day eight, san francisco to santa barbara

originally, our plan was to drive straight from san francisco to las vegas tomorrow. we think better of it will drive part of the way today.

we check out of the hardeman’s around 1:00 and find ourselves on the PCH. the trip is amazing and if you’ve never done it, make sure you plan to do it at some point.

we drive as far as santa barbara and check into a hotel. the drive through downtown on main street all decorated for Christmas and past all the outdoor cafes makes me fall in love with santa barbara. i decide i’ll research this town when i get back to south carolina in case i ever move out to the west coast again. and i hope i do live in california again.

day seven, san francisco

luckily for us, checkout is not until noon today. we lug all our belongings over to bethy’s apartment. she and chip have graciously agreed to put us up for a couple nights. we eat lunch at a burger place a few blocks away, let the grease and salt ease our hangovers and make plans for the day. bethy has never been to the famous haight ashbury district so we make that our first stop.


picture courtesy of bethy Hardeman


we window shop, check out a local music store and pass by all the “perfectly good hippie kids begging for money”.

then we check out the “painted ladies”, otherwise known as the houses from the opening of Full House.



we each choose our favorites and catch the next bus to north beach. coffee break. if matt moves to san francisco he will live here because he says he’s seen the prettiest girls in north beach. it’s dark now but we hike to coite tower to overlook the city. it’s beautiful.

back at bethy’s house matt and i break out our axes so we can rehearse. we try out “you will always be the same” and “lonely gift.” bethy claps for us and we look for a place to perform but can’t find a suitable locale. none of the places have the vibe we’re looking for. maybe in the next city.

chip gets home and we grab pizza for dinner. we sit in a booth that is entirely too small for 4 adults. we can’t say the waiter didn’t try to tell us, though.

matt and i grab a couple nightcaps at the irish place nearby while the hardeman’s turn in. darn them for being so responsible. and employed.

day six, san francisco

after the required morning starbucks we walk toward downtown and meet bethy for lunch. she has to leave for work so we’re left to our own devices. we decide to brave the public transportation and head towards ocean beach. we find a small park that overlooks the beach. it’s nice to find greenspace in a city. matt prefers this area to the crowded city center.





i love those trees.

then, we hike down a seemingly impassable trail to walk on the beach. the beach is quiet. we run into only a few fitness enthusiasts and we ponder the price of real estate in this area. then we walk through golden gate park. past the windmill, the golf course, the random bison preserve, a lake and the baseball practice field. matt and i share a moment reminiscing about our childhood sporting glory days and agree that we love the sound of a metal bat connecting with a baseball.

after emerging on the other side of the park, we take a bus towards the presidio and take numerous possible facebook profile self portraits in front of the golden gate bridge. our favorites:


pimp at the bridge





some interesting stats for you:



we try to walk down to the actual presidio but there seems to be a lack of sidewalks. we did get this pretty cool view of the city though from where the sidewalk ends. or from where the sidewalk hasn’t been constructed yet—it’s still in the planning stages.



one more bus takes us back to our tiny hotel where we freshen up and go on the quest for dinner. we wind up at an Italian place called Henry’s that is owned and operated by Asians. however, the place is filled with city cops so we figure it can’t be too bad. we settle up and look for the first watering hole.

we go to brick (http://www.brickrestaurant.com/). a place that bethy and i visited not a month prior and where i became slightly obsessed with a bartender we met there. he is there tonight as a patron but doesn’t recognize me. don’t worry, i drunk dial him later.

bethy meets up with us and we close down the bar. we get a recommendation for a place called rye a few blocks away but we never find it. instead we stumble into hemlock. good times with RBV.





i get the craving for a smoke but the bar is out of matches. the situation nears crisis levels but then out of nowhere, brandon obliges with a light. it turns out brandon lives in “the dirty mission”, an area of san francisco we have not yet explored. he also plays keyboard in a band called “the model A’s”. he says they are terrible and we can’t wait to look them up on myspace.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=1792309

they are bethy’s new favorite band.

we shut down hemlock, too and agree it’s time to turn in. due to some finagling on bethy’s part, she has arranged a day off tomorrow and we plan to meet up.

day five, sequoia national park

after a continental breakfast of champions we head to the sequoia national park. we make a quick stop at the welcome center where one of the rangers gives us an overwhelming summary of all the “must sees.” the first is Hospital Rock and an old native american watering hole. here the Indians took care of the first white man who lived out there. or something.



we meander through the mountains by car and right in front of us a black bear crosses the road. it was awesome. unfortunately, we have no visual to show you of the actual event. so instead, please watch the following video for reference



the next stop is the sequoia museum. we learn some valuable information. the difference between sequoias and redwoods is that sequoias grow larger in circumference of the trunk and redwoods grow taller and are more native to northern california. sequoias are conifers and grow from really small seeds that are released from their cones mainly when there’s a forest fire.

