I’ve had a busy few weeks, so my poor little blog feels rather neglected. I was expecting sun today but as it hasn’t appeared, I’ve finally had a chance to stay in and do a wee bit of editing.

My trip to San Francisco began with the first of many superb brunches at Kate’s Kitchen, just round the corner from my cousin’s apartment. I don’t have photos but I can tell you that if you’re in the area, it’s a must visit. Featured on the front of Jimmy Smith’s ‘Home Cookin’, it’s a great little place with the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had.

Fuelled up, we set off for Marina Green to begin a six mile walk up round by the Golden Gate Bridge, round the coastal path to Land’s End.

The walk gave us a chance to catch up on a few years’ of gossip. It doesn’t matter a jot that I’m 19 years older than Andrew; we have heaps to talk about. I did manage to look at view after view of the bridge, though. I’m sure someone has written a great book about the psychology of bridges, investigating why they have such an impact on us? It’s not just the fantastic engineering; there’s something that goes much much deeper than that. Whatever the deep-seated fascination, the Golden Gate really does have a visual pull and I took too many photos. Here’s my gallery:

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Our end goal was Cliff House, the bistro complex on the site of the old Sutro Baths. It’s a stunning location. With spectacular views of the setting sun, we had a hoot of an evening. A friend of Andrew’s works there, so we sat at the bar, noshing on really rather gorgeous food including a scrummy tuna tartare. Entertainment was provided by a very good-looking guy who ‘races powerboats’. I missed a cue early on in the conversation (old age; getting deaf) and thought he meant speedboats, actual boats that people sit in. Nope. We’re talking remote controlled boats; the kind that sad whiskery guys put on park ponds on Sunday mornings. I’m sure it was all BS, as believe me, I had a wee look around the internet and couldn’t find any evidence of him or the well-paid professional circuit he was ‘leading’ in. But it was entertaining stuff, particularly when he said I could ‘take’ his number in case I wanted to hook up later in the week. I didn’t laugh. I played nice.

A fun end to a superb first day of sight-seeting. The hike was the perfect way to start a San Francisco trip – it cleared the jet lag and gave me heaps of views of that international orange bridge.

Join me next time, when I’ll be off to get back to the Land in Humboldt County.

By Carole Scott

Related articles

• The Golden Gate Bridge Looked Even More Stunning Before It Had a Road (gizmodo.com)
• Photos: On this day – May 28, 1937 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially opens The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (photos.denverpost.com)