Since my husband and I are "empty nesters," we sometimes find ourselves left to our own devices on a 3-day weekend with work schedules, parties, travel, etc. involving the other members of our family. Such was the case over Memorial Day Weekend. Since my husband had that Friday off, he persuaded me to not turn on my computer and instead, spend that day doing some local sightseeing and enjoy a night away from the kitchen. However, as the prospect of spending the rest of the weekend in the same manner loomed at us, we decided it was time to put some spontaneity back into our lives.
I went online to search for cheap tickets to anywhere cooler and came up with a great fare to San Francisco, leaving very early Saturday morning and returning Monday. I then dialed our favorite San Francisco hotel, the Hyatt Regency, to see what my Gold Pass Card could get us there. I was almost embarrassed when the reservationist told me the special weekend rate. Once the room was confirmed by credit card, I went back to the airline to purchase the tickets and reserve a rental car.
Luckily I had already done the wash and retrieved the dry cleaning from the cleaners so it was easy to pack and still catch a few Zs before it was time to leave for the airport. The children were all notified where we were going and our daughter-in-law kindly accepted the responsibility of the mail and newspapers. I only had to pack my meds (with extra of everything), my glucose testing kit, fast-acting glucose tablets, and some healthy carbo snacks in my carry-on. If I was on insulin, I would have included two bottles of each type, a week's supply of syringes, and alcohol swabs, all carried in an insulated insulin carrying case. I also made sure my wallet had my diabetes identification and/or I was wearing my ID. If you're not sure what to do about medication/insulin schedules in relation to time changes when you fly, discuss this with your health care team, keeping a notation of what to do in your diabetes supply area.
Since we were flying "ticketless" we needed to be at the airport 90 minutes before departure, which gave us plenty of time to each purchase a new block-buster novel and a bottle of iced mineral water (airplane flight is very dehydrating) and we were ready to board.
As we left Texas, the temperature was pushing 100°F. We flew over a blanket of smoke caused by the agricultural fires in Mexico that covered the state. By the time we passed into New Mexico, the sky cleared and was a brilliant robin egg blue for the rest of the flight. Since the flight didn't include a meal (few do these days), I had packed both of us a turkey, lettuce, and tomato sandwich and a piece of fruit.
With the time change we arrived in San Francisco at dusk, sweeping over the city from the north so that the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge were visible on opposite sides of the airplane. Once on the ground we picked up our rental car and headed into the city, remembering (or trying to remember) all of our former trips to this beautiful city. As one street after another came up on the freeway signs, stories about earlier days were shared. Suddenly, as it often happens in San Francisco, a dark bank of clouds came toward the city from the west. At that point the sky took on the color of teal with swirling clouds at the horizon. There wasn't a drop of rain; instead, as darkness fell, a fog blanketed the city.
Our check-in at the Hyatt was expedited with efficiency and we headed for the bank of "pod-like" elevators that characterize this and many other Hyatt Regency hotels. Before we got on the elevator to go to our room, however, we noticed a line of tourists about 200 deep waiting to go to the Sky Lounge. A maitre'd was there and asked if we'd had dinner. To our surprise what once used to be a revolving cocktail lounge, only had been converted into a large revolving 5-star restaurant with a smaller cocktail lounge. Diners were favored over those only going up for drinks so in a matter of five minutes, we were whisked up 39 floors to find that the fog had lifted and all of San Francisco and the Bay cities were just beyond our window dinner table. White linens, friendly and efficient service, soft piano music, and an ever-changing scene below -- and we knew we'd come "home" for a few hours to reclaim that part of our lost hearts.
To say that the food was superb is an understatement. People in San Francisco, indeed in most of California, are far ahead in eating healthy than most of the rest of the nation. I opted for baked crab cakes with a lightly curried Mango Salsa served over a bed of arugula, mâche, frisée, and mizuna. That with a slice of authentic San Francisco sour dough bread made a feast made for a queen.
