Monthly Archives: October 2013

Seven Things I Love About San Francisco (plus/minus one hundred)

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I left my heart in San Francisco, but I gave it a pair of earmuffs, so it should be good for the summer. Here are some things I will miss while we’re away:

1. THE PEOPLE. You know who you are, you hipsters, you tricksters, you prophets in the sky. Wonderful people who craft, cook, surf, bike, run, batik, knit, brunch, smoke salmon, play music, listen to music, get drunk on microbrews, sip wine with true connoisseurship, go to all the music festivals in the state, nordic ski, play board games, drink chai, wear hipster glasses, roast your own coffee, braid your own bracelets, cure your own ham, grow your own herbs, quit your jobs to go traveling, sleep under the sky and yell “ka-kaaw” at the top of your lungs. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

2. THE VIEWS: The view from our apartment in Laurel Heights. The view at Inspiration Point and from Twin Peaks. The Lyon street stairs, with their beautiful view over the Bay, which is heard-earned. The peek of Pacifica you get from the top of the hill above Lindamar beach. The view OF and FROM Angel Island. And probably my favorite view in the continental United States: the top floor of the De Young museum.

Thank you, Lonely Planet, for this awesome photo of the top floor of De Young.

Thank you, Lonely Planet, for this awesome photo of the top floor of De Young.

3. THE FOOD: Pho, anywhere. Black Rice Pudding at B Star Bar. Sushirito. Burmese Rainbow Salad. Madeleine’s. The Coffee Company espresso. Peet’s Matcha Green Tea Latte, unsweetened. Ginger carrot soup at Beautifull. ANYTHING at Miette. Lavender shortbread cookies at Blue Fog markets. Shrimp quesadilla at Papalote. Sunchokes at AQ. Crab at Crustacean. Risotto made by Jeff. Cookies made by Jeff. Goat cheese dates by Meghan. Deep-dish from Little Star pizza. Avocado icecream. Ethiopian, but even better, Eritrean. Nicoise salad at Cafe Prague. Ah… Cafe Prague with your surly East-European waitresses and your mismatched furniture, how I love thee.

4. THE PARKS: Golden Gate. Presidio. Marin Headlands. Crissy Fields and Marina Green. The dogs, the runners, the tourists, Alcatraz, Angel Island, the smell, the mansions, the Palace of Fine Arts. The Quinceanera dresses and poses and posses. That’s not even mentioning what’s a stone’s throw away from San Francisco: Napa, Sonoma, Guernville, Russian River, lake Tahoe, Pacifica, Pescadero, Pie Ranch and its monthly barn dances, redwood forests, national parks, Yosemite, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, ay-ay-ay… I’m running out of breath and bandwidth, and need to stop before this become an ode to California, and THAT, my friends, could take YEARS…

5. THE MUSIC VENUES: The Red Devil Lounge, which, incredibly, is CLOSING.  Ireland’s 32, the awful hole on Geary that brings back numerous great memories of watching the Facekicks, back when they still were a unit, and drinking with a large group of friends and friends of friends…The Boom-Boom Room, The Elbo Room, and the rooms and backyards graciously provided by various people for our friends’ improv shows. The second floor of the Rickshaw Stop. The Fillmore, where we saw Balkan Beat Box and Cat Empire. The Independent, and its free movie nights. DNA Lounge and the burlesque shows. And, no, I still haven’t been to the Great American Music Hall…

Many nights well-spent at the Red Devil Lounge, including my 31st birthday

Many nights well-spent at the Red Devil Lounge, including my 31st birthday

6. THE BIKING: The bike ride to Baker Beach. The bike ride to Ocean Beach, through the park. Biking to work, as much as I hate getting there sweaty. Biking to Sausalito over Golden Gate bridge – and taking the ferry back because we ate too much… Biking up the hills to check out the Moraga Stairs. Biking to lake Merced. Biking to El Rio, in the Mission. Biking against wind, going uphill, with fog obscuring everything further than 2 feet away. That’s actually NOT my favorite part.

A small part of the beautiful mosaic at Moraga Stairs.

A small part of the beautiful mosaic at Moraga Stairs.

Ed lets me draft him. In the SF winds, that's true love!!!

Ed lets me draft him. In the SF winds, that’s true love!!!

7. THE FESTIVALS, THE FAIRS, THE FARMERS MARKETS: Really, must I? Yes, I MUST. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Outsidelands, Treasure Angel Festival, the neighborhood festivals: North Beach, Haight Ashbury St. Fair, Sunday Streets, farmers markets, all of them: Fillmore, Divisadero, Ferry Building, etc. Beer Fests and Wine Fests at Fort Mason and Renegade Art Fairs at the same awesome Ft. Mason. Haloween, Dia De Los Muertos, Bay to Breakers, Tuesday night – basically anything serves as an excuse for these wonderful SF weirdos to get in costume. Stay weirder than even Portland, San Francisco!!

