San Francisco

I actually visited San Francisco way back in September, but didn’t get around to writing about it because so much happened and when I tried writing I ended up with a few pages of the first day alone. It turns out that by waiting a while, the less important details get filtered out, and the trip condenses, making it more appropriate for writing here.

I had three reasons for visiting San Francisco: to see some friends, to evaluate S.F. as a potential place to live, and to go somewhere I’d never been before. I’d have to say that all three of those goals were successfully accomplished that trip.

Hightlights from the trip include:

  • Clubbing friday night, though frustrating, was very different from clubbing in the tri-cities.
  • Downtown S.F. Saturday morning with Pier 39, driving down the steep hills, and dinner at Pier 39.
  • Clubbing Saturday night at Ruby Sky, dancing to techno at a CD opening party until 3 in the morning.
  • Sunday morning Chinatown, dim sum, Alcatraz tour, visit to the beach, cross the Golden Gate bridge, and Highway 1.
  • Monday to downtown S.F. again to walk around during the day, then up to Berkeley and the campus.
  • Tuesday getting back on the plane.

Of course, that’s a really vague overview of the trip, and a lot happened in between. One of the things that I hated about the Bay Area was the commute anywhere. Sure, there’s tons of stuff to do, but when it takes 45 minutes to an hour to get there, that takes a lot of the fun out of it and really eats into a day. I also realized that the big city is definitely for me rather than a small town. And I found people like me, which is something I haven’t really found here.

I haven’t ruled out S.F. entirely, but it’s not my favorite place to be. I think Seattle still trumps it.

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