Looks like sunset with a martini is in our near future, doesn't it?

Just the sounds of seagulls and sea lions. No screaming children. Ahhhh.

The spots are large, with picnic table and fire ring and full hookups. There's plenty of room between spots to set up our chairs, but right on the water seemed ideal (and there's plenty of room for that as well). They have (pay) Wi-Fi if you need it, but we're using our Verizon data card, and we have great AT&T cell coverage here as well. (The shot below is as we were pulling in past the boat docks.)

Before we left San Francisco I pulled off on a side street and snapped a photo of this parking garage I'd been passing each day. I love how the shapes of the openings in the wall form these cool shadows:

Oh and I kinda dug this skyline shot with the Coca-Cola billboard:

As we were coming over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, I noticed a large structure over on the left and wondered what it was. I consulted my map: San Quentin!! What d'ya know? So I spent the next half hour reading from Wikipedia who all had been in San Quentin (current, and past) out loud to Kevin. Nice on-the-road entertainment, right?

When we were passing through Petaluma again, we opted to stop for another lunch at Bubbaque's BBQ. We pulled onto a side street and Kevin waited while I ran in and got us some lunch. (There's not really any good spot to park or pull over with the Airstream here, but a not-very-busy side street with the hazards on did the trick just fine.)

We had a pulled pork sandwich, a brisket sandwich, and apple sodas, and all was outstanding.

Now we're back to work, but in a MUCH nicer environment. Bye Candlestick Compound!

San Francisco City Club

Laura Domela — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:26:51 +0000

We went to a business dinner last night at the City Club in San Francisco (formerly the Pacific Stock Exchange). I've been in this building before and remembered this amazing ceiling:

They've also got a large Diego Rivera fresco on the wall of the stairway. This is kind of a crappy snapshot of it (iPhone, low light, people milling about):

From the San Francisco City Guide:

The mural "Allegory of California" graces the stairwell of the City Club (Formerly the Pacific Stock Exchange Club). Normally closed the public, this is an opportunity to see the first mural painted in the US by the great Mexican artist Diego Rivera. The Pacific Stock Exchange Lunch Club, now the City Club, is considered the best interior in the Art Deco style in San Francisco, and among the best in California.

While waiting for the elevator I noticed this fabulous piece of historial goodness:

I wonder if they still use it. The slot wasn't closed or blocked off, so…maybe?