Let me tell you, winter has arrived in Jesus Land. It is freezing and there is a chance of snow–yes, SNOW–on Friday. Time to find a winter coat.
(I’ve seen this a few times, most recently pulled from generic.)
Tag: San Francisco
No Direction Home
As much as I am loving the commonwealth* of Kentucky and the people who live here, I think that coming back to California will always feel like coming home.
I returned from my round-the-state California (+ a piece of Denver) trip this past weekend. Whirlwind. But in a good way.
First stop: San Francisco
My first day in San Francisco I went “swimming” (one stroke normal arm, one pathetic lame-armed follow up…but I try) at my old stomping grounds and decided to walk up to Lower Haight to meet a friend for a drink. On my walk up Market I passed this:
The line stretched around the corner of 5th. I was late to my drink date because I stood there for about 15 minutes debating whether or not I should ditch the beer and instead try to befriend a person near the front of the line and try to get in (tickets weren’t sold out yet.) But, a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush…the beer won out.
Next on the list was the hike up to the top of Telegraph Hill with my parents where, to no one’s surprise, my father bared his guns.
See the resemblance to the shirtless guy on the building?
The views from Telegraph, good Indian food by UCSF, the dive bars, the angsty hipsters, the beer at Toronado, Nopalito, the man in a pink polka dot dress walking through the Financial District with a big bow in his nasty hair carrying a huge teddy bear…Walter Cronkite said it best:
“Leaving San Francisco is like saying goodbye to an old sweetheart. You want to linger as long as possible. “
Next stop: Creston, CA
*thanks colleague
Hike #20: The Apartment Hike–Second Installment
con’t from previous post…sorry for the delay
This next stretch would take us through the Tenderloin, under a freeway overpass, and up Potrero Hill. Fueled by celebrity gossip and Bud Light, we attacked this leg with a vengeance. But no sooner had we walked down the hill from Molly’s place and into the Tenderloin did we see….our second red double decker bus. What it was doing in the Loin, I do not know. But we hustled our way into the nearest bar, which just happened to be…
Bar Stop #2: Harrington’s Pub, the Tenderloin
“Smells like cigarettes and omlettes. My superior deduction skills tell me it stinks like cigarettes most likely because they let people smoke inside. As for smelling like omelettes… shit, I dunno.“
~Yelp review, Harrington’s Pub
Indoor smoking, toothless patrons, and “Michael Collins–the Lost Leader” posters lining the walls…Harrington’s is exactly what you would expect an Irish pub on the corner of Turk and Larkin to be. But we were on a schedule, no time to dawdle…5 minutes and 18 Bud Lights later, we were back out on the street and moving. We had gone less than two blocks when we ran into…red double decker tourist bus #3. NOOOOOOO
Apparently the Tenderloin is a tourist hotspot. Unfortunately (fortunately?) we were heading towards Market and 8th, an area that doesn’t have a whole lot of bars, so we couldn’t get to one immediately. But within a few blocks we stumbled across…
Bar stop #3: Holiday Inn Hotel Bar, SOMA
I am not entirely sure this bar was meant to serve non-guests (we had to prop the bathroom door open with paper towels because none of us had a room key to open it), but the bar was deserted and the bartender, Mandy, loooooooved Molly, so whatever. After a little bit of confusion regarding orders, Mandy hooked us up with some beers (Molly and Eden got strawberries). With a chug and quick mugging with Mandy, we were on our way.
Upon walking out the door, there was a collective gasp as…yes. A FOURTH double decker tour bus drove by–our third bus in about 8 blocks. Lucky for us, it was blue, not red. Close call.
OK! Through the scary parts of town and free of tour buses, we headed towards the I-80/ 101 underpass–Freeway Crossing #1. Erickson did the favor of providing us with a plethora of Bubblicious flavors for the bubblegum rule. I think we all underestimated exactly how wide the freeway is, because the only person who came close to making that goal was Erickson. Carl also made a concerted effort, but everyone else gave up after a few tries.
