San Francisco? San Frantastic!

Jeanette and I have just returned from three days in San Francisco. Although we didn't wear flowers in our hair, and our hearts are still with us, we nevertheless had an amazing time. The sun shone every day and we took full advantage on our first afternoon by walking across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Our search for a bus stop that would get us back to the hotel led to an unintended but lovely stroll along the beach and then into the Presidio, home of the George Lucas' Letterman Digital Arts Center. I was in geek paradise, but I was only getting started... more on that later.

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Our brush with movies continued that night when we dined at John's Grill, made famous in Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon. The seafood cioppino a la marinara was delicious and launched what was to become three days of the heaviest feasting I've enjoyed since before my cancer treatment. Climbing up the hills of San Francisco sure builds up one's appetite.

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Given the steepness of those hills, and our limited time in the city, we opted for a bus tour on our second day. The bus took us to all the major sights, inlcuding the Haight-Ashbury district, Golden Gate Park, Alamo Square, and the scenic overlook known as Twin Peaks. After the tour, we set out to do a little more exploring and hopped on a cable car near our hotel.

There was no shortage of thrills as we clung on for dear life, swooshing past other cable cars with only inches to spare, and experiencing two near misses with motorists who seemed not to realize a vehicle on tracks can't veer out of their way.

We were happy to disembark near Telegraph Hill where we began walking up to Coit Tower.

Dusk was falling and all was quiet as we climbed Union St. toward Montgomery. The scene became even more peaceful when we reached the beautifully landscaped Greenwich Steps, where the scent of flowers mingled with the songs of birds -- although there was no sign of the famous parrots of Telegraph Hill. We encountered very few people and our time in the twilight here was one of our favourite moments of the trip.

Returning down Telegraph Hill to Washington Square, we had another incredible meal at one of the many Italian eateries in the area, the Cafe Divine. Believe it or not, it was accordian night and accomplished musician Danny Cantrell played a surprisingly romantic set right next to our table.

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The romance continued the next day as we boarded a couples cruise to Alcatraz.

Okay, so it wasn't a couples cruise, nor was it romantic, but the award-winning audio tour of the notorious prison was surprisingly engrossing. Walking through the cell block as the voices of former guards and inmates play on your headset is chillingly effective.

The tour brings to life both the monotony of day-to-day prison life and the handful of dramatic escape attempts in Alcatraz's history. A memorable tour, but as they say, it's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.


Alcatraz was interesting, but as far as captivativing visits go, nothing can compare with our final night in San Francisico. Chris Williams is a family friend and former neighbour from my childhood in Halifax. Chris is now a project leader at LucasArts, the video game division of the Lucas Empire and he was kind enough to invite us for a quick tour of his workplace. Yes, it was back the Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio. But we weren't just walking past this time. Oh no. This time, we were going in.

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Yes, I experienced the ultimate geekgasm. The triumvirate of my geekhood -- filmmaking, video games, and Star Wars -- had arrived at its mecca: the home of Industrial Light and Magic, LucasArts, and the marketing, online, and licensing departments of the Lucas Empire. The non-disclosure agreement we had to sign (no joke) precludes me from going into detail, but highlights include seeing the original optical printer used for the first effects shots in Star Wars, original matte paintings from many ILM movies, conceptual art for yet-to-be-released video games, and, of course, the Yoda fountain:

After the tour we enjoyed a tasty dinner at the nearby Presidio Social Club restaurant followed by drinks at Chris' place. It was fantastic to catch up and reminisce about the hijinks we got up to back in the day. Jeanette showed tremendous patience both in enduring the geek-a-thon and the walk down memory lane. I think meeting Chris' lovable golden retriever (and a mojito with dinner) helped ease her pain.

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It was a memorable finale to a wonderful trip. We couldn't be happier with the time we had in San Francisco. It really was the perfect way to enjoy all that we have to celebrate.