(Part Four of The Bollywood Bride Trilogy)
Sunday morning meant checking out of the Holiday Inn in Concord. But before leaving the small towns for the big city, we had to see Mr. and Mrs. Coxsmith one last time.
We met up for breakfast at a Denny's around the corner. It was a bittersweet reunion. Sweet because we got to recap the wedding events and get their feelings on how things went down. Apparently things had not gone as well as desired. I'm saddened that Angel Wing Jasmine had to fight for a lot of her wants and she was talked out of much of them. I'm glad she got her Mickey and Minnie Mouse cake toppers, but her honeymoon should have been a trip to Disneyland. Instead, they were gifted a cruise to Mexico, which she found less than enjoyable.
But it's too late for should'ves. What will hopefully happen is a nice trip to Disneyland and Walt Disney World to make up for missed opportunities.
But that's neither here nor there. After scarfing down "Build Your Own Grand Slam" meals, Angel Wing Jasmine footed the bill graciously and we left the restaurant.
And it was here where we said our goodbyes. Angel Wing Jasmine and Coxsmith were originally going to join us for an afternoon in the city, but we let them off the hook when we saw how exhausted they were from the past days' events. So after a huge for Angel Wing Jasmine and a shake of the hand followed by a pull in for a pat-on-the-back man hug for Coxsmith, we pulled away on 680 toward Hayward, CA.
I'm incredibly proud of myself for this trip. Because I was the only one covered under the insurance for the rental car and because it would have costed more if I added additional drivers on the car, I was the solo driver the entire trip. Without the luxury of GPS, we had to rely on Google Maps directions and iPod touch map navigation to get around. It can get a little tough since the directions are kind of wonky, but I'm very proud that I was able to get around perfectly fine. Of course I had the help of my faithful navigators.
We drove over the Oakland Bay Bridge and found our way to Fisherman's Wharf, our starting point for San Franciscan fun! As always in a big city, finding parking is shitty. We spun round and round in a structure, I felt my heart was going to rupture. But finally at the very top, we were able to stop. There were plenty of empty spaces, I want to rhyme with the word feces.On foot now, we were on the look out for a clue for something to do. But we were also hungry. We found an In-N-Out and stopped in for a quick burger as we planned out the day. We decided to take a Downtown Loop double decker bus tour. If we had arrived earlier, we could have actually used the bus to jump on and off at specific touristy destinations. But since we got there around 3:30 PM, we could only do one complete loop around before they shut down for the day.
There wasn't much that I would have cared to see anyway. There was a mall and such. I did want to make a stop over at the Transamerica Pyramid, but the stop for it came and went too quickly. So we just did a quick loop and then left. It was kind of a waste of money and the tour guide was soooooooo bad. I can still hear his soft-toned cackle under my skin whenever he told a stoooopid joke. But after it was complete, I did get a sense that I saw most of the town. Had we not done the tour and gone somewhere else, I would have felt like we wasted a trip into San Fran.
After the bus tour, we saw the putrid seals roasting like hot dog wieners at the wharf and also snacked on some awesome amazing mini donuts. They came off a miniature line like Krispy Kreme, but these were good! Then we got back to the car and headed towards the Palace of Fine Arts.Amazingly we found parking a block away and took a few pictures. Then we checked out the Golden Gate Bridge at a little beach. There were wind surfers and dogs galore. Many people jogging down a long winding path. It was a really nice day out.
So what was left in San Fran? Wait, does anyone ever call it "San Fran?" Or is that just a square term? Okay, anyway, so. What else is there to do in 'Cisco? I don't know about you, but when I think of 'Cisco, I think of The Tanners. And so we went on a search for Victorian-style houses ala Full House. Since no parking could be found for miles, Erico Suave and MacArthur jumped out of the car, took some pictures, then jumped back in when I spun around again. Eh, I don't think I missed much.
We then went to Haight & Ashbury for some Crepes, the same place we visited on our previous trip. Unfortunately the place closed down. We were also hoping to visit the Kid Robot store to buy some Simpsons figurines (Erico Suave and MacArthur gave me some of these for my birthday and they're rad), but we found it closed. Since the sun had set and the bums were getting restless (some of which looked like teenagers peddling for cash because it's some new trend), we got the hell outta the city and back to Hayward to our cushy room complete with fridge and continental breakfast!
And that was it. The next morning we caught our flight back to Southern California where I hope Angel Wing Jasmine and Coxsmith will visit soon!
Rewriting the rules on trilogies,
Ricky