With the failed gum freeway crossing attempt behind us, we were finally on our way to our next scheduled stop.
Sixth Stop: Ferg’s, Potrero Hill
For the final push of this stretch we had to make it up Potrero Hill, which is hard to do when you’re not 9 miles and 8+ cocktails deep. But with some major effort the whole team made it to Ferg’s apartment where we were greeted by large bags of Doritos and some more Bud Light. Just what the body needs after a strenuous climb.
We enjoyed the view, stretched, prepared ourselves for the next leg, which would also be relatively long, and headed out West and towards our…
Seventh Stop: Summer & Ryan’s, the Mission
Over Potrero Hill to the second freeway crossing (where Molly and I were the only two to even unsuccessfully attempt the three legged race….rules were slowly falling by the wayside) and through the Mission (aka Baconwrappedhotdogcartland) we went. Chadeyne came across a liquor store that sold cutty bangs. In need of a refreshing beverage, most of us imbibed. And almost barfed.
Another mile (and without bacon wrapped hot dog cart incident) later we arrived at Summer and Erickson’s, where Summer had been so kind as to order up some Papalote burritos, which were DELICIOUS and exactly what we needed to motor us around Twin Peaks, through our longest leg, and to our final destination…
Eighth and Final Stop: The Hesslers, Inner Sunset
At 3 miles, this was the longest leg of our trip and it definitely felt like it. The sun started to set, the group started to spread out…but about an hour or so after leaving our
seventh stop WE ALL ARRIVED!
Though Chrissy had to work the whole day and was not able to join (a major bummer), she and Carl (who had joined us at Harrington’s) were kind enough to open up their home as the final stop. Pizza, beer, and a beautifully decorated funfetti cake wrapped up our tour, where 7 of the original 8 hikers (plus an additional 10 or so hikers that were picked up along the way) celebrated victory…then went home and fell asleep by 9:30.
Finish time: 8:30pm, only 90 minutes behind schedule
Lessons learned: 14 miles goes by quick when you’re dodging red double decker tour buses
Flora and Fauna: the cutty bang
Hike #20: The Apartment Hike–First Installment
Location: San Francisco–all over
Distance: 13.7m
Entry fee: a good attitude
The purpose of this hike: make our way across the city hitting up the apartments of as many people as possible taking 30 minutes at each stop to eat, socialize, and imbibe (I don’t know if that qualifies as a “purpose”, but whatever.) This turned out to be no small feat on a number of levels. Not only did it require some serious thought in terms of route and timing, but its success also hinged on:
- the willingness of a large number of people to invite 15+ (potentially intoxicated) sweaty hikers into their homes in the middle of the day and provide them with food and drink
- another group willing to spend their Saturday wandering the freeway underpasses and trudging up Russian and Potrero Hill(s)
Not to sell my friends short, but I was blown away by the enthusiasm and number of people willing to hang out with toothless dudes in a pub in the Tenderloin in the middle of a sunny Saturday afternoon and make this hike awesome. Because that’s what it was.
The final route:
Rules:
- No more than 30 minutes at each stop
- Anytime a red double decker tourist bus passes by you have to run into the nearest bar and chug a beer
- Anytime a Bay Quackers Bus passes by you have to run into the nearest bar and shoot the warmest garbage tequila on the dusty bottom shelf
- At freeway crossing #1, everyone must have a fully inflated bubblegum bubble while crossing the freeway or you have to go back and start over
- At freeway crossing #2, three legged race, losers have to walk the rest of the way tied together
- and of course, if we pass a bacon wrapped hot dog cart you have to eat one (this one really stressed Ryan out)
With a start time of 10am and a strict 30-min-per-stop policy, we figured we should hit our final destination around 7pm.
First stop: Peterson’s, the Tendernob
Coffee, mimosas, PBR, and donuts. Breakfast of champions. 2 of the 8 hikers that joined us on the first leg showed up around 10:25, so we didn’t actually leave till about 10:40…10 min behind schedule before we even started walking. Off to a good start.
