Doug Runs 365: Day 243 - Photo Safari

Hey kids, time for another photo safari! This time for the wonderful city of San Francisco.

First, let's catch up on last night...

The Macho Margarita at Colibri

Jalapeños roasted in Cointreau, mulled, and mixed with some fine tequila and agave syrup, makes for a spicy, and pleasantly perfect margarita.

Glaze Azul

Found out the fun way that if you order the last shot from this gorgeous hand-made bottle, it's yours to keep. Want do you think? A lamp?

Ok... we're caught up... on to today.

There are some situations that really test a relationship. For example, traveling. Also, if one of you is sick, that can be stressful. Traveling while one of you is sick is extra fun.

But let me tell you, those are child's play compared to a tandem bike ride across the Golden Gate bridge, especially when it's under a deadline, by which one of you needs to be at work on the trade show floor.

Let me put one myth to rest. Tandem bikes are not fun. They suck. And climbing steep hills on a tandem sucks extra.

Fortunately, early in the journey, before the thigh frying climbs, we came upon one of my favorite landmarks of SF...

The Palace of Fine Arts

... whose beauty soothed my nerves, and likely saving me from some serious jail time.

Here's a travel tip... if you're ~~stupid~~ adventurous enough to take a bike tour across the Golden Gate Bridge, you might want to sneak a peak at the bridge first to make sure it isn't shrouded in fog... fog so thick you can't see the water, or the top of the supports, or pedestrians wandering into your path. Pictures of fog... not great scrapbook material.

This day, we did manage to find some of the bridge fogless, the Marin side.

The good news is that from this point on, it's pretty much downhill. And at this point, the term "downhill" will bring tears to your eyes.

Foggy Golden Gate from high above Sausalito

View of Sausalito from high above Sausalito

Been a while since I added a fountain.

A beer and a seat at an outdoor cafe gave my legs a chance to recover. Then, it was time to board the ferry for the trip home.

Anyone else think it's a little weird that a decommissioned high security prison is such a poplar tourist destination?

Alcatraz

SF from the bay

What I like about this view is how the streets, rising what appears to be almost vertically, show how steep the hills are and how high the middle sits.

We did manage to get back in time for me to get cleaned up enough for work, and to at work with 9 minutes to spare.

After work, I got yet another short run in. Legs were pooped. Dinner reservation was coming up soon. Short was what I had time for.

Blasted down Market street to Embarcadero, where I saw this...

Nope, I didn't. I have a rule. If I can't see the bottom, I don't go in.Couldn't. Didn't.

Yet another shower and it was time for dinner, at my favorite sushi restaurant...

Ozumo is Japanese for "Super yummy"

My favorite way to dine on sushi is to turn myself, and my dinner, over to the chef. I tell them that I am in their hands, and for them to prepare for me whatever they would like me to have. It never fails to bring a smile to the face of the sushi chef. They take such pride in their work that they take this responsibility seriously, and they repay the honor with the freshest fish, and usually something special.