And I could go on and on and on, but instead, I’ll leave you with a parting shot (ha!) of the Golden Gate bridge.

The fact that you can surf under the Golden Gate Bridge (ok, it's a twice a year thing at best, but it's worth the wait...)

The fact that you can surf under the Golden Gate Bridge (ok, it’s a twice a year thing at best, but it’s worth the wait…). And yes, that’s Ed.

Waimea, Wailua and Waimustweleave???

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Over the next few days, due to somewhat inclement weather, we drive around A LOT and get to see a few spots that we missed last time:

One quick stop on the way to the Waimea Canyon lookout. This is just the beginning.

One quick stop on the way to the Waimea Canyon lookout. This is just the beginning.

Even though it’s drizzling a bit, that doesn’t deter us from driving till we get to the Waimea lookout – and it’s absolutely well worth it:

Yes, I may have cranked up the colors a little bit on the camera - but the photos still don't do it justice...

Yes, I may have cranked up the colors a little bit on the camera – but the photos still don’t do it justice…

The clouds are gathering above us and when we finally drive out to the Kalalau lookout, it's shrouded in fog.
The clouds are gathering above us and when we finally drive out to the Kalalau lookout, it’s shrouded in fog.

We eventually return to our favorite camp spot on the island, Blackpot in Hanalei, and wake on Unicornlandia, where rainbows sprout from under ever hill and the surface of the water looks like mercury. Incidentally, we recently watched part of “South Pacific” the 1958 movie of the Broadway hit by the same name, and much of the action in those first scenes takes place in this very spot:

Hanalei Bay on a gorgeous early morning.

Hanalei Bay on a gorgeous early morning.

And in case you're wondering, yes, all the men in this scene are straight. In fact, they're singing about how much they miss "dames," although I, for one, would say: "But boys, you'll always have each other..." *giggle*

And in case you’re wondering, yes, all the men in this scene are straight. In fact, they’re singing about how much they miss “dames,” although I, for one, would say: “But boys, you’ll always have each other…” *giggle*

On our last full day in Kauai, we decide to take the famed Wailua river kayak tour, with the Secret Falls as the final destination. That’s a scenic 4 miles of paddling, plus about a mile’s hike up to the falls. Paddling on the river turns out to be extreme – extremely leisurely that is. Good thing we, Gendreau/Checeanus take our leisure seriously (We even belong to B.A.L.L.S, Bay Area Leisurely Living Society “A Little Drinking Club with a Leisure Problem”). Our guide, Forest, was hilarious and very knowledgeable about fauna, flora and history; the waterfall at the end was nothing to write home about. Apparently it can get much bigger, but the volume is rather unpredictable. Thankfully, our whole motto in life is “Enjoy the journey,” so the disappointment of the destination was easily surmounted…

Maybe we should start K.I.L.L.S. - Kauai Island Leisurely Living Society? What say you, @Anette? :-)

Maybe we should start K.I.L.L.S. – Kauai Island Leisurely Living Society? What say you, @Anette? 🙂

A shrine of flowers right next to the "Secret Falls," where kings and queens of Hawai'i came to bathe. Theirs being a very segregated society, commoners didn't rub shoulders with the hoi poloi and didn't have access to this upper section of teh Wailua river.

A shrine of flowers right next to the “Secret Falls,” where kings and queens of Hawai’i came to bathe. Theirs being a very segregated society, commoners didn’t rub shoulders with the hoi poloi and didn’t have access to this upper section of teh Wailua river.

Awesome petroglyph pointed out by our humorous guide. The glyph stood for "rock where the king/queen's mantle rests while he/she is taking a bath." and also "Do not interfere, you unwashed peasant."

Awesome petroglyph pointed out by our humorous guide. The glyph stood for “rock where the king/queen’s mantle rests while he/she is taking a bath.” and also “Do not interfere, you unwashed peasant.”

Finally, before catching the airplane at 2:00 PM, we decided to heed the advice of a local from the night before and check out the Wailua Falls, a short, five minute detour from the airport. We drive to the lookout – very pretty, safe, whoa, nice waterfall, ok let’s go to the airport now.

But NO: the best part about this fall is the swimming, according to local wisdom. So we head straight for a hole in the fence and begin a ridiculously steep and slippery descent, with the help of roots, branches and the occasional rope put in place by merciful earlier adventurers. Half an hour later we arrive at the glorious base of the falls, sweaty and mud-stained. The current is obviously pretty strong and the Wailua Falls are heavier and stronger than any of the others we’ve seen on this island. But heck, we didn’t slide down our butts for nothing: a bath in is order. The rest is history. I make it only about halfway through the lake before the wind suddenly changes direction and starts blowing heavy vapor in my face. The angst of suddenly breathing air that’s 110% saturated with water is compounded by the cramps from the cold and there you have it: I almost missed the flight back due to a case of drowning. A close call, but the handsomest lifeguard around was there to the rescue, like he usually is. He’s also getting better at reading sudden-onset massive panic symptoms on my face …. Was it worth it, you ask? HECK yeah. Just look at it:

The lifeguard was drinking mate the entire hike down. Those of you who know him will understand....