Second stop: Michelle and Dave’s, Laurel Heights
Like, woah. What a spread.
At the end of our first 2 mile stretch through Pacific Heights we found ourselves in front of a seriously delightful brunch that included quiche, bagels, muffins, mimosas, and bloody marys. With garnishes. We also got to hang out in the backyard area and picked up 3 more hikers. But 30 minutes isn’t very long, and before you knew it we were stuffed full of quiche and on our way to…
Third Stop: The Dude’s, The Presidio
Upon leaving our second stop were still running about 10 minutes behind schedule. The Dude got aggressive, took the lead, and announcing, “I think this is the right way” led us off the paved road and onto a narrow dirt trail into the woods…right through an enormous patch of poison oak. (No symptoms yet, fingers crossed it stays that way.)
But the walk through the shrubbery may have all been worth it, because we arrived at the Dude’s place 5 MIN EARLY!
We got to work right away on the guac, chips, margaritas, and Pacificos that Eden had so nicely arranged, and played a little cornhole/bocci/horseshoes. We also acquired 6 additional hikers at this stop. While setting up the cornhole court we heard a shriek from Ryan at the side of the house who had just seen the first…red doubledecker tourbus chugging by. Dilemma. We hadn’t anticipated seeing one while INSIDE anyone’s apartment. Appropriate response? Finish the cornhole/bocci ball game ASAP and make it to the closest bar. Which is exactly what we did.
So with cornhole champions crowned and about 15 people in tow we headed towards the Marina and to…
Bar stop #1: The Final Final, the Marina
Quickly downed 15 beers and some popcorn and, with a quick exit, headed up some not so small hills to Lombard, then down the crooked part of Lombard, through the tourists to…
Fourth stop: Tabby, Christian, and Colbie’s, Russian Hill
We arrived here tired and sweaty and ready for some…twinkies, hot dogs, and rednecks on vacation! Wonderful. Christian was downstairs brewing some beer and gave us a taste of his most recent brew, which was delicious and super alcoholic. Win win. We would have loved to stay here forever, but rules are rules. 30 minutes (and a blow of the whistle that Molly found) later and we were back out the street.
Before we could hit our next stop, one out of town hiker had to see/race up Filbert Street, which is supposedly not only the steepest street in San Francisco, but at 31.5%, one of the steepest streets in the whole Western Hemisphere. Maybe we were on the wrong part of the street, but general consensus was that there are way steeper hills in the city. Whatever.
ANYWAY, onward and upward (literally) to…
Fifth Stop: Molly’s, back in the Tendernob
This was one of the shorter legs of the hike and we celebrated at the end with Bud Lights, gossip mags, and bathroom breaks. Amazing how fast 30 minutes can fly by. But soon enough there was another toot of the whistle and we were out the door…
At a little over 6 miles we had already completed 5 of our 8 stops, but had done less than half the overall distance. So far so good, but the serious hiking was about to start.
Hike #19: Angel Island
Location: San Francisco Bay
Distance: ~6 miles
Entry fee: $15 round-trip ferry ticket (per person)
This past Sunday morning Paul and I decided to hop on the ferry and cross the bay to Angel Island.
During the ice age Angel Island was connected to the mainland. About 8,000 years after that the island served as a 
fishing and hunting site for the Coast Miwok Native Americans (interesting side note, similar evidence for the existence of Miwoks on Angel Island are also found on Ring Mountian…which devoted followers may remember from Hike #14.) The northwest Ayala Cove is where Juan de Ayala, commander of the first vessel to enter SF Bay, first anchored his ship…and where we first started our hike.
With the recent rain the island was super green with lots of wild flowers mixed in with the charred tree stumps and fence posts from the 2008 fire. Since this was our first trip to the island, we weren’t entirely sure what we wanted to do or where we were going. There is a paved road that runs around the 
perimeter of the island (aptly named Perimeter Road) that is open to bikes, which are popular among campers on the island. (Campsites out here are few and far between, and making a reservation often requires booking months in advance.) Paul really wanted to get up to the highest point on the island, Mount Livermore, so we opted out of walking the entire perimeter and took the North Ridge Trail for the first half of our hike…along with a Russian family of about 15. After 30 minutes of weaving through Russian children…passing them, having them catch up…we finally broke away and beat them to the summit. YES.
