Birmingham: Days 1-3

It's been fantastic being back in Birmingham! The weather has been gorgeous the past couple days with temperatures getting all the way up into the low 70s. New York appears to be preparing for a blizzard right now, so I can't say I'm complaining! Unfortunately, it's about to take a cold turn and it's not supposed to be much warmer in New Orleans, so it may have been wishful thinking to leave my coat back home in New York. Oops.



I arrived in Birmingham early Tuesday afternoon. My brother and I met up with two of his friends to check out the Wine Loft, a new winebar that had just opened its second location at the Summit. We drove around for about ten minutes before realizing the address was an abandoned building - it had already gone out of business. We headed south on 280 to the nearby Grey Bar, a relatively cozy spot considering it's part of a small strip of stores. Fireplaces filled with big dripping candles surrounded by comfy couches make this a nice date spot, aside from the fact the two times I have been to this spot, it has been all but empty. The first time I came to Grey Bar, there was an acoustic singer performing, so this could be a good spot to check out live music in a more chill environment than a traditional music venue. I don't think the girl I saw performing is getting any recording contracts anytime soon, though, so I can't say I was disappointed at the lack of live music this evening. My brother and I decided to splurge and split a nice bottle of the Trivento Malbec; we were pleasantly surprised when we paid to discover wine bottles are half-off on Tuesday nights!

On Wednesday, my mom and I set off for a Girls Day Out. We began with manicures and pedicures followed by a delicious lunch at the very trendy FLIP Burger Boutique at the Summit. Chef Richard Blais is famous for appearing on Top Chef and Iron Chef America shows. This is definitely a unique spot to find in Birmingham, but I've found in the time I've lived in New York, Birmingham has become a little "cooler" and receptive to pricier, trendier spots like this. Moderately-priced, FLIP Burger has a very inventive menu and an unadventurous eater and drinker may not care for the different fusions available on the menu. It is unfortunate that the seating for outdoors wasn't set up - I can imagine on a beautiful spring or summer day sitting out on the balcony, which has a lovely view looking out over 280 and the southern part of Birmingham.



I started with the orange martini, which was delicious, but more in the vain of a mimosa with orange pulp in the drink, and definitely not a drink that would normally be paired with a burger. We ordered two appetizers at the urging of my FLIP connoisseur mother: sweet potato fries topped with chocolate salt (chocolate and sweet potatoes sounded a little odd, but one bite convinced me it was a brilliant match made in Tastebud Heaven) as well as the fried pickles, which I think would have been perfection without the abundance of dill on them (I am renowned for my hatred of dill). For the main course, I ordered the tuna tartare burger, which had huge chunks of tuna and was complemented with wasabi mayo, avocado, carrots, cucumbers and mango yolk. The burger was delicious, and with the martini and two appetizers, it was really too much food for one sitting. As tempting as it was to try out one of the specialty milkshakes like the "Krispy Kreme milkshake" or the "Nutella and Burnt Marshmallow milkshake," I decided I'd better save one of these crazy concoctions for the next visit!

Last night, I met a group of my best friends for dinner at Chuy's (yet another new restaurant at the Summit). It was chilly outside, but the restaurant had a covered patio with heat lamps (the heat lamps actually got a little overwhelming halfway through the meal), so we were able to enjoy the fresh outdoor air in what is technically the dead of winter. The restaurant is huge, and I'm actually not sure if there was any logical explanation for our 20 minute wait other than to give the cocktail waitress an opportunity to ply us with their holiday-themed mojitos (it had a raspberry flavor which was delicious). There was also a chips and salsa bar opposite the actual bar where guests could prepare their own chips with different salsas. Once we had been seated, we ordered classic margaritas, which also didn't disappoint. The Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom enchiladas appear to be the most popular item on the menu, and almost all of us ordered that dish. The food was nothing remarkable, just a solid Mexican meal.

My time in Birmingham is coming to a close, and it is now time for the other half of my holiday travels - we leave for New Orleans tomorrow morning!

Miles Traveled Today: 962
Total Miles Traveled: 7,221

Sweet Home Ala...New Orleans

With Christmas falling on a Saturday this year, my vacation time from work is not as long as it usually is, but I definitely want to make the most of the time I have! For the time I am in Birmingham, my goal is to see as many "long lost friends" as possible and try out some new restaurants I've been hearing about.

