San Francisco/Outside Lands: Days 1-3

On August 9, I flew out to San Francisco once again, this time for the weekend-long music festival held annually in Golden Gate Park, Outside Lands.  Sean had been kind enough to surprise me with a VIP ticket a few months back, so I opted to pick up my airfare.  My flight was scheduled to depart from JFK at 8:00pm (Delta).  I ordered a car, as is now standard fare for my JFK flights, and was at the airport with plenty of time to spare.  At around the time we were to begin boarding, we were informed we were waiting on the captain for our crew to arrive, and there would be a slight delay.  Approximately 30 minutes later, we began boarding.  With my special Amex status, I was one of the first on the plane and got settled into my seat for the long flight.  We had been sitting on the plane for approximately 10 minutes (nowhere near the entire plane had been boarded) when one of the flight attendants announced to the plane that we would need to exit the plane with all our belongings - the captain had still not arrived.  And you boarded us because...

We grudgingly got all our bags down and returned back to the gate, only to be informed our pilot was on a plane from Jacksonville, and it would probably be another two hours before he arrived.  Now, I'm not sure what really happened (suffice it to say I don't believe what they were telling us), but this was beyond irritating - the flight was getting in late (midnight) anyways, and this was just going to make it even more inconvenient.  They issued each passenger a $5 voucher for food, but as luck would have it, this was completely worthless, as by the time they gave it to us, all the food spots in the airport were closed.  We did finally take off, of course, and made a rather late landing at around 2:30am in San Francisco.  Sean couldn't find a cab to take him to the airport that late to come pick me up, so I ended up just getting a cab by myself.  We were both sleep-walking by the time I arrived, so off to bed we went.

We woke up Friday morning after a much-needed snooze, and made our way down the street to Cafe Reverie for a quick breakfast before heading out to the festival.  Almost every breakfast spot was completely packed with a line out the door (festival goers, no doubt), so it was lucky we found a spot where we could order and sit immediately.  I had the huevos rancheros dish, which was perfect and very filling (which was the goal, since I wasn't sure when the next time we'd get food would be).  After breakfast, we headed back to the apartment to layer on more clothes.  And thus began perhaps the most distinct memory of the weekend - it was COLD.  The sun was only "sort of" out but mostly shrouded in fog, and with the wind, forget about it.  I of course had no idea August in San Francisco was going to be like this, or I would have packed totally different attire.  It would have been comfortable out had I brought sweaters and boots.  But no, I had packed my light, flowy summer clothes and barely-there sandals.  I got lucky that I am always cold on planes, so had packed some jackets for that part of the trip.  I'm not so sure what I would have done without my 'travel jackets.'  After adding a few layers and bracing myself for the cold, we headed back out and got on the above-ground train that took us most of the distance to the park.

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." - Mark Twain
 All bundled up at the festival:

  At around 1:30pm, we were making our way through the festival gates and headed straight for the VIP tent which not only provided a welcome respite from the wind at various times throughout the weekend, but also had private porta-potties, masseuses, bars and food offerings.  I'm not sure that the $500 price tag was totally worth all this, but it certainly made the entire weekend more comfortable.  The layout of the festival grounds was very spread out, so it really made going back and forth difficult (not to mention dirty - the paths between stages were incredibly dusty and we were covered in it from the knees down).  We managed to make it to nearly all of the bands we wanted to see over the course of the weekend - Wallpaper., Fitz and the Tantrums, Beck, Foo Fighters, Neil Young,  Portugal. the Man, Alabama Shakes, Big Boi, Passion Pit, Metallica, Fun., Tom Morello, Trampled by Turtles, Regina Spektor and Jack White.  The only artist we missed that I would have really liked to have seen was Stevie Wonder.  Unfortunately, we had to cut that night short, as I needed to head back to the apartment and get my bag to head to the airport.  

An aerial view of the festival at Golden Gate Park:

 

We did have time to order a delicious Italian dinner from a spot in the neighborhood on Sunday night before it was time to head to the airport -  Bambino's - which was a welcome treat after a weekend of 'festival food.'  My plane left San Francisco around 11:15pm and I was back in New York by around 8:00am.  I had enough time, fortunately, to head home and take a quick shower and change out of my plane (plain) clothes, and then off to work I went.  The redeye thing is still very difficult for me to get used to, I'm not going to lie.  I was a total zombie for the next couple days.  Overall, it was a lovely weekend, but I'm not so sure about San Francisco in the summer anymore.  Or at least I know to pack differently if I ever do have to be there in August again!  :)

My trip:

  

"I left my heart in San Francisco,

High on a hill, it calls to me,

To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars,

The morning fog may chill the air, I don't care..." - I Left My Heart in San Francisco, Tony Bennett

Miles Traveled Today: 5,812

Total Miles Traveled: 51,679