Upon arriving at the top we found…a bunch of people eating (all the picnic tables were taken) and a FANTASTIC view of San Francisco, Marin, and the East Bay. After taking it all in, we followed the back half of the Sunset Trail down to where it hits the Fire Road. From the Fire Road we headed down to the Perimeter Trail, which we followed back to Ayala Cove. Aside from the Russians, we encountered few hikers on the first part of the hike. Once we hit the Perimeter Trail traffic picked up a little bit as well…but nothing overwhelming.
On the way back down we passed by a number of old, abandoned buildings. Known as the “Ellis Island of the West” in the 19th and 20th centuries, Angel Island served first as a military base (and for a while as a quarantine station for soldiers re-entering the country), and then an immigration station. Restrictions imposed by the Chinese Exclusion Act (also referenced in Hike #10) resulted in a number of immigrants spending years on the island waiting for entry between 1910 and 1940. There are a number of run-down buildings that used to be hospitals, schools, and homes, as well as small communities that formerly served as military housing located in clearings near the water. These communities were particularly weird…they are very neat and clean, with manicured lawns and blooming gardens, but emtpy…which makes the whole place kind of creepy. These parts of the island seem very surreal, they reminded me of the town in the movie Big Fish.
Early spring is a really great time to do this hike if you want to see some cool flowers and butterflies. Butterflies were everywhere on this hike (as were bees), and there were some really awesome wildflowers in full bloom. No slugs or ladybugs, though. And fortunately no mountain lions.
We made it back to Ayala Cove a little bit early and had a beer at one of the cafes there before catching the boat home. The lawn at the cove was packed with families and kids playing and lounging on the grass. I got super sunburned.
Hike #19: really awesome success…a great day trip, highly recommend.
Lessons learned: upon exiting the ferry, get a quick start and watch out for tourist groups
Flora and Fauna: red spotted purple butterfly (I think); iris; california indian pink; california sister; coyote brush
Hike #18: Twin Peaks (Urban Hike #6, part B)
Location: San Francisco, Cole Valley
Distance: 5.2 miles
Entry fee: $0
Following the completion of Urban Hike #6 Part A and another half hour wandering around Cole Valley, we decided that since we could see Twin Peaks just fine from where we were standing…why not go there?
Twin Peaks is situated at the geographic center of San Francisco and is the second highest
point in SF after Mount Davidson (which, I will admit, I had no idea existed.) The Spanish name for the peaks was “Los Pechos de la Chocha”…or “Indian Woman Boobs” (I’m not even joking…though chocha has a different meaning today and sounds dangerously similar to another obscene word in Spanish.) During the 1800s (when California became a part of the US) it was renamed Twin Peaks. The peaks each have their own names: Eureka Peak/North Peak (which is the one we hiked to the top of), and Noe Peak/South Peak. As part of a 31 acre natural preserve, the peaks remain relatively undeveloped and is one of the few habitats that remains for a number of endangered species, including the Mission Blue butterfly (though we didn’t see any of them up there, unfortunately…they look cool.)
We weren’t entirely sure where we were going, so we just started walking towards the tower at the top of the hill…we wound around Upper Terrace to Piedmont, down Ashby and onto Clayton, where we started following the signs for Twin Peaks. We made our way up the hill where, upon reaching the top, we traded shoes (Jen was getting blisters from her flip flops) and took in the amazing view.
The top of the peak is usually pretty crowded with tourists and tour buses (since you can actually drive up to the top.)
