Troy Sandal

Photos at Flickr 

Old friends are the best. Two great friends of ours, Sven and Destiny, came down from Seattle to spend the weekend with us in San Francisco. We greeted them at our Mission apartment with hugs, champagne, cheese and crackers. After touring all 900 square feet that our place has to offer we jumped in a cab and headed downtown to Myth. The restaurant is beautiful and I’d go back if only to show off the decor. We thought the food very good but not remarkable. Both Sven and I had the duck which was undercooked and had to be re-fired. Our waiter was hilarious – he honestly didn’t even care that we were there.  After Myth we walked around to Tosca for the House coffees and Spanish coffees. I love this place. The service is great and the atmosphere thick with history. I’m not from Frisco but I can tell this place is haunted by history.  Great spot, we chatted for another hour before heading home and finishing up the night back at our place sipping Sake and chatting even more.  It’s wonderful to sit around and catch up for so long, we could have talked for days.

I woke up early at 7:30 and made us all coffee and tea. Megan and Destiny went for a run so Sven and I jumped on our bikes and rode up to the top of Bernal Heights. What a great view and what a great street.  We rode down into the Mission and roused John and Emily for breakfast but couldn’t find Toby. Back home we cleaned up before heading to The Liberties for a traditional Irish brunch.  Toby finally showed up despite his laundry duties. It’s good food, it’s heavy food, beware. It has an excellent Bloody Mary so long as you like horseradish. On our way back to the apartment we got hit up by Girl Scouts and I couldn’t say no to Thin Mints and Samosas. One block later half the mints are gone and John is tearing into the Samosas. He loves sugar.

Back at the house we clean up and head to the Legion of Honor to see Annie Leibovitz latest exhibitionAnnie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990–2005.  I can’t say if I’ve ever seen such a personal collection of photos. It was humbling and inspiring. Outside we found the weather had turned stormy so we drove down to Ocean Beach and took some pictures. It was chilly so we retreated to a restaurant down the way and watched both the kite boarders and the seagulls play in the wind while enjoying tea and white wine.  Saturday night was upon us so we headed home to freshen up, nap and to get ready for Greg Veen’s birthday party.

Dinner was at Millenium, a place I’d recommend for their Manhattan’s but not so much for their food. It was good but I just wasn’t blown away. Still, the company made the night and it was great to see Mr. Veen and his lovely Sig along with all our other people. Afterwards we got a great treat, a night at Bourbon and Branch. Our wonderful Sig, the girlfriend of Mr. Veen, reserved the entire upstairs for us where we had a birds-eye view of the entire place. It’s a wonderful hide out and the cocktails are marvelous. Everyone had something different and no one said anything other than ’stellar’ for each. I will return.

The next morning Destiny and I snuck out for a quick walk in the Mission. We got ourselves some coffee at Ritual then picked up fresh bagels at Whole Foods Valencia. Back home Megan and Sven were still asleep. A quick Rick Roll later they were both in the kitchen and dancing with us we prepared the bagels and salmon. Toby showed up to share the fritata he made that morning and then we were all off on an urban hike. First we visited the Seward Street Slides which I think are the coolest slides ever. After many races against Madison, the vicious 8 year old slide champion, we headed up the street to walk Kite Hill Park. Such great views of the city. We made our way back to Delores park where we laid out some blankets, drank cider and had snacks while waiting for that sad moment when Sven and Destiny would have to head back to our apartment and then off to the airport. A moment that came too soon.

troy Uncategorized destiny, sven, svestiny