![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
San Francisco Trip, day 1 of 4
Oct. 13th, 2022 11:59 pmTHURSDAY
We got a Lyft from home to Paine Field about 1:30 PM, which was a little earlier than I was expecting and was likely due to mishearing the flight time as 3:15 rather than 3:50. Still, as I mentioned, it's always better to be early than late. We dropped off our checked bags and proceeded to the gate. I asked Gary if he wanted something to drink, and he said he would prefer ginger ale or diet cola if no ginger ale was available. It turned out the only place to get a soda was at the bar. I thought they only had glassware and thus required one to sit in the lounge area between the two gates, so we moved to a sunny table by the windows and I ordered drinks, which were served in plastic cups if you asked for them to go. They only had ginger beer which is a bit stronger than ginger ale, so I got a ginger beer and a diet cola and offered either to Gary; he chose the ginger beer. When we finished our drinks, Gary suggested we return to the gate area so we could get out of the sun. I ordered another round of drinks, only this time Gary took the diet cola and I had the ginger beer.
We were called to the podium because they'd moved our seats a row forward; my app didn't update so I showed it to the gate agent and she printed new boarding passes. Shortly afterwards we boarded the plane via an exterior ramp and a portable ramp like those we'd first seen in Long Beach. We got settled into our seats fairly quickly and no extenders were needed. We were served snacks and drinks before most of the rest of the plane, likely because the cart would have been in the way otherwise. I got up to pee while they were soliciting for credit cards and it took quite a while as it has been doing recently.
We landed at SFO after circling the bay to the south, then had to park on the tarmac and wait for our gate to open. Once we deplaned and used the restroom, we found our checked bags already on the carousel. We headed upstairs to the Airtrain station and caught the Blue Line to the BART station. As luck would have it, we were able to add fares to our Clipper cards instead of getting paper tickets. We then descended to the platform level and caught the BART Red Line to Civic Center via Millbrae.
When we arrived at Civic Center we were again confronted by a long flight of stairs with no elevator or escalator service to the street. There were many homeless people on the street, to the point where a security guard had to open the lobby door for us. We got checked in and unpacked, and decided to try the hotel bar for dinner. I wasn't sure they served a full meal but the bartender (a very cute Hispanic-looking dude with curly hair and nice ink peeking out of the sleeves of his black shirt) fetched us a menu. We ordered a bowl of mac and cheese to share and a cheeseburger each, and ginger beer and water to drink. Gary likes his burgers well-done and I like mine medium, so it took a bit longer for his to arrive. In the meantime, a party of four arrived and started bantering with the bartender about sports teams. They hailed from Boston and the conversation turned to whether Boston or New York fans were crazier. Gary chimed in based on his experience. Later the bartender confessed to being addicted to reality shows including Bachelor in Paradise and Love Island. The young lady sitting next to Gary knew one of the contestants on the latter show personally, and after a bout of Twenty Questions the bartender figured out who she was talking about. We kept up with the sports on ESPN on a nearby TV.
When we finished eating we returned to the room and turned on Grey's Anatomy. When that was done we turned on news and I got ready for bed.
We got a Lyft from home to Paine Field about 1:30 PM, which was a little earlier than I was expecting and was likely due to mishearing the flight time as 3:15 rather than 3:50. Still, as I mentioned, it's always better to be early than late. We dropped off our checked bags and proceeded to the gate. I asked Gary if he wanted something to drink, and he said he would prefer ginger ale or diet cola if no ginger ale was available. It turned out the only place to get a soda was at the bar. I thought they only had glassware and thus required one to sit in the lounge area between the two gates, so we moved to a sunny table by the windows and I ordered drinks, which were served in plastic cups if you asked for them to go. They only had ginger beer which is a bit stronger than ginger ale, so I got a ginger beer and a diet cola and offered either to Gary; he chose the ginger beer. When we finished our drinks, Gary suggested we return to the gate area so we could get out of the sun. I ordered another round of drinks, only this time Gary took the diet cola and I had the ginger beer.
We were called to the podium because they'd moved our seats a row forward; my app didn't update so I showed it to the gate agent and she printed new boarding passes. Shortly afterwards we boarded the plane via an exterior ramp and a portable ramp like those we'd first seen in Long Beach. We got settled into our seats fairly quickly and no extenders were needed. We were served snacks and drinks before most of the rest of the plane, likely because the cart would have been in the way otherwise. I got up to pee while they were soliciting for credit cards and it took quite a while as it has been doing recently.
We landed at SFO after circling the bay to the south, then had to park on the tarmac and wait for our gate to open. Once we deplaned and used the restroom, we found our checked bags already on the carousel. We headed upstairs to the Airtrain station and caught the Blue Line to the BART station. As luck would have it, we were able to add fares to our Clipper cards instead of getting paper tickets. We then descended to the platform level and caught the BART Red Line to Civic Center via Millbrae.
When we arrived at Civic Center we were again confronted by a long flight of stairs with no elevator or escalator service to the street. There were many homeless people on the street, to the point where a security guard had to open the lobby door for us. We got checked in and unpacked, and decided to try the hotel bar for dinner. I wasn't sure they served a full meal but the bartender (a very cute Hispanic-looking dude with curly hair and nice ink peeking out of the sleeves of his black shirt) fetched us a menu. We ordered a bowl of mac and cheese to share and a cheeseburger each, and ginger beer and water to drink. Gary likes his burgers well-done and I like mine medium, so it took a bit longer for his to arrive. In the meantime, a party of four arrived and started bantering with the bartender about sports teams. They hailed from Boston and the conversation turned to whether Boston or New York fans were crazier. Gary chimed in based on his experience. Later the bartender confessed to being addicted to reality shows including Bachelor in Paradise and Love Island. The young lady sitting next to Gary knew one of the contestants on the latter show personally, and after a bout of Twenty Questions the bartender figured out who she was talking about. We kept up with the sports on ESPN on a nearby TV.
When we finished eating we returned to the room and turned on Grey's Anatomy. When that was done we turned on news and I got ready for bed.