The hike back down provided a few more awesome views of the East Bay, St. Ignatius, and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Hikes #17 & 18: An unexpected success! Sometimes spontaneous hikes are the best
Lessons learned: don’t hike in flip flops; there are no bathrooms at the top of Twin Peaks
Flora and fauna: japanese tourists
Hike #17: Buena Vista Park (Urban Hike #6, Part A)
Location: San Francisco, Upper Haight
Distance: 2.5m
Entry fee: $0
So with Molly temporarily in Canada, my good friend Jen (who happened to be visiting this week), joined me on my 
first sans-Molly urban hike. We actually set out on this two part “hike” unaware that we were going on any kind of hike at all (Jen was wearing flip flops). But two major landmarks (on top of major hills), 8 miles, and one shoe swap later, I decided that this should absolutely count as an urban hike…or two.
We started out at my apartment and headed through upper Haight to Buena Vista Park, the oldest official park in San Francisco. According to certain sources, is has also “long been known as a nighttime ‘cruising ground’ for gay men, who meet in the park for anonymous sexual encounters.” Nice.
The incline is relatively steep (but has stairs) and gives you some really nice views of St Ignatius Church and the Western Addition. After wandering around the crest for a little while, we headed down into Cole Valley, where we stopped by an incredible open house with views that overlooked the city and Bay.
Lessons learned: I will never be able to afford any of the awesome property in SF
Flora and Fauna: magnolia
Hike #16: Coit Tower (Urban Hike #5)
Location: San Francisco
Distance: 2.3 miles
Entry Fee: $0
I have a new goal in life, and that is to live on Telegraph Hill.
We started this hike at the pool we swim at on the corner of Washington and Drumm. I brought my camera and, upon trying to take the first picture realized I had taken the memory card out of it the night before. Slick. It really was unfortunate, because the weather was beautiful, the views were stunning, and the neighborhood on the way up is just amazing. So all the pictures posted on here were stolen from the internet.
Some history on the tower: contrary to popular belief, Coit Tower was NOT designed to resemble a fire hose nozzle (sorry Molly). In 1929 Lillie Hitchcock Coit passed away and left 1/3 of her estate to the city of San Francisco to “add beauty to the city”. Lillie was a volunteer firefighter and apparently had a thing for firefighters…she was even the mascot for Knickerbocker Engine Co. No. 5. So this was probably where the fire hose theory originated.
To get to the tower we went up the Filbert Street Steps. Telegraph hill is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, with the highest concentration of pre-1870 structures. (The 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire destroyed most of the city, but the crest of Telegraph Hill
along with the Waterfront, Jackson Square, and parts of Russian Hill were spared. Some of the houses on Telegraph date back to the 1850s.) Originally called Loma Alta, the current name arose during the Gold Rush when several businessmen set up shop at the top of the hill because they could watch ocean traffic coming in and out of the Bay. They would relay by telegraph the name of the ocean liner and likely cargo to their subscribers, which would allow the subscribers to buy and sell certain commodities prior to the ship’s arrival, giving them a leg up on the competition.
The grade of Telegraph is pretty steep. The whole side of the hill is covered in lush vegetation and public gardens, with all sorts of bright flowers and trees, with little (and not so little) cottages tucked down little narrow paths. It is awesome. Because of the terrain there is virtually no traffic in the area (the paths we were walking down had room for foot traffic only.) We got to the top and enjoyed the amazing view from the statue of Columbus that stands in front of the tower.
We spent the majority of this hike (up and down) trying to figure out the best way to befriend one of the tenants on the hill so we could be invited to houseparties there. We even considered crashing a party that we passed…but didn’t want to risk getting blackballed from future events.
Hike #16: success! This is a great place to take any tourist friends that might be in town
Lessons learned: Filbert Street and 22nd Street are two of the steepest navigable streets in the Western Hemisphere (at a maximum grade of 31.5%)
Flora and Fauna: we didn’t see any parrots ON the hill…but we did see them down by the gym.
Hike #13: Taco Hike
Location: San Francisco (mostly the Mission)
Distance: 6 miles
Entry fee: Tums, open mind, roll of toilet paper
All the craziness of a beer with the happiness of a taco ~jesse
With 9 people joining, this was our biggest hike to date. So to start off, I would like to thank everyone who joined and made it the raging, colon-cleansing success that it was.