Since I had done some pre-weekend grocery shopping back home, as I was packing I threw some fresh fruits -- slices of melon, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries -- into a divided plastic container, then into an iced thermal bag so we'd have fresh fruit in the room. Our in-room small refrigerator kept it cold upon arrival. (If you use insulin, most hotels that do not already have refrigerators in the room will provide one upon request, at no charge.) So dessert that night consisted of a few berries and a bottle of mineral water as we watched the cars and some patchy spots of fog play peak-a-boo down Market Street from our hotel room.
An early continental breakfast: toasted bagel, melon, and coffee fortified us for a brisk walk around the immediate area of the hotel to inspect the gardens and do some window shopping at the still-closed chic boutiques nearby. Once done, we called for our car and headed out to explore old familiar ground and chase some memories. A quick drive down the Embarcadero brought us to Fisherman's Wharf and the old Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory which houses trendy shops and restaurants. A quick trip through and we were off again taking Highway 101 to the 19th Street Exit through the Presidio, the Army base that played such an important role in the Second World War and the Korean War. On the drive through the Pacific Heights, the car was surrounded by tall pines and cedars, with lower flowering shrubs in riotous colors. Once we reached Geary, we headed west until we could literally feel and smell the salt spray of the Pacific Ocean. Since it was a perfect 68°F, we lowered the car windows to breathe the fresh, salt air. Our destination was the famous Cliff House to partake of one of their fabulous omelets served on the second story of the restored historical building. Since they, too, are health conscious, there was no problem in getting my omelet made with 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites. The stuffing of grilled shiitake mushrooms made it a lunch to remember. After lunch we walked along the oceanfront, watching the sea gulls fish and the ever present seals on their rock contributing their raucous music. The Pacific was actually quite calm, to the disappointment of the few surfers who were braving the cold water.
After doing some shopping in the Cliff House gift shop, we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge (it was actually crowded with walkers aged 2+ into their 80s) and into Sausalito. Parking there was scarce so we took valet parking and revisited our favorite Sausalito restaurant -- the Spinnaker. There in the lounge we savored a drink (mine a Virgin Mary) while we watched the sailboats, ferries, and the panorama of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge across the water. Time flew and it was soon time to return to the City for a short rest before we went to dinner at the House of Prime Rib on Van Ness, a favorite of the locals. Again, the restaurant was health conscious and while my husband enjoyed a smaller than usual portion of his favorite cut of beef, I had a perfectly grilled small fish that tasted something like sea bream. A grilled radicchio salad and San Francisco sour dough bread accompanied my meal. Since we still had fruit in the fridge in the room, we decided to have dessert there before bedtime.
Unfortunately, our super-bargain tickets required that we return on the first flight the next morning so it was still dark when we again called for our car and headed for the airport. To avoid any possible bout with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), I ate a small piece of sour dough bread that I'd carefully saved from my dinner the night before and took my morning medications. That held me quite nicely until we could buy a Continental breakfast at the airport for the plane -- a toasted bagel with a small container of low-fat cream cheese and a piece of fruit. Since we were again crossing two time zones, we arrived back home in the early afternoon -- in plenty of time to get home, read the mail and the newspapers, notify everyone that we were home, and have a short rest. For dinner, we made reservations at our favorite Italian restaurant where I had a light meal of bruschetta with chopped tomatoes, peppers, basil, and a sprinkling of feta cheese. It was good -- but would have been excellent if they'd used authentic San Francisco sour dough bread.
Do try a last minute getaway -- most every server on the Net has a travel section that offers last-minute specials ranging from 2-day weekends to sojourns of longer length. The key for us was experiencing a little excitement in our lives, getting away from the phone, fax, and computer, and just relaxing together in a place where we again left a little part of us as the 767 headed out over the Pacific and did a slow turn over the Silicon Valley area to head east. As I'm finishing writing this, a male vocalist on the office radio is crooning "I want to be back in the City by the Bay." So do I!
FTG
