There and back.

Whoa. San Fran was a whirlwind. By Friday afternoon I felt like I had already been there for a week. Hannah keeps a pretty fast pace - certainly faster than what I was doing at the Cape (i.e. mostly nothing). But it was incredible! This was my third or fourth trip there, and I feel like I got a lot better sense of the city this time.

Hannah had to work on Friday morning, so I was on my own. It was a beautiful day for adventure, so I set out with a first goal of getting coffee (at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, of course), which was about 2 miles away. Once accomplished, I found a nearby park and meditated on what an amazing day it was, and how content I felt. How could I not? Look at this place!

I then continued on a wandering path, up and over some pretty incredible hills, and wound up at the Golden Gate promenade. It still amazes me to see people swimming at the beach right in the city - I guess that's what a lifetime of living in New England does to you.

Moments after taking the above picture, I turned around and glanced down at the sand - and was staring straight at someone's half-buried car keys. Damn. There was a couple sitting nearby, and I asked if they were theirs, but sadly, they weren't. I looked around, half-shouting "Did anyone lose their car keys?" Although I got some curious looks, no one claimed them. I told the couple that I would try to give them to the information center or the police, in case anyone came by looking for them.

I weaved my way back through the Crissy Field parking lot, randomly hitting the Panic button on the keys, to see if I could locate the car - although, in hindsight, even if I had found the car that way, I'm not sure what I would've done next. I finally found a police officer, who was riding the most enormous horse I've ever seen in my life, and gave them to her. She said they would keep them at the local station, in case anyone called looking for them. I said a silent little message to the universe, hoping that they were found. If I'm ever in that situation, I hope someone does the same for me.

I hiked back towards Hannah's apartment. It had gotten up to about 80 degrees by this point, which was amazing, but it made some of the hills, um, slightly more difficult. Ok, ok, I was sweating like a pig; sweat was dripping into my eyes, stinging them as I huffed and puffed up one of the steepest hills I've had to scale in a while. Here's a photo from where I had to stop halfway up to take a breather:

Like I said, halfway up.

I discovered I really like exploring a city on my own. Though I like to have shared experiences, I'm learning to appreciate time alone, being able to go at my own pace, wander off-track if I feel like it, and just attend to my own wishes.

All told, it was about an 8-mile exploration, which we then followed with an evening of martinis and debauchery at Martunis, a local piano bar. Word to the wise, if you're going to walk 8 miles and then drink martinis, for the love of all that is holy, eat something in between those two activities. I didn't and by midnight I was about to cut a bitch. Thanks to Pizza Zing to Pizza Zoom or Pizza Zomething down the street, I finished the evening without stabbing anyone.

Other weekend activities included more Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf; going to Beauty Bar, a bar in an old Beauty Salon that keeps a manicurist on staff so you can get a vodka tonic & mani; going to the finish line of the Nike Women's Marathon to cheer on the runners; birthday brunch at Brunch Drunk Love; and lawn games in the Panhandle park.

As exhausting at the pace of the weekend was, it was so great, and I can't wait to go back to SF! ...someday...!