First, some taco facts are in order:
- Tacos date back at least to the 1500s. When Cortez arrived he found Aztecs eating fish tacos
- Nobody knows why the Spanish called them tacos
- There is a main-belt asteroid called 14917 Taco
Our hike took us from the Western Addition to Upper Haight and down to the Mission (where we did most of our taqueria-ing.) There were a few rules:
- Only mexican beers, tequila, micheladas, and horchata can be drunken
- If we come across the bacon wrapped hotdog cart you have to eat one
- Free beer to anyone who spots the El Tonayese taco truck
First stop: Papalote on Fulton. Known for it’s burritos (not tacos) and tofu (obviously a higher-end taqueria), we decided to give the marinated tofu taco a try. Coupled with a few Coronas it was a nice, light, tangy intro to the night. Salsa at Papalote takes the cake, you can put it on anything.
From there we headed to El Balazo on upper Haight. Happy to find it up and running after hearing about the raids a few years ago, we really enjoyed the decor. The chile verde taco was pretty good with a nice kick to it, but the carne asada taco fell a little short with sub-par meat. Cabbage salad there gets two thumbs up.
So, with 2 tacos down, next on the list we were scheduled to meet Ferg at Little Chihuahua on Divisadero at 7:30…almost a mile away. Time: 7:15. Onward and upward!
After a brisk hike/light jog over to Divis, we met up with Ferg and found Little Chihuahua…completely packed. La Taqueria, a must-visit on our hike, was still 2.5 miles away and closed at 9pm. It was kind of a long way to go without further sustenance, but since we were feeling a little crunched for time we decided to skip Chihuahua and go the distance in one fell swoop.
So we booked it allllll the way down to the Mission (over 2 and a half miles) and got to La Taq at 8:20 where we met up with Summer, Ryan, and Mike and ordered….TACOS DELICIOSOS! (And one burrito…dammit Mike).
Ryan and Summer introduced us to the crispy tacos, which I now highly recommend. Words overheard: tendermoist; overstuffed; more bang for your buck; perfectly crispy; delightful.
After getting booted from La Taq at 9pm, we walked a few doors down (literally) to El Farolito. The super popular taqueria was packed, per usual, so we decided to check out El Farolito bar next door. Turns out, the bar isn’t quite as hot a hangout for hipsters or English speakers. AND, apparently top secret info, you can order food from the taqueria at the bar! Genius.
That aside, additional reasons El Farolito completely rocked include (but are not limited to):
- The custom “buy six beers get one free” beer special imposed by the bartender when seven of us ordered beers
- 7 tacos cost $12
- Tacos come with their own plastic cup of full jalapenos
- The amazingly enormous SUPER TACO (the result of some sort of miscommunication during the ordering process)
- The custom tequila special of double tequila shots for the price of one, also imposed by the bartender
- The tequila
- The bartender
And, according to Summer, the veggie tacos here beat out the ones at La Taq. It was hard to leave. But after we finished our tacos and jalapenos and beers and tequila (and after Summer, Molly, and I got hugs and kisses from the old dudes sitting by the front door), we did.
Feeling pretty stuffed from our one-two taco punch, we headed down the street and ran into our first…BACON WRAPPED HOT DOG CART! Rules are rules. Down the hatch.
Really stuffed at this point, we continued our walk along Mission when out jumped…ANOTHER BWHDC! Ryan, always a stickler for rules, got another one. The rest of us opted out. Rules are made to be broken.
We needed to get off of Mission immediately to avoid another hot dog sneak attack, so we veered into Doc’s Clock for a beer. Unable to finish his hot dog before we went in, Ryan put it in his pocket to keep it warm.
After a beer at Docs everyone was feeling pretty disgusting…but we had one taqueria left on the list. We made our way up Mission when, half a block in, I heard a shriek. Hidden behind a post on our side of the street…a third bacon wrapped hot dog cart. And Ryan, who had just finished the second one from his pocket, was buying one (but this one with no mayo).
