We landed in San Francisco to start a two-week loop east to Yosemite, north to Lake Tahoe, west to Calistoga and south to Petaluma in Sonoma County and finally to Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin County. The next few blogs will cover each leg of the trip and we’ll start with one of our favorite cities: San Francisco.
Japantown
Where do you stay in San Francisco? There are plenty of big brand hotels in the Union Square area that are close to the action, but we chose Japantown. Again. It’s small, quiet and walkable to many neighborhoods. We had stayed at Hotel Kabuki — which was recently bought by Hyatt — but this time chose the nearby Kimpton Buchanan. And we loved it. We had a spacious corner room on the fourth floor with a beautiful view of Osaka Way, as well as a big soaking tub.
We woke up early Sunday morning to a beautiful day and started early with breakfast at The Grove on Filmore Street. We were the first customers and lounged in the spacious restaurant while we waited. Debbie’s avocado toast with poached eggs on top could not have been better, and Gary’s traditional breakfast with poached eggs and hashed browns with rosemary and toast was just as good. Add a latte and Americano and it was a perfect way to start the day.
We spent the rest of the morning exploring the shops in Japantown, which has been there since 1906 (though rebuilt and changed over the years). The Paper Tree, an origami store, has exhibits of origami art and beautiful paper (washi). It’s not on par with the washi in Japan, but it’s a wonderful visit.
Two bookstores are also worth a visit. Forest Books has a tremendous collection of curated books: rare, used and collectible. And Kinokuniya, which has a dozen locations, mostly on the West Coast, has a great selection of Japanese literature (and manga downstairs if you’re so inclined). It’s located in the Japan Center, an indoor mall which also has restaurants, a couple nice coffee shops, and shops with Japanese candy and tea.
Walking the City
Having visited San Francisco dozens of times, we decided to take advantage of the sun and walk northeast through Lafayette Park and Russian Hill, exploring the architecture, flowers and shrubs, and then stroll down Lombard Street. It was a little more than a mile. From there, we continued on to Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch. It was wall-to-wall people, so we ducked into Franciscan Crab Restaurant to enjoy a view of the bay, crab and Prosecco, and rested before heading back.
We could have taken the cable car up to Nob Hill, but that’s where we were heading in the morning to walk the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral, so we opted to stroll back to Japantown where we rested before dinner. There are plenty of restaurants nearby and we went for Hikari Sushi – known for bullet train sushi. You sit at a counter or booth, order from a touch pad, and food is delivered by a miniature bullet train running along tracks beside you. You just order a little at a time until you’re full. It’s a lot of fun.
And on to Yosemite
The next day it was time to head to the airport, get our rental car and head out to Yosemite.
We made a quick trip to the mid-coast of Maine in search of a new site for Two Down Dogs world headquarters (translation: we’re moving). We booked only a few days in advance and flew from Newark to Portland and then made the nearly 2-hour drive up to the Beach Cottage Inn, about 10 minutes north of Camden on Lincolnville Beach.
It wasn’t fancy (after all, we’re in Maine, so it’s not supposed to be) but comfortable and had a view of the beach. The inn is located next door to the Whale’s Tooth Pub, and has the same owners.
The sunrise was spectacular and at low tide it was perfect for a walk on the beach, before walking up Route 1 about 10 minutes to Dot’s for coffee and breakfast. Later in the day we went across the street to Green Tree Coffee and Tea, a rustic coffee roaster with rocking chairs on the front porch, and also stopped at The Alpaca Experience — because, why wouldn’t we.
We headed into Camden, which is certainly one of the loveliest coastal towns in Maine, with a small but vibrant downtown, scenic harbor and wonderful homes. Our favorites were on Bay View Street, where the Owl & Turtle Café Bookstore sat across from the Cashmere Goat. Wool, books and coffee are a few of our favorite attractions. We had been up in April for a preliminary look through the area, so these two photos are from that visit.
Then it was off to the Camden Real Estate Company, where we started our tour of four properties. The first was in town, a beautiful old home right in Camden that was far too much house for our needs. The second, also in Camden, was an ocean-front property that would require building a new house and was, in our opinion, too much work at this stage in our lives.
Then we moved on to Northport, which sits right above Lincolnville and doesn’t have the price tag or taxes of homes in Camden. The first was a magnificent, open concept home, newer construction, with a wonderful view of the ocean — from an enclosed porch that made it tough to resist.
Finally, we moved on to the last property and the reason for our visit. The home was smaller, the view good but not quite as good as the other one. It was also open concept. It had advantages, mostly the price, but by the time we scheduled the trip and got up there, someone had made a bid and the house was already under contract.
So it was back to drown our sorrows in martinis and lobster at the Whale’s Tooth Pub, followed by a walk on the beach and ice cream by the ocean.
We may not have found our home yet, but Maine seemed perfect for us.