The day after Christmas, my family has planned an Amtrak trip to New Orleans for three days. I've been to New Orleans two times previously, and I have to confess it's not been one of my favorite places. It is always sticky and humid, and I can never shake the feeling that the city is overcrowded, dirty, and has the stench of stale beer and urine around every corner. Despite that, I am excited for this trip firstly because of our mode of transportation - my parents have taken the train several times now and rave about it, so I'm eager to check it out myself - and two, we have some fun things planned while we will be in New Orleans that I have not had the opportunity to do on my previous trips: a trip to the National WWII Museum, the Haunted History Tour and a reservation for dinner at Emeril Lagasse's NOLA restaurant.

My flights (both direct from LaGuardia to Birmingham with regular departure and arrival times, no less - it's a miracle!) are set thanks to Travelocity.com. My winter coat has been stuffed away in my New York closet. There's a huge winter storm being forecast for next weekend. I am definitely ready to be back in the Deep South for almost two weeks!

I am only going to document the days where I'm actually doing things, so although this trip was 13 days long, there won't be that many entries. Unless you want to hear my reviews of the movies I watched on TV in my pajamas, in which case I suppose I could make a new entry for each day. But I won't.

San Francisco: Wrap up

I'm happy to report that I made it uneventfully back to New York today. Even though I've been to Las Vegas and Park City, this was quite a bit longer flight, and I really lost the entire day traveling. I'm one of those strange people who enjoys flying and airports and trying to find the Chick-fil-a in every airport, though, so it was actually a pretty enjoyable day in my world!

I thoroughly enjoyed my first trip to the "best coast," although I have to give San Francisco weather a C-. Maybe I was just there on a strange, rainy weekend, but I could never deal with a place where it's pretty much a given you're going to see rain every day!

My trip:
"...I never knew all that I had, now Alcatraz don't sound so bad
At least they have a hell of a fine Merlot,
If I could wish upon a star, I would hitch a cable car...
Take me to my city by the bay..." - Train, Save Me San Francisco

Miles Traveled Today: 3,240
Total Miles Traveled: 6,259

San Francisco: Day 4

This morning I was feeling a little hungover, but definitely got more sleep than the night before. We decided to go back to SoMa Inn Cafe for breakfast (hard to beat convenience!). This time I opted for some really yummy French toast. Then we headed back to the Union Square area so I could have my first cable car ride - very exciting! Going up and down the steep hills on the cable car was a little terrifying, but lots of fun! We passed through Chinatown (check that off the list!) and hopped off the car shortly thereafter.

Greg had a great idea to go to the Buena Vista Cafe for some Irish coffee - this place was apparently the first spot in the U.S. to serve it. I love places like that! The inside reminded me a lot of P.J. Clarke's back in New York. Very 50s/60s style with stained glass and tiled floors. We sat at the bar and got quite a show by the bartender! There was actually a painting on the wall of our same bartender from over 20 years ago working behind the bar - he had aged, but it was definitely the same guy! Now that's dedication! He had quite a method to his madness in preparing the drinks. I'd say this is a must-visit spot for anyone who goes to San Francisco! Such a unique place - I was definitely lucky Greg knew about it so we could check it out - I thought it was a great find! The lineup of glasses about to be prepared, with the wild bartender getting ready to slosh coffee all over the place in the background:


After our refueling, we started walking toward another spot he suggested called the Black Horse London Pub. He'd heard it was tiny (only 6 barstools!) so it seemed like a kitschy spot we just had to see. On the way there, we passed back by Ghiradelli Square - everything was open this time so we got a tasty ice cream cone dipped in chocolate. Well, he got it, and I mooched a little bit.

The Black Horse really was impossibly small! There was a TV up in the corner with the football game on, and a cooler filled with Bud Light and PBR behind the bar. It felt very much like a neighborhood spot. The few people that came in while we were there all knew the bartender and were very friendly with him. It's always fun finding places like that. We had a couple drinks there and then were on our way!