The lifeguard was drinking mate the entire hike down. Those of you who know him will understand….

Mahalo, dear Mother Island and until next time!

Of Watermelons and Dachshunds

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We left Poipu on a sunny morning, wishing goodbye to the Airbnb resident kitty with one last caress on the top of the head and behind the ear. We drove north past Lihu’e and to our favorite place – Cafe Hemingway, finally open – for a wafer-thin omlette, fresh squeezed orange juice inside the Breton-blue building with view of over the little creek and shallows of Kapa’a reef.

A leisurely perusing of some timeless light reading material and a similarly light breakfast full of appreciation of the sunlight which helped grow the 1/2 tomato on the side and the land which provided for the hen whose eggs were so graciously donated for our enjoyment. For our vegetarian readers, I'll spare the details of the source and creation of the ham.

A leisurely perusing of some timeless light reading material and a similarly light breakfast full of appreciation of the sunlight which helped grow the 1/2 tomato on the side and the land which provided for the hen whose eggs were so graciously donated for our enjoyment. For our vegetarian readers, I’ll spare the details of the source and creation of the ham.

We finish our lunch to prepare for the upcoming Kapa’a farmers marker which we presume is likely the largest on the island (turns out Lihu’e’s is).  We soon find out that instead of noon, the market’s at 3.  Gotta go for a bodysurf session over Kealia’s powerful, but not ginormous rollers.  Well shaped, cylindrical waves, like steam rollers on cruise control with or without a driver, depending on your religious views…(Hey, writer, we’re here to have some lighthearted reading, quit being so philosophical…)  No matter how much one thinks that they have ‘conquered’ or ‘owned’ these waves, it’s like thinking that we can stop a steam roller with a pellet gun, in the end we just managed to work with the momentum.

OK, ok, so the farmer’s market greets with over 40 stands with a rainbows of fruit pouring out of each.  We break into an immediate salivation.  At 2:48, the 12 minutes till the bell to start the market seems like an eternity.  Dragonfruit, Breadfruit, Durian, Apple Bananas, Pineapple, Watermelon and Papaya galore!  So much flavor contained in each one, still 10 minutes to wait!!! We make some small talk to pass the time “These came from the north shore,” water bursting the watermelon at the seems.  This doesn’t help Camelia as her heaven is filled with watermelon and dachshunds.  Still 8 minutes till the bell, and this is not speeding up the clock.  6 minutes! Seems like an eternity…Then the stand owner tells us about the uses, and origins of the importation of the papaya…bam!  Ding, ding, ding!  I guess when you’re interested in something the time flies!  Quick: get a dragon fruit (we’ll figure out how to eat them later), some papaya, bananas, and a watermelon 🙂 Dachschund for sale?  Nope, that’s probably for the best.
We take a backroad from the market, past homes, hillsides, greens, browns, reds, cute bridges, views of all the jutting peaks, and to pick up the Nomad (Homes), and head out west to an expansive, almost deserted beach, Polihale.
Driving past fields of red dirt, green hills and round, heavy clouds on Kauai's West shore

Driving past fields of red dirt, green hills and round, heavy clouds on Kauai’s West shore

The 20 miles (with one stop to get Poke) take over an hour, since even though the posted speed limit is 35, the average speed is 30.  And no one wants to go faster, because as you increase velocity, the interest decreases.  Hearing stories from the Nomad about the origins of the tree species, the medecinal uses of the plants, the rarity of the abundance of bird life on Kauai and the tribal history of the islands, which would have never been addressed at 65 or even 35 MPH 🙂
The last 2 miles are offroading on red dirt.  Yes!  Time for powerslides!!! That one was 3 car lengths, that next power slide was longer than a 2 handed frontside power slide on my skateboard on Lombard street in San Francisco!  Yay rental cars!
We arrive an hour before dusk to where we won’t take the rental car any further on the sand.  Sorry Chevy Cruze, your journey ends here, with dreams of powerslides on the way back.

We get the sunset and sunrise in Polihale, and, boy, it’s all worth it:

The sunset at Polihale regales us with a thousand different shades of pink.

The sunset at Polihale regales us with a thousand different shades of pink.

The sunrise is a different, gloomier vista, and the clouds seem pregnant with water.
The sunrise is a different, gloomier vista, and the clouds seem pregnant with water.