Western Delights

Our second day in Yosemite we woke up early to get a short hike in before we had to leave to the next stop on our California trip. I chose a moderate trail as I was tired of the flat meadows - up to the footbridge at the base of Vernal Fall. I planned to get up to the bridge and back (~1.5 hours), but Connie was feeling adventurous and led us half-way up the full ascent to the top of the fall (the 680-granite stair Mist Trail). At the half point or so I chickened out of finishing the slippery climb of the Misty Trail, and having now just read a Wikipedia summary about Vernal Fall, I am relieved we did not in fact die trying even that. At least I had a practical excuse - checkout time. Vowing to return to Yosemite one day and at least finish that climb, if not to go all the way to Nevada Fall and climb up Half Dome to boot, we packed our things and drove on West to San Francisco.

Five or so hours later we were on the Bay Bridge marveling at the City's downtown skyline. Having had a restaurant cancel our reservations for the night due to kitchen malfunction, we decided to go to Berkley and sup at the famed Chez Panisse. We started the evening at a nice beerhouse called Jupiter. Good brew, outdoor heated garden seating, and live (albeit mediocre) jazz. Chez Panisse was nice, but nothing special except for some exquisitely cooked squid. It was a good impromptu evening and Connie got to drive my hammered ass back to the hotel and claim some props. We took it easy the next day and started our day late-ish with a lunch of clams and more clams at Hog Island Oyster Co. Delicious "chowdah" and great service in this unassuming yummery. Then we hit the unpleasant but inevitable Fisherman's Wharf for a bit of a walk, gift shopping, sightseeing, and a terrible, yet obligatory, bread-bowl clam chowder. Why is SF's number one tourist attraction such a letdown? We then took a very long bus trip and uphill walk to the Legion of Honor Palace - one of two tiny halves of the main fine arts
establishment of SF. At least the view was nice from up top Lincoln Park. Dinner at Jai Yun was also a letdown, but not completely. And on the next morning we did a quick review of SFMOMA, but there wasn't much there. The city is just not as hopping as New York and it's got its charms but... Oh well, on to Napa.