We headed down to the Embarcadero, where Greg had planned a really fun activity - renting bikes and riding them across the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito! We picked up our bikes at Bay City Bikes and then began the trip up to the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. This was a much more strenuous task than I had imagined, most likely because I hadn't ridden a bike in years and forgot how to operate the gears. After a couple of heart attacks, I did in fact make it up to the bridge, where we took a break, and I got my sought-after photo:


The ride got much easier once we actually got onto the bridge, and then was all downhill once we actually got to the other side. It was just a short ride from the bridge to Horizons, where we stopped and had snacks and wine. There was a nice porch overlooking the bay which had heat lamps, so even though it was a bit cool outside, it was very comfortable on the porch. We had oysters and and the ahi tuna tartare - both were delicious! I love the oysters here; they just taste so much fresher than what I'm used to! Looking across the bay also gave me a really good view of these "micro-climates" I keep hearing about. There would literally be sun, and then storm clouds, and then more sun as I looked from one side of the city to the other. I don't know how people here ever figure it out!

After our fun little excursion, we got our bikes and rode a very short way down the road to the ferry that would take us back across to San Francisco (and was also included in the bike rental). We had a few more drinks on the ferry, as it was a 20-30 minute ride across the bay. I love being on the water here - New York's water feels dirty, and like it's not fresh to breathe in the air, but here, it feels almost invigorating! We had to bike a couple miles in real traffic back to the bike rental spot from where the ferry dropped us off - that was a little intimidating to have an 18-wheeler pulling up alongside me on my little bike!

We headed back home to freshen up after a long day outside (did I mention it was a little rainy going across the bridge?) MUCH-NEEDED SHOWER! Dinner tonight was at Zero Zero, a pretty spacious restaurant near Greg's apartment. We ordered the Fillmore and Castro pizzas, and they were AMAZING! I thought I was going to pass out in a food coma for sure. I also had one of their specialty cocktails, the Picco Collins. It was a cucumber & vodka drink that was very light and refreshing. Greg was totally set on getting dessert (even though I'm pretty sure we were both about to burst). They had a make-your-own-dessert menu, so we had the mascarpone cheesecake with vanilla ice cream and huckleberry compote. It was pretty delicious - I'm a big fan of huckleberries now!

Needless to say, this was the most active day yet, so we weren't home for 20 minutes before we started dozing off. Bed time - sad I have to say goodbye tomorrow morning!

San Francisco: Day 3

This morning we were up bright and early (very early...I had a lot of trouble sleeping because of the time difference, I think!). We went around the corner for breakfast at a little diner-style place called the SoMa Inn Cafe. I stuffed myself with pancakes and basically had to be rolled out of there. So while Greg headed off to deal with some work stuff, I got in a cab (after much searching in the Union Square area!) and headed to Pier 33 to try my luck at transferring my non-transferable Alcatraz ticket. The place was very crowded, and tickets were already completely sold out through the weekend. It was definitely a good idea to pre-purchase, despite what happened. After a little standing around and some very sweet ferry employees listening to my sob story about the flights from hell, I was able to get a stand-by ticket on the 10:30am ferry and head to the Rock! A view of San Francisco from the ferry:


Visiting Alcatraz, for lack of a better word, was AWESOME! There's so much creepy history on the island, and I thought the audio tour of the cellhouse was particularly well done. There were also different tours you could take with a ranger who works for the island, but you'd really have to stay there all afternoon to do the audio tour and one of those tours, so I decided to skip those and go straight to the cellhouse. I really enjoyed getting to see the entire cellhouse and outdoor grounds at my own speed with the audio tour. It was definitely a good activity to go do by myself. I was in no rush, so could really take in everything at my leisure. There were lots of good stories on the tour about the famous criminals who were imprisoned on Alcatraz as well as the tales of different escape attempts and a riot-turned-massacre that happened literally right where I was standing. The thing I found the most interesting (and unusual) is that the families of the guards all lived on the island. There were apartments and lots of old photos of children playing outside in the prison's shadow. I can't imagine living on the island with all those dangerous criminals just a few hundred yards away! Apartments where families lived:



After a couple hours taking in everything on the island, I decided to head back. At this point, I was getting pretty hungry, so walked back toward the Ferry Building and grabbed a tomato soup bread bowl at the Boudin Bakery & Cafe, which is a spot Greg had pointed out yesterday as having really amazing sourdough bread. I walked through the Fisherman's Wharf area down to where I was sitting right on the water and enjoyed a quiet, peaceful lunch on a bench. When I finished up, I decided to make my way into the mass of tourists shoulder to shoulder in the shopping area so I could get my magnet (a souvenir I get wherever I go). I continued to wander around aimlessly until I heard a lot of barking, and stumbled upon all these sea lions around Pier 39!


