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Published: July 26th 2011
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A lazy Sunday on Haight/Ashbury - our last full day in San Francisco was yesterday and we moseyed to a place that will forever live in infamy. Long known for the quintessential stop during the Summer of Love, the Haight is best known for young people sitting on the corner with flowers in their hair. My, how times have changed. The area is now a strange mix of psychedelia, head shops, folks selling pot mixed with high end boutiques, baby gap and a place to make soy candles. My mind kept jostling between hippy and yuppy, hippy and yuppy, hippy and yuppy.
We visited a few Tibetan shops, a head shop or two, grabbed a quick bite at a local pub and hung out at Amoeba Music - one of the most impressive used music stores on the face of the planet. We then drove through Golden Gate park attempting a Sunday afternoon visit to the Japanese Tea Garden. We couldn't get near the place - no parking and so much traffic - we decided to head to Ocean Beach. We lounged on the sand and enjoyed the sunshine, breeze and crashing waves. The sand was so fine, it barely stuck to our feet.
One of the stops on my list was to eat Dungeoness crab at Thanh Long. Best known for its roasted whole crab and garlic noodles, it's a place that Jim remembered from a visit long ago. Before the restaurant even opened, the first true testament of a great Asian restaurant - a long line of Asian people assembling with eager anticipation. We were the third or fourth party in line and were quickly seated. The restaurant filled so quickly and everyone was ordering the exact same thing - roasted crab and garlic noodles. We shared a crab and a plate of noodles and it was AMAZING! Sweet crab roasted in a garlic, butter, fresh cracked black pepper sauce and sticky noodles with visible crushed garlic. We wore plastic bibs and while I was a bit shy at first, I quickly realized that 1) everyone was tearing into these delicious dishes and 2) she who hesitates, is lost. After an hour and a phenomenal gastronomic experience, we headed back to the financial district for one last walk in Chinatown and a small cup of mango ice cream. Righteous as I am, I figured we shared the dish at dinner thereby making a dessert perfectly ok! That and the fact that we are on vacation.
This morning, we embarked on our second really long drive to Crescent City, California. The trip was through Marin, the turn off for Napa and Sonoma and into a small town for a pit stop in Cloverdale. We got gas and went to the "World Famous Hamburger Ranch & Bar-B-Que" for what could possibly be the best burger I have ever eaten. Their website is www.hamburgerranchandbbq.com. I had a bacon cheeseburger that was out of this world! The restaurant makes their own hamburger meat and it was so spectacular!!
We drove through the Redwood Forest and enjoyed the beautiful shade from old growth redwood trees - and arrived in Crescent City at about 5:30. Full adventures tomorrow after a good night of rest.
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