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San Francisco Trip, day 3 of 4
Oct. 15th, 2022 11:59 pmSATURDAY
Woke up about 5:30 needing to pee, then went back to bed but didn't really sleep. Got up again about quarter to seven to sit on the toilet. Gary woke up while I was in there so I decided to stay up for the day. I took my morning meds and glucose test, then vacated the bathroom for Gary. When he was done I took a shower and Gary purchased tickets for the zoo.
We left the room and walked around the block to the All-star Cafe, which had no seating but there were counters along the windows where people could stand and eat. I had the California Carnivore with bacon, and Gary had a sausage omelet. A cute cubby dude named Alex had the order in front of ours; as he and the older ladies he was with left the Cafe, an older gentleman was walking a small dog out front. I woofed to Gary indicating Alex and he responded, "Dog's not bad either."
We walked up Ninth Street, crossed Market, and descended to the Muni platform one level below (BART is another level below that). There were a lot of anti-seafood ads from PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals). We caught the M train to West Portal, then transferred to the L bus (replacing the streetcar) which dropped us off a short block from the zoo entrance and Ocean Beach. Since we had plenty of time before our reservation at 10:30, we walked over to Ocean Beach and sat on a rock overlooking the ocean. There were quite a few surfers in wetsuits and people walking dogs. It was cloudy so no sunbathers were visible.
At ten after ten we walked to the zoo entrance and waited outside. A little girl in a pink coat looked at me and said hi. Gary guessed she took me for Santa Claus. We wandered around the zoo for about two and a half hours. When we got to the mandrill exhibit, a father told his child, "These are mandrills. Their faces look like their butts and their butts look like their faces." We had lunch at the Station Cafe of pizza which we shared and a pretzel for Gary. From there we visited the bears and wolves. The grizzlies were sleeping as were the wolves, but the black bears were active. As we left the bear exhibits I noticed a tall and lean father with a thick red beard and ink on both arms pushing a stroller. I told Gary, "Grizzly bear, black bear, stroller bear." We decided to skip the Australia exhibit for the sake of time. Instead we caught the L bus to West Portal Station and the train to Van Ness, and walked down 11th Street to the Bearrison Street Fair.
I purchased VIP wristbands and we explored the fair, ending up at the Eagle for the first time. We sat inside by the stage and met a simply huge bear in a ripped plaid shirt, fur stole, and Daisy Dukes. He complimented me on my choice of a plaid jacket that matched his shirt. I finished my can of cider and needed to pee so I used the trough urinal off the patio, which had a strategically placed mirror. Gary still had much of his soda left, so I suggested we hang out on the patio and had another cider, this time on draft. When we finished our drinks we walked to the VIP tent at the other end of Harrison Street, stopping by the south end entertainment stage on the way, where a shirtless bear in a Lucha Libre hood was on stage with a serious drag queen and a couple of instrumentalists. I also noticed a dude in a black T-shirt and cap; the T-shirt read "Eat butt, not carbs".
When we arrived at the VIP tent, a slight young dude ushered us in and we quickly found a table to sit at. There was a nice young bear with a split ring in his nose seated a few tables away. I liked his ink and his general appearance, so on the way back from purchasing an Elysian Space Dust IPA, I complimented him on his ink and introduced myself. His name is Matt and he's local. We sat and chilled out until four when the Lone Star Saloon opened. In the meantime I took a tour of the Bear Wood, led by Ranger Dave. There were tree stumps fashioned from brown curtains which served as glory holes, and a rental truck served as the Bear Cave. A Sister arrived and ascended the ramp to the Bear Cave, and a tall young dude with an orange hankie around his neck and otherwise in black leather head to toe addressed Ranger Dave with "I need to take a piss." When I left Ranger Dave was happy to oblige. I took the opportunity to have a pee (in the porta-potty) and then greeted a nice dude wearing a Diesel cap. He introduced himself as Gonzalo and his friends as Vaughn and Jeff. They had been in Seattle this past May.
As 4 PM approached we headed for the Lone Star. We greeted Charlie at the bar, ordered drinks, and grabbed seats on the corner of the back patio. I caught up on my journal and Gary checked the score of the Mariners game. It was scoreless in the bottom of the ninth. I recognized Killer Bob on the other side of the back bench and, after using the trough urinal and buying another cider at the bar, I said hi to Bob and we got into a conversation. The cute red bear next to him joined in and, when I asked to take the seat behind him on the bench, Bob moved over and we started chatting with him; he introduced himself as Sean. Another fellow who had been playing with Bob as we started our conversation with Sean joined us, gave Gary a big hug, and introduced himself as Jesús. Gary informed me later that Jesús was Sean's husband. Sean was stunned by my description of Bear Woods and opined he would be willing to volunteer to service the bears. We had a nice chat and I sent Sean a friend request on Facebook.