I could have probably stayed and watched them all afternoon. There were so many of them, and at least a few of them were constantly doing something that would make me laugh - trying to climb over one another, barking, flapping their little wings...ha! It was time to get going, though. The one last thing I wanted to do before I met back up with Greg was to see Lombard Street! It looked pretty close on the map, so I used my phone to guide me all the way there. The one thing that doesn't show up on Google Maps, though? Topography. There were some monstrous hills standing between Fisherman's Wharf and Lombard Street! In retrospect, maybe I should have taken a cab, but there was such a nice breeze and I love wandering around a strange city. Probably my favorite photo I took the whole trip - looking down a hill back toward the bay:


I did finally make it to Lombard after about a 20-minute walk. People were standing in the middle of the street taking photos, and everyone coming down the street had their heads hanging out with video cameras. Clearly this is not a place where the natives hang out! It was funny to see that either side of this crooked road was lined with residential homes. I can't imagine living right in the middle of such a tourist trap!


I walked up the sidewalk to the top of the crooked road, got a few shots, and then stumbled into a cab to take me back to the apartment so I could freshen up. I had found the Auburn alumni bar to watch our game against Clemson, so walked (because I couldn't find a cab for the life of me!) all the way from the apartment to the bar - Rouge (inside Nick's Crispy Tacos), in an area called Nob Hill. It was WAY too far to walk, but not being familiar with the public transportation system, I really didn't have much of an option! It took a little over 30 minutes to walk that distance.

The bar was a lot of fun and split between the restaurant and then a roped off portion for the Auburn alum. It's always nice to be around "family" when you're so far from home, even if it's just "Auburn family." Thanks to the beer, the rest of the evening is a little bit of a blur. Some of Greg's friends met up with us, and we went to dinner at a place near the Auburn bar. Then we went to another friend's apartment to hang out for a little bit. By this point, I had been drinking for 5 or 6 hours and could hardly hold my eyes open, so it was time to head out. We passed by Ghiradelli Square, but everything was closed. Cabbed it home.

Day 3 complete!

San Francisco: Day 2

After yesterday, I thought for sure all the bumps in the road (or sky, as it were) were finished - but Delta proved me wrong! Had a lovely continental breakfast at the hotel in Kentucky, shuttled over to the airport with my new stranger friends, and got to the gate only to be told there was too much fog in San Francisco, and we would be leaving Cincinnati an hour late. Someone doesn't want me to make it to California! At this point, I'd consider the trip a success if I actually touched land in San Francisco and nothing else. Anyways, I did finally land, and was quite thankful my gracious host was still able to scoop me up from the airport despite my throwing a total wrench in his day!

We went straight to his apartment in SoMa to drop off my bags. It was pretty gloomy out and misting for much of the afternoon. Why did everyone say I'd love the weather here again? I got a crash course in "micro-climates," though, as by the time we had reached the Ferry Building, it was all sunshine and blue skies! We walked from his apartment to the Powell Street Cable Car Turnaround. Greg said they had a really high-tech way to turn the car around here at the dead-end of the track. I believed him, until some burly guys threw their body weight behind the car to turn it around. High-tech, indeed!


We made our way down to the Ferry Building to grab a late lunch at Hog Island Oyster Company, which was right on the water overlooking San Francisco Bay. I had a Caesar salad, a glass of Sonoma pinot grigio and some of the most delicious oysters I've ever tasted! We sat at the bar, so the waiters were literally shucking the oysters right there in front of us. Greg got the grilled cheese sandwich, which was one of the tastiest-looking grilled cheese sandwiches I've ever seen! It was so relaxing to finally be sitting (not on a plane) with Greg, a glass of wine, and fresh seafood with a beautiful day waiting outside for us.

