San Francisco first night - Mets vs. Giants

I appreciate that Stephen enjoys baseball - and that he humors my desire to visit ballparks - even when the teams playing are not my Astros or his Tigers... So, I checked the Giants and the Athletics. The Athletics were in Detroit playing the Tigers - but the Giants were in town! So, we programed the TomTom to take us to AT&T park and had much better success arriving at the desired destination! It took us right to the front door - but the parking situation is very similar to Houston - there is not a dedicated parking lot, you just have to hunt around and find your favorite $20 parking lot...

We walked up to the ticket window after parking our car and bought row 8 tickets just past first base. Thursday night with no give aways is not a popular night to head to the ballpark.

The ballpark is beautiful, but in mid-May it is a bit chilly in the evening, which may be why there was only one lonely kayaker - we didn't see any balls go over the wall.

I was a bit shocked at the ball boy - what a wonderful retirement plan. =)

First Days in San Francisco - Before Ferry Building

Our first couple days in San Francisco were full of fun and adventure - but not winding Lombard St. or Cable Cars... We wanted to go to the Science Center. So, we looked it up in the TomTom and set off for downtown. The TomTom has gotten us many places successfully - not so much this time... well, it wasn't the TomTom's fault... the science center moved last fall - and relocated to the Golden Gate Park. This fact was clearly stated in several of my guide books, but I figured the TomTom would know that...

Oh well, we ended up in a downtown parking garage, and then Ellen from Wine and Dine Tours called to talk to me about our tour - and she suggested the Ferry Building - which was just a short 10 blocks away (maybe not 10, but it wasn't as close as we thought).

So, our first day in San Francisco we went to the Ferry Building - which is an indoor gourmet market. It was amazing - mushroom store, olive oil store, cheese store, wine store, etc., etc., etc. The coolest thing I saw was a mini mushroom farm at the mushroom store! Grow your own shiitake or tree oyster mushrooms!

Springtime in Connecticut

I guess I missed the dogwood blooms last week - we had lots of wind and rain and the blooms went away pretty fast... but I captured the daffodils and some bleeding hearts - and the peonies are going to be enormous this year - hope I get to see some of them!

Magnolia Grill - Charleston, SC

On my last day in SC, I departed from Charleston. Stephanie found a restaurant to have brunch - Magnolia Grill. It was excellent http://www.magnolias-blossom-cypress.com/ ! Everyone had grits - except me, I had rum soaked bananas!

Liam was excellent at brunch - and very interested in eating all of his dad's grits and gravy!

Party time! Happy 90th Mr Bill!

Despite the downpour that began at 5:26 - in honor of the celebration, there was a huge turn-out at the party! I think Jim & Steph and Liam from San Diego were from the farthest away! But there were people from all over who came - people who used to live on the island and have moved away, people who live here now, and family. The room was packed! The birthday cakes were eaten, and fun was had.

The emcee told the joke: Angel came to a man who had lived a long life and always done right, and the angel said, “You have lived a good life and you have earned one request. What would you like?” The man thought for a second and replied, “Well, I don’t like planes or boats, but I’ve always wanted to see Hawaii, could you build a bridge?” “Well, that’s pretty tough, do you have a second wish?” So the man said, “Well, you know, I’ve always wanted to understand my wife - what she is thinking, what she wants.” the angel responded, “Would you like that bridge to have two lanes or four.”

There was good food and good friends - laughter and smiles all evening. Another excellent Fripp celebration was successfully held!

Party preparations - Pot luck, table cloths, and doodads

Friday night there was a pot luck at the house Beth rented - and the 8mm movies were watched. They are silent movies - but that doesn’t matter - the family remembering fills in the gaps. Sometime later we are going to have to get the movies narrated for posterity - but watching Beth, Melissa, Bill, Ms Chris, and Mr. Bill finishing their brick patio and learning how to operate the pool is fun. There was concern that there wouldn’t be enough food at the pot luck, but there was more than enough - salad, sandwiches, pasta - and Ms. Chris became Liam’s favorite watermelon supplier!

Saturday Morning we were at the community center at 11:00 to help set up the tables, get all the chairs positioned and the table cloths on the table. Ms. Chris knew right where she wanted everything - and I think everything ended up where it belonged… Dad and I went and got some coffee as the final touches were put on the football table and loose knits (golf group) decorations.

We sat at home and wondered if the tornado warning/watches were going to be an issue for us or the party.

House of Mirrors and that table

Mom posed in the hall with the mirrors to help demonstrate the fun house nature of all the mirrors in the house. It has been entertaining with little Liam - he keeps seeing himself. Although it is also a little disconcerting when you are walking along to the stairs - and find yourself nose-to-nose with yourself…

The table has been a challenge to Liam - it is just a little bit taller than he can get his leg up and over - so he has had to lean as far as he can to get the Dora CD to play.