About five o'clock we said our farewells and returned to the hotel on foot. I took off my clothes starting with my sweaty boots and socks, and put on my ampersand pride (D&D) T-shirt and nylon shorts. We recharged phones and tracked the Mariners game which was still scoreless in the 14th inning at 6 PM.
About 6:30 we left the hotel to go to City Lights Bookstore. I'd left my phone on the charger upstairs so Gary waited in the lobby while I retrieved it. I rode the elevator with a couple who were also staying on our floor. He wore a tattered denim vest in tie-dye colors and she wore a delicate tie-dyed dress. I complimented them on the clothes and he said he bought his in Hawaii and she in Marin County, CA. I returned downstairs and we detoured onto the bus island en route to Civic Center Station. We caught the train two stops to Montgomery Station, then walked a couple blocks and around a corner to catch the 8 bus. The bus was much less crowded than I'd seen on previous trips.
On exiting from the bus I stepped hard into the street on my bad left knee. After a few painful steps it stopped bothering me and we made it to City Lights and up and down stairs with little difficulty. The trouble started when we sat down to dinner at a seafood restaurant up the hill from the bookstore, where I had to keep stretching my leg under the table. We were seated down a short flight of stairs directly in front of the kitchen. The food was excellent and the waiter was very good-looking, with short, dark hair and matching beard and a fireplug build. After dinner it took quite a while for Gary to get the bill, until he went back upstairs to remind the waiter. Once the bill was settled, we walked across the street for ice cream sandwiches at The Baked Bear. We then caught the 12 bus to Embarcadero Station and surfaced at Civic Center Station on UN Plaza. Gary noticed City Hall was lit up in pink and blue for a special occasion so we walked a bit further than we needed to get the pictures. But I ended up stepping off another curb hard and this time my knee would not be denied another minute. This frustrated Gary.
We returned to the room and made plans for the morning, then fell asleep prematurely. I got up about 11:30 to properly prepare for bed and finish the day's journaling, then went to sleep.
Woke up about 5:30 needing to pee, then went back to bed but didn't really sleep. Got up again about quarter to seven to sit on the toilet. Gary woke up while I was in there so I decided to stay up for the day. I took my morning meds and glucose test, then vacated the bathroom for Gary. When he was done I took a shower and Gary purchased tickets for the zoo.
We left the room and walked around the block to the All-star Cafe, which had no seating but there were counters along the windows where people could stand and eat. I had the California Carnivore with bacon, and Gary had a sausage omelet. A cute cubby dude named Alex had the order in front of ours; as he and the older ladies he was with left the Cafe, an older gentleman was walking a small dog out front. I woofed to Gary indicating Alex and he responded, "Dog's not bad either."
We walked up Ninth Street, crossed Market, and descended to the Muni platform one level below (BART is another level below that). There were a lot of anti-seafood ads from PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals). We caught the M train to West Portal, then transferred to the L bus (replacing the streetcar) which dropped us off a short block from the zoo entrance and Ocean Beach. Since we had plenty of time before our reservation at 10:30, we walked over to Ocean Beach and sat on a rock overlooking the ocean. There were quite a few surfers in wetsuits and people walking dogs. It was cloudy so no sunbathers were visible.
At ten after ten we walked to the zoo entrance and waited outside. A little girl in a pink coat looked at me and said hi. Gary guessed she took me for Santa Claus. We wandered around the zoo for about two and a half hours. When we got to the mandrill exhibit, a father told his child, "These are mandrills. Their faces look like their butts and their butts look like their faces." We had lunch at the Station Cafe of pizza which we shared and a pretzel for Gary. From there we visited the bears and wolves. The grizzlies were sleeping as were the wolves, but the black bears were active. As we left the bear exhibits I noticed a tall and lean father with a thick red beard and ink on both arms pushing a stroller. I told Gary, "Grizzly bear, black bear, stroller bear." We decided to skip the Australia exhibit for the sake of time. Instead we caught the L bus to West Portal Station and the train to Van Ness, and walked down 11th Street to the Bearrison Street Fair.
