Had quite the interesting first night here in SF.
Left Brian and Vanesa’s in Sacremento around 2:00pm but didn’t make it to San Francisco until about 4:30pm due to heavy traffic. Once I finally got into the city, I decided I’d just travel around hoping to find a parking place for the night, for free. I quickly realized this was a much larger task than I had apparently given it credit. Eventually, having scoured much more of the city than I had originally intended because of the craziness that is traffic in the rain plus one way streets, I decided to head to an area that I was at least somewhat familiar with; an area I believe is called The Tenderloin. Finally, at approximately 6:00pm, I found a pretty great spot with a meter that did not need to be paid into until 9:00am the next morning. Another plus was that this spot was rather nearby the cafe called Citizen Cake where I met Lauren from Rancho Cucamonga last time I was up here. Though I don’t have the money to be a patron at this high class cafe, I’ll definitely stop in for a visit (and if I’m lucky, some hot water to make some tea back at my car).
Now that I had a place to leave my car for the night, it was time to find a cheap, delicious meal. Again, harder to find than really makes any sense. I was definitely hoping to find someplace with a 4 dollar burrito or something in that vein, but restaurant after restaurant was out of budget:
$8.00 for Thai
$6.00 for a Hot Dog and Chips
$9.00 for Italian
etc....
A decision needed to be made. I could eat the paltry food that I brought with me to make sure I didn’t starve, or I could keep moving to find SOMETHING. Obviously I kept moving. Eventually I made it over to Market Street, which I suppose is the downtown area. This is when the rain really started coming down. No need to worry, though... I came with an umbrella. As soon as I pulled my umbrella out, a heavy wind started up, leaving my umbrella battered and useless. I found an angle that would allow my umbrella to remain right-side out, while still covering some of myself from the rain, but it was certainly less than satisfactory. Now it was time to begin again my search for food. Up Market Street I went, passing several either totally disgusting (i.e. Carl’s Jr., McDonalds, Burger King) or totally expensive (see more of the above) places.
Coming up on 7:00pm I decided it was time to turn back because the rain was getting crazy. On my way back I heard some high pitched japanese and giggling. I turned around and there were three small Japanese girls huddled under one even smaller umbrella trying to navigate the rain. I offered my umbrella to one of them (certainly the cutest of the bunch) and she declined. The rain kept coming down and I kept offering. Quickly, I came to realize that English was not a skill any of these girls had. I shoved my umbrella into her hand, and tried to get a phone number out of her. She took the umbrella but didn’t say much. At some point during the walk back down Market, they made a turn, with my umbrella, and I kept on going. I was hoping to maybe work my way into having a couch for the night, but it became clear that this was not going to happen.
Now, with no umbrella, no dinner, and a heavy rain and wind, I gave up and headed into the aforementioned Burger King to sit and eat a rather terrible and not very satisfying two single cheeseburgers. As I ate, the rain began to come down even harder. Now I sit and type, hoping that the rain will let up some soon, because I’ve got quite a trek ahead of me, and I don’t think my chucks and shorts can handle it without an umbrella....
-Max
P.S. Leave any comments, questions, or suggestions in the comments!
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