Wednesday, July 26, 2006

San Francisco




Last week was dominated by my attendance at the American Legislative Exchange Council's annual conference (www.alec.org) which was held in San Francisco. Following the end of the conference I spent part of Saturday touring the city a bit since the last time I was in San Francisco was in 1988. Here are some highlights of my touring:

  • Bomb Threat -- As I tried to leave my hotel room one night in search of great Thai food in China Town I was detained in the lobby due to a bomb threat at the "Metreon" building which was about one block away. The following day I read a very short newspaper article about this incident that stated -- "The bomb squad found the package contained shoes and clothing, possibly belonging to a homeless person............" so no one was harmed. Perhaps we need the TSA (Transportation Security mis-Administration) to branch out from the nation's airports to include homeless shelters under their jurisdiction?? :-)
  • California Historical Society -- has a small museum/photo gallery at 678 Mission Street, www.californiahistoricalsociety.org, which is dominated by photographs of the great earthquake and firestorms of 1906 complete with several items from author, Jack London. My chance visit to this museum was rather fateful since I grabbed my copy of "The Seawolf" by Jack London to read on my flight to San Francisco last week not even giving a thought to the fact that London spent his career in San Francisco -- rather a fateful event!!
  • City tour -- I always enjoy the city bus tours for their efficiency but especially liked the one I did with the Great Pacific Tour Company (www.greatpacifictour.com) since they use large capacity mini vans and the tour guide - Jim - grew up in the Minnesota/Nebraska area so he was fun to talk with during the tour. The highlight of the tour for me was the view of the city and bay from the top of "Twin Peaks".
  • Giants -- I was able to attend the San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres baseball game at AT&T Park which was my first visit. What a fabulous stadium that really puts our own "Metrodome(morgue)" to shame. The gelato stand was a nice departure from peanuts and popcorn!!!

Enjoy your travels,

Todd

1 comment:

Jeff Deitering said...

Wrong Wrong Wrong! Where in this song do you see the word "gelato?" Or, "tofu" or "veggie burger?" "Weenie" would be appropriate for the left coast.


Nelly Kelly love baseball games,
Knew the players, knew all their names,
You could see her there ev'ry day,
Shout "Hurray," when they'd play.
Her boy friend by the name of Joe
Said, "To Coney Isle, dear, let's go,"
Then Nelly started to fret and pout,
And to him I heard her shout.

"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."

Nelly Kelly was sure some fan,
She would root just like any man,
Told the umpire he was wrong,
All along, good and strong.
When the score was just two to two,
Nelly Kelly knew what to do,
Just to cheer up the boys she knew,
She made the gang sing this song.

"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."