Today we started our journey not bright but early at 5:10 AM. We left from Vermillion and met Iseley, Alex, and Dominique at Omaha airport. We moved through security with ease. No one attempted to board the plane with unidentifiable liquids or Swiss army knives. Because of his suspicious appearance, Roger had to be strip searched. Don't worry he was cleared and boarded the plane with the rest of the group.
We arrived in San Fransisco after a day of sleeping in awkward positions but everyone was in high spirits. We walked outside to fifty degree weather, a sauna compared to the conditions we left behind at 5. We boarded the BART- Bay Area Rapid Transportation and made our way to the hostel. On the BART we spoke with a San Franciscan local. We asked him how San Fransisco was suffering from the recession. He stated he himself was not suffering from the recession. He works as a Verizon manager. The closing of Circuit City forced him to lay off five employees, a minor number compared to the thousands of workers reabsorbed and placed elsewhere. He recommended locations to check out while in the city which included North Beach, Mission for Mexican food, and Fisherman's Wharf.
After arriving at the hostel, we set out on our first San Franciscan adventure. We took the Muni to Fisherman's Wharf where our first exposure to homlessness occurred. On the bus ride we saw a number of individuals occupying the streets. One area had a shopping cart loaded with what looked to be sleeping equipment. It was interesting to combine visuals of homlessness with tourism and luxury. We were fortunate to eat dinner at Sea Lion Cafe. Appropriately our table overlooked a population of wharf dwelling sea lions. We then made our way to Gharadeli to satisfy our dessert craving. All three experiences were a nice starter in understanding the complex culture of the San Fransisco area.
- Dominique
Shrimp Flavored Chips?
Even thought I can't be with you, I'll be following the trip thanks to Roger's blog. Hope you enjoyed Fisherman's Wharf. Did you see the guy who pretends to be a bush and jumps out at people. The tenderloin is the the heart of the homeless but from my impressions you'll find them all across the city. If you get to the Haight walk into the end of Golden Gate park and walk the short loop past Hippie hill (you'll be know when you find it). I hope all is well with the SF group. I'll be thinking of all of you!
ReplyDeleteDoug