we drive on to moro rock. the lady at the welcome center said this was the initiation to the park and after we climb all the stairs to the top we realize why. but it’s a beautiful view of the river basin and the surrounding mountain ranges.







lunchtime at the lodge is welcome and then it’s on to see the General Sherman. this is the largest living thing in the world by density. it’s not the widest, tallest or oldest sequoia but by volume and weight it is the world record holder. it’s 36 feet in diameter and 2,200 years old. incredible.



we hike through the woods for a little while and see various other sequoias including the general lee and the grove called ‘the senate.’







night falls and we drive on to san francisco. at dinner we realize we forgot to mapquest directions. all seemed lost until i remembered that i can read a map and i navigated us into the city superbly. we find our hotel to be a little cramped and on the border of china town but it is acceptable.

day four, riverside to sequoia national park

i rouse myself somewhat early to complete the packing i so desperately dread. matt helps by staying out of the way and going down to the pool. with the music up loud the packing is relatively simple and i only pause for minor mental breakdowns and streams of expletives. “am i really leaving?” “i’m getting ready to move across country?”

we go pick up the truck and matt helps load. after the fifth “final” check of the apartment for forgotten stuff, it’s time to leave. so long, apartment. so long, amy. she gave me the cutest picture of her kids in a frame hand painted by her daughter. i love it. there were no tearful goodbyes. we did that already.

my friend, susan, from work generously offered to let us keep the truck at her house while we go to san francisco. it works out perfectly because her house is on the way and she has a spacious yard locked behind a gate.

the drive to sequoia national park is dark, foggy and long. but thankfully we are not stuck in the holiday traffic heading towards l.a.

day three, l.a.

we get a semi early start today. a quick stop at the apartment’s business center where we plan our trip and we’re off to our first point of interest—the Griffith park observatory. but this proves to be futile due to road closures and a lack of signage. so we change course to check out venice beach. the pier gives a nice view of the water and a few surfers. the beach is wide and the sand is nice. after lunch at a local bistro we walk down the strip to see the freak show that is venice beach. there are musical acts (don’t forget to tip them if you take a picture), street performers, artisans selling their wares, evangelists, hippies, beatniks, bums and mostly tourists. there are stores offering medical marijuana. no prescription? no worries. just proceed to the booth on the next block for a medical evaluation. muscle beach is here now but wasn’t seeing much action today.

we walk back to the car along the beach and drive down to santa monica. the boardwalk is rather shorter than i thought it would be. we stop to look at the trapeze class, which is reasonably priced, pass the rides and walk through the arcade and back to the car. and we paid $8 to park here?

driving on, we head towards Beverly hills. we drive down famed melrose, sunset and mulholland drive. we see the site of the manson murders and are sufficiently creeped out. a scenic route takes us up into the hills and we go back to sunset as dinner approaches. we choose le chateau marmont for drinks. it is very posh.







we pick up a wireless signal and read up on the history of the place. jim belushi overdosed in one of the bungalows, led zeppelin drove their motorcycles through the hotel lobby, jim morrison jumped from the rooftop to his balcony using up the eighth of his nine lives (according to him). and the place is as popular today as it was then. lindsey lohan stayed there after a stint in rehab and britney has been kicked off the premises. and on this particular night, ellen and portia de rossi eat dinner one table away from us with another couple. they talk about vacations, they both smoke and the hotel sends their table a bottle of what i am sure is their finest wine. but ellen and portia don’t drink any of it and on the way out knock it off the table. it’s a scene but they attempt to clean it up and stop right by our table on their way out. we play it cool though. matt and i agree that we were surprised to find out portia was gay. she’s too hot. plus, ellen’s 50.

i do most of the talking at dinner. do i regret getting married? am i optimistic for the future? what do i feel about him now? (short answers—no, yes, i want him to be happy). and what have i learned from it all? life sucks. fact. if it doesn’t suck for you now, one day it will. but i try to explain to matt that this realization hasn’t made me cynical. instead, i’ve determined that our response to the fact that life sucks shouldn’t be to hole up and avoid it or descend into a spiral of depression. no, we should remember that life is sucky for everyone and give each other a break. go out of our way to help people. be there for each other. be less selfish.

tonight we have another rehearsal when we get back to the apartment. we work on “wonderwall” and after arguing over the opening notes for matt’s original tune, we have that down, too. we go to bed looking forward to fresh hangovers.

day two, riverside

recovering from our “hangys”/jet lag we take it easy on day two. errands, packing, “role models” and pizza sum up the best of day two.