We slept really late this morning. It was wonderful! We finally got in the rental car around noon and went to a local Laundromat to do MORE laundry. I know, that’s all we do! This time, we were washing all the blankets.
After that was done, I got my Starbucks and then we headed back to the campground to relax until we got the call from our friend, Nancy, that she was on her way home from work.
At a little after 5:00pm we left for THE CASTRO to pick up Jimmy, and then went over to see Nancy, Donna and Joshua. Nancy was one of my best friends in college. She was a talented actress and singer and we did a lot of shows together at Queens College. She has lived in San Francisco with Donna for about 20 years, and I have seen their son, Joshua, who is 11, twice before – both times when they visited New York. The first time he was about 2; the second time around 5.
He is the sweetest, smartest, handsomest boy. He greeted me with such a big hug and kiss, even though he admitted he didn’t remember me! You know love at first sight? That’s what meeting Joshua is like. He is just so warm and friendly, you can’t help hugging him – and he hugs you right back (and kisses you, too). I was LOVING it!
Joshua in his backyard:
Their beautiful house:
Nancy and Donna have been in their beautiful home since 1991. It is 100 years old. It looks tiny from the outside, but there is room after room after room inside. They have a great fireplace in their living room, a big bathroom with a claw-foot tub, and lots of other great features you would expect to find in an old house in San Francisco. They have done a lot of work on the house, including an extension in the back of the house, which made their dining room and Joshua's room much bigger. They also built a separate garage. There is a full apartment in the basement, which they use for visiting friends and relatives. It is so cozy and warm, and full of great art, fun collectibles (including tins – something I collect, too!), and is obviously filled with love.
Some of the fun collectibles on display:
They collect PEZ and their collection was fantastic!
Eric, me, Donna, Nancy and Joshua. My camera was not working (as usual), so Jimmy was my ace photographer tonight. Unfortunately, he's not in any of the pictures (boo hoo!):
We would have stayed longer, but they have a cat, so I could only stay for a few minutes. We walked a few blocks to THE FRONT PORCH, a restaurant with interesting combinations of Cajun, soul food and American favorites. We decided to eat family style so we shared appetizers and entrees, including Tuna Carpaccio (ahi tuna with persimmon and parsley caper salad), Cornmeal Crusted Oysters, with poached egg, braised frisee, and horseradish mustard dressing, Roasted Root Veggies with house-marinated goat cheese, a big bucket of fried chicken, crab and grits (spicy Dungeness crab and sweet corn grit porridge with chickerling peas, lemon and scallion) (which was fabulous), macaroni pie, cole slaw, and fries: sweet and french.
The Front Porch:
We enjoyed everything, especially the company. We told them all about our travels, and the places we have seen in the last 11 weeks. It’s amazing when you start listing all the cities and states we’ve visited – even to us!
Here we are outside The Front Porch:
After dinner, we walked over to MITCHELL’S ICE CREAM – award winning ice cream since 1953.
I had a small cup of Peanut Butter Indulgence – and what an indulgence it was! Chocolate ice cream with peanut butter cups mixed in. YUM! Eric had French Vanilla Custard, Jimmy had Pumpkin (he’s been on a pumpkin kick since we got here!). Nancy had coffee. I can’t remember what flavors Donna and Joshua had, but I’m sure they were as delicious as ours!
We walked back to their house and said our goodbyes. As we left, Joshua was playing “ONE SINGULAR SENSATION” from A CHORUS LINE on the piano. Is that a great kid, or what?
Then, we dropped Jimmy back home. We were so sad to say goodbye. We have had the best time with Jimmy over the past 5 days. He showed us a great time and knew all the best places. He is so much fun and Eric and I thoroughly enjoyed being with him.
We noticed that there wasn't much going on in THE CASTRO, even though it was Halloween Night and the town is famous for their big parties. There was tons of news all day and night about the fact that they didn’t allow any Halloween parties in THE CASTRO tonight, because last year there were a lot of problems, including shootings and stabbings. When we were out and about last Saturday, there were tons of people out – all in fabulous costumes. Tonight there were more police than anyone else, and most of the bars and restaurants were closed (at the city’s request). It wasn’t much fun, so I’m glad we went elsewhere for dinner.
Tomorrow we will head to Monterey, which we also visited on our honeymoon. We are excited to see it again and to visit the aquarium, which we have heard is wonderful. We have enjoyed our time in San Francisco so much and know we will be back in this marvelous city again. We certainly won’t let another 23 years pass before we return!