Champion.
We made it to our final stop, Taqueria los Coyotes where we finally met up with Jesse and Tierney and one girl who thought Los Coyotes was a great place for a nap.
Overheard during our final stop: hard to finish; good salsa bar; delicious produce; angry gigantic limes; soggy tortillas; phenomenal meat; greasy.
Watch out for the habanera sauce.
24 tacos, 6 bacon wrapped hot dogs, 1 burrito, 6 miles, and innumerable jalapenos later, lucky Hike #13 was a raging success.
Best taco (based purely on taste and quality): La Taqueria (meat); El Farolito (veggie)
Best overall taco experience: El Farolito
Lessons Learned: get the crispy tacos at La Taq; meat sweats are not just an urban myth
Flora and Fauna: bacon wrapped hot dog
Hike #10 (Urban Hike #4): Outer Richmond, aka the Dumpling trail
Location: San Francisco (the Richmond)
Distance: 5.5m
Entry fee: $0
Hike #10 was cause for celebration on a number of levels. Not only am I beyond thrilled to be steroid and gauze free, but we have now officially hit the double digits. Way to go us.
Molly always talks about how she has never spent any significant time in the outskirts of San Francisco, so we decided to take care of that. We headed out to the Great Highway to knock one of these neighborhoods off the list: the Richmond.
This hike we dubbed the Dumpling Trail (or, if you’d prefer, the Fatty McTubster hike). We only actually hit up one dumpling spot for food, but we did walk by at least a four dozen others.
The Richmond, which used to be a vast expanse of sand dunes, was built up following the 1906 earthquake to rehouse the population. It is one of the last Irish enclaves in SF (who came to the city by way of the Transcontinental Railroad) and also has huge Russian, Eastern European, and Chinese populations. (The Russians/Eastern Europeans came in the 1920s following the Russian Revolution, and again during the Cold War. The Chinese showed up in the late 1960s after the Chinese Exclusion Act was lifted.) We decided to try to hit up some Irish/Chinese/Russian food/drink/music on this hike to celebrate the cultural diversity of the neighborhood.
First point of action was getting dinner, and dumplings seemed like the right sort of celebratory Chinese cuisine for the occasion. Decision time. Options were:
- King of Chinese Dumpling
- Shanghai Dumpling King
- Kingdom of Dumpling
After much research and scrutiny, Shanghai Dumpling King won out.
Good call. This is the place to go for all things dumpling. The spicy dumplings were particularly fantastic.
Following dinner we made our way up to Bazaar Cafe on California with plans to hang out in the back garden, listen to some live music, and maybe grab a beer. We walked in to find…people praying in the back garden and a poetry jam/scripture reading in the front. Unclear what happened there. Time to move on to Tia Margarita…because what better way to get over barging in on a prayer group than watching Shani Davis win gold while drinking a margarita the size of your head.
Sidenote: at Tia I asked the bartender for a water with my marg (hydrate before you recreate), he told me they don’t serve water. I laughed. He never gave me water.
So at 3 miles, in a light tequila haze, we made our way back down to Geary and over to John Campbell’s Irish Bakery (which, btw, is open until 10pm.) This place COMPLETELY ROCKS. We got some apple fluffers, snowballs, and scones. Because we needed some extra calories.
Final pub stop of the night, The Plough and Stars, where we finally found our live Irish music! These dudes were definitely Irish, and they jammed.
The final stop on the Dumpling Trail was Michelle’s new digs in Presidio Heights…which just happens to be .5 blocks away from the corner of Washington and Cherry, the location of one of the Zodiac murders. WAY exciting.
Hike #10: SUCCESS!! Though we didn’t hit up any perogies or brats…but don’t worry, there are more hikes to come.
Lessons Learned: The Richmond is named after the Richmond District in Melbourne, Australia; a little more research on “live music” at certain venues might be worth your time
Flora and Fauna: 
As you slide down the banister of life, may all the splinters be going in the right direction. ~Irish blessing
Rambulatory Ambulatory 