After lunch, we took a quick stroll through the Ferry Building where they were selling chocolates and wine in cute little shops, and then walked along the Embarcadero to the end of a pier where we had a pretty view of the Bay Bridge (Golden Gate was shrouded in clouds, argggh!) and the San Francisco skyline behind us.


The weather was gorgeous by now, so we had a leisurely walk back to Greg's apartment. I got to see a lot of the shopping area of the city and just the general vibe - which was very laid back - a welcome change from the fast-paced life I lead in New York! We cleaned up and headed to an early dinner at Fondue Cowboy around the corner from Greg's apartment. It was very trendy-looking inside, and I think if we'd been there an hour later, the place would have been packed. At this hour, though, we had the entire place to ourselves, which wasn't so bad either! We had two different fondues, the Outlaw, which was spicy and delicious! The other's name is escaping me, but it was a fantastic dinner - not too heavy, but completely filling. A very cute date spot!

We jumped in a cab - cabs are very difficult to find in San Francisco! - and headed to Davies Symphony Hall, where I'd scored us a couple tickets to the Louis C.K. show. We had great seats and laughed a LOT! We went backstage after the show to say hi to Geof who had gotten us the tickets, and drank a little wine in the dressing room as the comics came in and out between their sets. Greg has an early morning tomorrow (and I am determined to get on a ferry to Alcatraz first thing!) so we called it a night and headed home. It was an exhausting day and I'm going to sleep like a baby!


Miles Traveled Today: 2,365
Total Miles Traveled: 3,019

San Francisco: Day 1

Well, today did not quite go as planned, and I am definitely not where I thought I'd be as I am starting to wind down for the night. My flight was scheduled to leave LaGuardia at 5:30pm. To start, I was a little rushed getting out of the office on time, and then had quite a time trying to find a cab in Midtown at rush hour. I rarely check bags, always check-in online, and I've never missed a flight. You might say I'm a rather efficient traveler! You wouldn't know it from the evening I just had, though.

It started getting overcast on my way to the airport. It was supposed to rain, but planes take off in the rain. No big deal. I get through security quickly, board the plane and close my eyes as the plane begins to taxi. I am awoken 20 minutes later to see that we have pulled off the runway. The pilot comes over the speaker to let us know that there is a huge storm about to blow through, and we need to wait for it to pass. He said it is moving quickly, and we should be in the air in no time. I'm not worried at this point, as I have a layover of a couple hours in Cincinnati, and was wondering how I was going to kill all that time anyways. Approximately 30 minutes and one huge monsoon later (I later learned there were tornadoes in Brooklyn - this was a serious storm!), the pilot comes back on the speaker.

"Well, the good news is that the storm has passed quickly, and air traffic control is letting planes start taking off again. The bad news is that we're 35th in line on the runway."

Uh oh.

Our approximate arrival time in Cincinnati is now 9:00pm. Which would be all good and well, except that my connecting flight leaves Cincinnati at 8:30pm. I am still not panicking, though, because I've NEVER missed a connection flight. And with this plane packed full of people also making the San Francisco connection, I'm feeling like the chances the connection flight will be held for us are pretty high. My optimism turned out to be all for naught, though. We landed around 8:45pm and missed the connection by 15 minutes. Delta gives us a really unfortunate overnight kit (I fortunately have all my things thanks to my refusal to check a bag), and lets us know they can hook us up with a discounted rate at the Comfort Inn in Hebron, KY. They won't pay for the room, though, as this was not any fault of their own. I tend to disagree, as it's their fault they didn't hold a flight missing 20 people for an extra 15 minutes, but not much I could do about it at this point. I got to talking with a guy from New York heading to San Francisco and a girl from Los Angeles heading home in the line to re-book our flights, and we decided to head to the hotel together, have a pizza party, and then meet again in the morning to take the shuttle back to the airport.

I spoke with Greg for a little bit to let him know the change in plans and let my parents know what was going on and where I was (although I'm not totally sure myself).

So here I am, sitting in a hotel in Kentucky, when I thought I'd be happily in San Francisco by now. Tomorrow's flight is at 9:30am, landing a little after noon - which means I am going to miss the Alcatraz ferry I booked for 10:30am. Hopefully I can get that sorted out somehow.

Good night, world. Better luck tomorrow!

Miles Traveled Today: 654
Total Miles Traveled: 654