Jack London and SF Thursday

While my husband was at the District Pastors Conference last week, somehow I didn't have the energy to write. I don't think the two are related, just how it happened.

So, at any rate... for our year and a half wedding anniversary, he decided to take me to the Chris Isaak show at the Fillmore. Since he was in South Lake Tahoe, I took the train from Fresno to Oakland's Jack London Square and spent a couple hours before he made his way down the highway to get me. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so I found a bench on which to sit, where my face and head were out of the sun, but the rest of me could enjoy it. This was my view from the bench:

When we left JL, we headed straight to SF so we wouldn't get stuck in any traffic going over the bridge. As seems to be our custom, we went straight to North Beach - first stop, Vesuvio, for a quick drink, then to get a late lunch/early dinner. Well, if you're ever going to North Beach, keep this in mind: A lot of the restaurants are closed between 3 and 5 to clean up after lunch and get ready for dinner.

We did find L'Osteria del Forno open, where we were told we could sit at "any small table." Well, there was only 1 other group (a couple and their small child) in the entire space, so we chose a table by the window, sort of secluded. The waitress was never very friendly to us - good thing to food was good. In fact, while we were there, a family of 4 came up and were turned away "because the chef was too busy," but could they come back in about half an hour. Funny thing - they did come back.

After we left the resto, we headed over to Western Addition/Fillmore so that we could park underground at the Kabuki instead of on the street next to the projects. We also wanted to get there early enough (ok, *I* wanted) so that we could be close enough to the front of the line that we wouldn't have to be in the back at the show. Since it was still really early, we actually could have been first in line, but I wasn't that obsessive. Ha. So we wandered around the neighborhood for a while, then ended up at Rassela's, the Ethiopian food/jazz joint. Not very friendly there, either.

When we crossed the street to the Fillmore, we were probably about 30 deep in line, so all was well, and when we entered I headed to the right side, where the banquette and a few small tables are, but alas, those were "reserved" already, so we ended up between Chris and Hershel, about 5 feet from the stage. Rev had to elbow some rude interlopers who were trying to push their way to the stage and make fools of themselves, and my husband was quite popular after that.

Chris' brother, Nick, opened the show, and it was not the best performance I've seen from him, though it was decent. Chris was, of course, wonderful. He is consistently entertaining, with great vocals and style.

The drive home, however, was rough! We had to stop twice to nap, but yes, it was well worth it.