I purchased VIP wristbands and we explored the fair, ending up at the Eagle for the first time. We sat inside by the stage and met a simply huge bear in a ripped plaid shirt, fur stole, and Daisy Dukes. He complimented me on my choice of a plaid jacket that matched his shirt. I finished my can of cider and needed to pee so I used the trough urinal off the patio, which had a strategically placed mirror. Gary still had much of his soda left, so I suggested we hang out on the patio and had another cider, this time on draft. When we finished our drinks we walked to the VIP tent at the other end of Harrison Street, stopping by the south end entertainment stage on the way, where a shirtless bear in a Lucha Libre hood was on stage with a serious drag queen and a couple of instrumentalists. I also noticed a dude in a black T-shirt and cap; the T-shirt read "Eat butt, not carbs".
When we arrived at the VIP tent, a slight young dude ushered us in and we quickly found a table to sit at. There was a nice young bear with a split ring in his nose seated a few tables away. I liked his ink and his general appearance, so on the way back from purchasing an Elysian Space Dust IPA, I complimented him on his ink and introduced myself. His name is Matt and he's local. We sat and chilled out until four when the Lone Star Saloon opened. In the meantime I took a tour of the Bear Wood, led by Ranger Dave. There were tree stumps fashioned from brown curtains which served as glory holes, and a rental truck served as the Bear Cave. A Sister arrived and ascended the ramp to the Bear Cave, and a tall young dude with an orange hankie around his neck and otherwise in black leather head to toe addressed Ranger Dave with "I need to take a piss." When I left Ranger Dave was happy to oblige. I took the opportunity to have a pee (in the porta-potty) and then greeted a nice dude wearing a Diesel cap. He introduced himself as Gonzalo and his friends as Vaughn and Jeff. They had been in Seattle this past May.
As 4 PM approached we headed for the Lone Star. We greeted Charlie at the bar, ordered drinks, and grabbed seats on the corner of the back patio. I caught up on my journal and Gary checked the score of the Mariners game. It was scoreless in the bottom of the ninth. I recognized Killer Bob on the other side of the back bench and, after using the trough urinal and buying another cider at the bar, I said hi to Bob and we got into a conversation. The cute red bear next to him joined in and, when I asked to take the seat behind him on the bench, Bob moved over and we started chatting with him; he introduced himself as Sean. Another fellow who had been playing with Bob as we started our conversation with Sean joined us, gave Gary a big hug, and introduced himself as Jesús. Gary informed me later that Jesús was Sean's husband. Sean was stunned by my description of Bear Woods and opined he would be willing to volunteer to service the bears. We had a nice chat and I sent Sean a friend request on Facebook.
About five o'clock we said our farewells and returned to the hotel on foot. I took off my clothes starting with my sweaty boots and socks, and put on my ampersand pride (D&D) T-shirt and nylon shorts. We recharged phones and tracked the Mariners game which was still scoreless in the 14th inning at 6 PM.
About 6:30 we left the hotel to go to City Lights Bookstore. I'd left my phone on the charger upstairs so Gary waited in the lobby while I retrieved it. I rode the elevator with a couple who were also staying on our floor. He wore a tattered denim vest in tie-dye colors and she wore a delicate tie-dyed dress. I complimented them on the clothes and he said he bought his in Hawaii and she in Marin County, CA. I returned downstairs and we detoured onto the bus island en route to Civic Center Station. We caught the train two stops to Montgomery Station, then walked a couple blocks and around a corner to catch the 8 bus. The bus was much less crowded than I'd seen on previous trips.
On exiting from the bus I stepped hard into the street on my bad left knee. After a few painful steps it stopped bothering me and we made it to City Lights and up and down stairs with little difficulty. The trouble started when we sat down to dinner at a seafood restaurant up the hill from the bookstore, where I had to keep stretching my leg under the table. We were seated down a short flight of stairs directly in front of the kitchen. The food was excellent and the waiter was very good-looking, with short, dark hair and matching beard and a fireplug build. After dinner it took quite a while for Gary to get the bill, until he went back upstairs to remind the waiter. Once the bill was settled, we walked across the street for ice cream sandwiches at The Baked Bear. We then caught the 12 bus to Embarcadero Station and surfaced at Civic Center Station on UN Plaza. Gary noticed City Hall was lit up in pink and blue for a special occasion so we walked a bit further than we needed to get the pictures. But I ended up stepping off another curb hard and this time my knee would not be denied another minute. This frustrated Gary.
We returned to the room and made plans for the morning, then fell asleep prematurely. I got up about 11:30 to properly prepare for bed and finish the day's journaling, then went to sleep.