One Adventure Finished, One to Come

A very good friend of mine from back in Austin finished his week-long stay in San Francisco on Sunday, and I was sad to see him go. I wore myself out through that week, working during the day, then going out every night, and it was well worth it. I think I gave him a good tour of the city... if not so much its sights, then at least its feel.

• We had Phil's coffee and sat at a small metal table out on 24th street.
• We went to both Pop's and the Phone Booth, which have become neighborhood staples for me.
• We went to the Rickshaw, drinking Rockstar and Vodka until I couldn't remember my final conversations of the night, and dancing to DJ Jester, and I told him about 30 times (in a row) that he made me proud to be from San Antonio, as if the Alamo weren't enough.
• We saw the new Star Wars flick at the Metreon (which he thought really sucked, but I liked).
• We walked around Union Square, shopping for family members (we didn't find any... yuk yuk).
• We went to a couple of parties in the Mission where we really only talked to the people we came with, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
• We went to the Cafe in the Castro on Latin night (he got his butt grabbed and his stomach rubbed, and a beefy guy told me "Baby, you are gorgeous!").
• We ate Senegalese food and drank hibiscus-infused vodka at Bissap Baobab.
• We met a beautiful Swedish computer programmer(!!!) who was sitting all by herself in a small restaurant in Chinatown, only in town for a week and not knowing a soul in the city... but she was "too tired" (something about the time difference) to keep us company beyond our meal.
• We watched the Incredibles at 3am but I fell asleep half-way through.
• We rode on BART.
• We sat in my room and talked.
• ... and so much more

And tomorrow, I fly to Austin, to return after six months. I'll be there for a coupla few days, and then I'll greyhound it or something to San Antonio, to see my family, including my Grandmother, Aunt, and Uncle from Massachusetts, and to witness my brother's high school graduation at the almighty Alamodome. I am excited. The weather will be 20 degrees hotter than anything I felt to date this year. Maybe I'll go swimming! Maybe I'll have a frito pie at Spiderhouse. I'll definitely have a Lone Star.

Texas, I'm coming home.

Then on Tuesday I'll be back out here for more adventures.