Happy Independence Day
Happy Independence Day to my American friends! Our plans today include a small family BBQ with Ted’s parents and maybe his brother. I am looking forward to a good hot dog, as that is something I do not eat very often.
Ted and I had a lovely anniversary together yesterday. We started the day slowly, went for a walk early before it got too hot, went to the grocery store for things for today’s bbq, and lazed around a bit. Then we hopped on our local transit (BART) and went in to San Francisco for the day. We took a cable car from the Embarcadero to the end of that cable car line, then walked from California street down to Ghirardelli Square, where we stopped and had a cold beverage. After that, we took a historic street car (from Washington DC!) from Fisherman’s Wharf back to the BART station where we started, then took BART to a restaurant in the Mission District, Foreign Cinema.
We’ve been here a few times, it’s a cool restaurant. If you’re there after dark (we were not) they project a movie onto a white brick wall without sound. We had oysters to start, then Ted had Caesar salad and I had gazpacho. He had duck for dinner, which he enjoyed but thought was just a little over seasoned. I had a pasta dish, which was delicious and crispy with breadcrumbs. Nance will perhaps ask what wine I had, and this one is very specific, so I copied it over from the menu. I have not heard of this wine varietal before, it was delicious, crisp and dry. I assumed it was a Sauvignon blanc grape, but no, it is distinct.
“Tonight we are featuring Chagnoleau ‘Melting Potes’ Savagnin VdF, France, 2022. ‘Potes’ is slang in French for friends and this wine is a collaboration among three from the Mâcon region of Burgundy. The venture came about during the pandemic, with extra time on their hands, the idea was to try the alpine grape ‘savagnin’in a small cooler part of their vineyards. Suffice it to say- a great idea.”
Our waiter was great, and told us a story about a trip to Kentucky for a Woodford bourbon tasting, and the specific blend they purchased there for the restaurant. Woodford paid for most of the trip, it is a promotional thing I guess. Fun. Also fun, the folks at the next table from us were celebrating their anniversary as well. They were married 25 years. The waiter brought us all some pink champagne (surely sparkling wine, but pink champagne is more fun to say). We were too full for dessert, but he brought us out a complimentary Valencia orange gremolita, which was light and crisp and absolute perfection for me. Ted would have been happier with some sort of chocolate thing, but this was right in my wheelhouse.
On our way back to BART from dinner, we stopped at an amusing ‘vendor’, selling LPs on the sidewalk. Ted picked up an original pressing of Journey ‘Next’, from before the Steve Perry era. I was interested that the vendor (tweaker) had brought not only his dog (eating its dinner from a plastic baggie) but also 2 houseplants. One on the roof and one in the trunk. Perhaps he sometimes uses them as decoration on his table, but I prefer to think that he just couldn’t bear the idea of leaving home without them.
Enjoy your 4th everyone. If you are celebrating, will there be hot dogs on your menu? We’re rich, so we’re having hot dogs AND hamburgers today.
24 Comments
Margaret
I too love an occasional high quality hot dog–with many trimmings. 🙂 Happy Anniversary! It looks and sounds like you had a special excursion and meal out.
J
What are your trimmings of choice? I like mustard, relish, and sliced tomatoes. Sometimes a little raw onion. Delicious!
Lisa’s Yarns
Happy 4th! Our big family party is on Sat and we will have burgers, brats and hotdogs. Sounds like a fun anniversary celebration!! Pink champagne is extra fun!!
J
Enjoy your celebration, sounds like it will be fun!
Elisabeth
Happy 4th!
We have hotdogs various times throughout the summer. I often skip them after the first few times. I mean…I like hotdogs, but they’re not exactly the most nutritious option and once I’ve satisfied my little “summer hotdog” craving, I’m good!
Happy Anniversary. It looks like a delightful day <3
J
I’m with you on hot dogs. Once or twice a year is plenty for me, for exactly the same reason.
Sarah
Sounds like a lovely anniversary. I also really love BART– even claustrophobic, direction-challenged me can figure it out.
J
BART is SO EASY, you’re right! I have the Metro in Paris figured out, but it’s a lot bigger and more complicated, so it always takes me a couple of days…BART only has 4 lines, color coded, so not too complicated. Would be even easier if they put the colors on the trains, but then I guess they couldn’t switch them around very easily from one route to another.
San
What a lovely day in the City… I haven’t really been since before the pandemic. How is it downtown? My friend tells me all the stores on Market, Powell and around Union Square are gone, but otherwise, it’s nice. I cannot imagine what that would look like.
