Me Day

Things have been pretty rough lately...  to a point where stress is boiling over to the kids.  And to which Joyce "rewarded" me with a Me-Day.  Take some time off... you're tired.  It's Daylight Savings.  Go and just have some "Me-Time."  So I did....

So without hesitation... I decide to go out to the city to see Mom and Dad.  Had a hard time finding mom, so I got a hold of dad.  I initially suggested Horse Racing at Golden Gate Fields... but we ended up brunching at Beach Chalet.... and walking the sands of Ocean Beach and a flower garden at Golden Gate Park.

After dropping dad off... I was gonna go for a spin around the city... perhaps drive to the Golden Gate Bridge and kill some time before dinner with mom.  Oddly enough, I found myself driving to a 打卡點 at Lyon Street Steps... a place I've never been to while growing up in the city.  The top of those steps led me to the Presidio.  And entering the Presidio... eventually led me to the Yoda Fountain.

I looked up and felt I was just 20 minutes away from Palace of Fine Arts... so I kept going.  It was a downhill walk...  Somewhere in the midst of the Presidio... I found a self made Pickle Ball Court.  Go figure.

At that point.. I was within walking distance to the Golden Gate Bridge... so I crossed through Crissy Fields and ended up at the bridge.  To which point I thought... oh why not.  So I crossed the bridge itself.  Halfway thru crossing.... I was wondering... "Crap... I have to walk back to the car!"  So I was thinking of bus... or Uber.... or heh heh heh... a rental scooter.

 

Finding a scooter or Lyft bike wasn't as easy as I envisioned.  Normal people would pick one up and go to the bridge/and back... and head back towards civilization.  There's no way someone left it close to the bridge.  Indeed... it took me forever to find a rack of Lyft bikes... only for me to realize I would have to park it in a rack that wasn't close to where I parked.  I found an abandoned scooter on the beach... and after towing it back to land... I find that it's out of commission.  When I finally found a couple of scooters by the Palace of Fine Arts... I celebrated in joy!!!  Only to find... the scooter didn't make it up the hills of San Francisco with much torque.  I ended up pushing with my now spaghetti legs more than anything.  To top it off.... when I parked the bike... my phone was out of juice, so I never "returned" it until I got back to the car and recharged my phone.  That added another 10 minutes to my rental time.

I did however... time myself perfect to pick mom up for dinner.  As expected... she wanted Italian so we headed to North Beach.  I initally wanted Mona Lisa's Spaghettini Amatriciana (spicy pasta) but thought we might as well try something new.  I found a highly rated, hole in the wall.  

The waitress was amazing... gave me samples of wine to my liking.  Checked in occasionally but wasn't too intrusive.  And complimented me on my choice of attire (ha!!). I ended the night by shaking her hand and giving her a prefunctory kiss on the hand.  (Did I cross the line???)

The night wrapped up at the Gonz.  I almost would've hung out with him instead of walking the streets of SF.  But he was busy...so we ended up pouring a couple of Kolsch's while watching the Oscars.  After a while... we tuned out the Oscars and just caught up.  It was a great evening.

No... it was a great day... a "Me Day."  We all deserve more of these.