This was the trip, the trip we had greatly anticipated; the small scale adventure that had awaited us after a hectic quarter. We looked forward to it the week after Allan's graduation, to time spent with loved ones in fun places. Oh, what adventures lied ahead.
At an unspeakable hour of the morning (4:55 am) we boarded the train and headed north. Zach and Lacy picked us up from Martinez and off we went to their home, a quint trailer on a beautiful plot of land (they have the ability to pick blackberries right outside their door, I mean really?). From there we meandered into town, grabbed some coffee (which we consumed unnatural amounts of on this trip), ate at a local butcher shop, and grabbed some water buffalo ice cream (if left unattended I could consume large amounts). Afterwards we drove into San Francisco and settled into our lovely bed and breakfast in the Hayes Valley.
First things first, I looked for the nearest Blue Bottle Coffee and lo and behold it was a mere .5 miles away. I took it as a sign that the good Lord wanted me to further my caffeine addiction (not that coffee shops are located every .5 miles anyhow). Never you mind that. We found this magical place, stopped at a local bookstore as well, and ate some yummy Pica Pica's.
THEN, the mewithoutYou show.
Magical, absolutely magical, I tell you. I love this band and have for some time now. I feel like we've grown up together, in a sense, and shared in some of life's major milestones too. For example, the whole reason Allan and I started talking on the phone is attributed to this band. Not only this, but if memory serves me right, I completely bombed one of Jannelle and Clay's (some of our dear friends) first dates at a mewithoutYou show. (Remember Jannelle?) Anyways, they played the whole "Catch for us the Foxes" album and then some. Brandon even scored the set list for us! What a guy.
The following day we sought out more java (surprise, surprise) at Four Barrel Coffee, which is now easily top three on my coffee list. Then we lounged in Golden Gate Park and unexpectedly met up with an old friend who works in the city at Lyft.
This takes us to part deux of our trip, or the switch off, as I refer to it. Zach and Lacy dropped us off in Berkeley where Amanda and Ryan picked us up. From there we continued our eating spree by consuming delicious pizza at The Cheese Board, a co-op that only serves one item per day. IT. WAS. DELICIOUS.
Fast forward to more delicious ice cream and coffee, which brings us to Oakland and, yes, you guessed it, MORE FOOD. It was as if our food for this trip was carefully curated and we had no shame in partaking. We ate at Bake Sale Betty's, a place known for its fried chicken/jalapeño coleslaw. OH man, I could eat this everyday. Loved it.
Afterwards we drove to Berkeley to grab Amanda's books for her up and coming 10-week, intensive Swahili course at UC Berkeley (such a smart girl). I've wanted to walk this campus for quite some time now, so this "errand" of sorts doubled as a check off my list of things to see. Ugh. This campus is beautiful and teeming with weird and wonderful happenings (park-core, whisper benches, and beautiful architecture). We ended the night with the delightfully nerdy game, "Ticket to Ride" (which I am now bent on obtaining for the Wheeler household). The next day we packed our stuff, ate breakfast at the Orphan, and headed towards home, but not before making one more stop to visit friends in Fresno.
In part three of our friends-extravaganza, Chris, Erin, and Stephen picked us up from the train station. We crushed penny's on the train tracks, made our obligatory trip to Doghouse for tri-tip sandwiches, hung out, then headed home (for reals this time).
Ah, what a lovely trip! Enjoy the photos. Till the next summer-adventure post...