So glad you had such a nice anniversary <3
J
San, I’m afraid we haven’t spent much time around those areas. I know the San Francisco Centre, where Nordstrom used to be, has emptied out a lot. I did see a couple of storefronts that were closed on our way to the cable car turnaround too. The Mission was certainly hopping! I used to work at the Parc 55 Hotel on 5th and Market, and they have been running at about 50% occupancy since 2020. I heard yesterday that they will likely be sold, which is not a shock since they haven’t been paying the mortgage for a bit now. Also the Hilton, which is across the street. (Actually, they’re both Hilton hotels, but P55 was not when I worked there.)
NGS
We celebrated by trying to shield our dog from fireworks. We were unsuccessful. I am very tired this morning. I am not looking forward to the fireworks hangover that will not last for the next two months. *sigh* Anyone want to borrow a neurotic dog for a few weeks?
J
If there’s a silver lining to being currently dogless, it is not worrying about the fireworks. They are so scary to animals! Mulder did OK with the official ones (which we could definitely hear from our house) as long as we turned the TV on kind of loud to mask the noise. The unofficial, neighborhood ones scared him a lot though. Our last dog, Genevieve, hated ALL of it. I once left my closet door open a bit, and she went in there to hide and peed on my shoes.
Ally Bean
No hot dogs, just burgers. Our day was rainy and gray, rather liked it, if only because it kept neighbors from shooting off fireworks for hours on end. Not a fan of all the kabooms.
J
I hate the kabooms too. Hopefully the neighbors won’t pull them out next time it’s clear.
Daria
WOW, hamburgers AND hotdogs, lucky you! Yum. We barbecued two nights in a row, so T wanted Chinese or pelmenis (Russian), I said it’s treason to order Chinese or Russian food on 4th of July lol He goes “McDonald’s?” We settled on KFC and had some chicken. Fireworks started late- 9:30pm- the kids of course woke up crying, because of the booming, we stayed up in the back yard for a bit to listen to the cracking and booms. Cute.
J
I would have totally gone for Chinese takeout for the 4th! We are an immigrant nation (except for the Native Americans), so really, what could be more patriotic? I love the occasional KFC though. Well done.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Happy belated 4th of July.
Your day in SF sounds lovely. Ive only been to SF once and liked it a lot. I am sure I missed a lot of thing though. Maybe one day I’ll have a second chance.
J
San Francisco has a lot going for it, and there is a lot to see. I lived there for 7 years and did not do a lot, and have now lived only about 30-40 minutes away for the last 28 years, and still plenty I haven’t done. I love it though, it’s a fun place, and when it’s hot out here, the weather there is almost always better.
nance
Oh, J.–I love savagnin! We get ours in Ontario, Canada, from my favourite winery there. Andrzej, the winemaker (and my international husband) makes a wonderful savagnin. We like this varietal with food and just as a nice sipper on the patio or on the boat. Thanks for telling me what wine you had!
Your day sounds delightful, and what a cool restaurant. I wish I had a place nearby with good, fresh raw oysters.
I could eat a dozen with no problem at all.
J
Well now I’m really glad that I thought to write about the wine! I was wondering if the local wine shops carry any, I will have to keep my eyes open for it. Is was lovely indeed. Regarding oysters, yes, I could easily eat a dozen myself if they weren’t $4 or $5 each. I think Ted and I need to find a place that has $1 oyster happy hour and go on an oyster bender.
Ernie
Happy anniversary. Sounds like a wonderfully relaxing day. Love the vendor with houseplants.
Coach’s brother from SC was in town with his wife and their 9 kids, ages 19-3. We spent Wed. Thurs. And Fri. with his side. The newbie girls were in cousin heaven.
There were so many hot dogs. I did not eat one. It has been years since I ate a hot dog. I don’t eat buns anymore and what is a hot dog without a bun? Nothing worth mentioning, that’s what. I could be GF buns but it isnt the same.
In August we sat across from a young couple who shared our anniversary.
J
Yeah, there’s no reason to eat a hot dog if you can’t have a bun, I’d rather go without. I’m sorry you didn’t have one. Last year at our 30th anniversary dinner, there was a couple there celebrating their 1st anniversary. They looked SO YOUNG. But I guess we were too, way back then.
Melissa
Happy anniversary, it sounds like you made the most of your celebrations.
J
Thank you Melissa!