Friday, October 2, I spend most of the day visiting the offices of the Diocese of New Jersey in Trenton, getting there in time for the 12:10 pm Eucharist (which of course no one from the office attends).  When I get over to the diocesan office, I catch Fr. Glenn Druce, Canon Juan Oliver and Fr. Bob Ripson, perfect!  Then Angelin Pozo walks in (she is actually the point woman for Ecclesia) so it’s a home run!

Saturday, October 3, we swing by the framing shop to pick up our unusually-perspected view of the Empire State Building and the surrounding area.  We’re back to the apartment in time for the season premier of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (its final season).

A little after 9 pm, we meet Bryan’s friend Greg for dinner outside Agroticon, the great Greek restaurant on 14th Street.  But it’s out of business!  Oh, depression!  Oh, well … we go to the Old Devil Moon on 12th Street between Avenues A and B for southern cooking.  It’s actually not the best, but we have a nice time.

Sunday, October 4, I get up at 8 am and head off to Trinity to sing (the choir is also dedicated); in the afternoon Bryan and I head to the West Village.

Our first stop is the Leo Gallery (on Ann Street near Greenwich); they specialize in arts from around 1910.  I’m not particularly into Mission style although Bryan is; but we find an incredible photograph of some Roman ruins framed in a simple dark oak.  Someone has put a hold on it, but the proprietor (who we actually have purchased things from at his other gallery) tells us the guy hasn’t checked back in over a week and has put no money down on it.  It’s ours for only $400!  Pride of place in the living room, for sure; right near the bookcase.

Then it’s off to the Hangar on Christopher Street for vodka tonics and then to Badlands closer to the water (yech) and right back to the Hangar.  After some more minor bouncing around the area, we go to meet Danger and Susan at 7 pm at Kin Khao (it means “eat rice”) at 171 Spring Street (between Thompson and West Broadway).  Zagat’s warns us of attitude but we experience none of it; plus have some very fine Thai food (and more Ketel One’s on the rocks).  Around 10 pm we leave there and have more drinks at Madame X on Houston Street; there’s no one there, even though it has a great lounge atmosphere (all red velvet).

Monday, October 5, we have a little trouble getting up but get into work only a half hour late.  I tended to drag my heels most of the day, finally leaving work around 5 pm and having soup with my parents before heading off to Cranford’s Calvary Lutheran Church where our choir was having a joint rehearsal with their choir and one from a Lutheran church in Summit, all in preparation for Reformation Sunday.  After rehearsal, I went over to Jim and Jamie’s as they were having a birthday party for Doug Reagan; also there was his wife Donna, Mike Gow and John Zebrowski.  We had a birthday cake, 7 and 7’s (lovely combo, eh?) and then Jamie made us all roasted chicken and bacon sandwiches.

Tuesday, October 6, Bryan and I go pick up a beautiful teak box for stationary that we will give to Albert O and Jen for their wedding present this weekend.  Then to Brunetta’s for dinner (as much as I like the gay atmosphere, I think I’ve tired of their food).

Side note:  Uncle Ralph’s friend Jimmy Speer died of a heart attack last weekend; he had been rather frail (he was old but I don’t know how old).  He had called 911 but died before the ambulance could get to him.  It made me rather sad; his biggest attribute, by the way, was picking up doormen of the buildings around him on the upper East side.  Speaking of death, the woman who was famous for stalking David Letterman killed herself on some train tracks in Colorado; what made me sad was that she never received the kind of help that could have easily prevented this.  “Ask not for whom the bell tolls…”

Wednesday, October 7, our new bedroom night tables are finally coming together; we actually put them together for a few minutes today.  I picked up B at work and then we went to get our tuxedoes tailored for the wedding.  Then to Zeller Tux where I picked up an interesting vest for the tux; a subtle gold tapestry with Corinthian columns (more sedate than it sounds); B didn’t find anything and will wait for the ride to Boston.

Then off to the West Village to get our new (old) 1910 Roman photo; it’s just marvelous in its original oak frame.  Dinner was at Casa di Pre; we had dinner there months ago and it’s still as gay as ever (although the food was merely ok, except for the mussels in dijon wine sauce which were superb).

Thursday, October 8, I have dinner with the folks and then to choir practice

Friday, October 9, we don’t get on the road until 2:30; and that means an 8 hour trip to Boston, the longest and worst trip to Boston in my life (no disrespect to Bryan).  Our only stops on the trip are McDonalds for food and a mall in Farmington CT looking for tuxedo accoutrements.

By 11 pm, however, we’re situated at Jeff and Alli’s (the rulers of Monolyth/Soundproof Records) and within half an hour we’re at the Golden Temple nearby for those incredible mai tais and excellent food.  Joining us is Jeff and Alli, but also Shari Sklar and Ellen Regele (both of whom have been mentioned here before).  If you’re in Brookline and in the mood for Chinese, this is the place to go (you may remember my mentioning the dining room that looks like the holodeck of the Starship Enterprise).  Ross Humphrey joins us and then we all go to Jeff’s for his homemade Stoly Dolys (this is his first experiment with them; we later learn that the pineapple should be almost new and not ripe) until everyone leaves (except for us and Jeff) and we all crash around 3 am.

Saturday, October 10, it’s exactly twenty years to the day that I did my first radio show on WMBR in Cambridge (MIT’s non-commercial station, then called WTBS before Ted Turner bought the call letters); Yes, T.V.O.D.  It’s also exactly ten years ago to the day that Bill Abbate and I left our afternoon gig on WFNX.  My how time flies.

Back to the present, I get up before everyone at 9:30 am and go to Dunkin Donuts for, uh, donuts.  By noon, Bryan, Jeff and I are on Newbury Street for final items for their tuxedos.  Bryan gets a great pair of shoes/boots at Allston Beat; they’ll look cool with his tux.  Jeff really doesn’t find much.

By 3 pm, we’re ready for Alli to return, but she runs a bit late and because of the directions and weather, we miss the wedding ceremony!  Luckily, we find the minister who gives me a copy of the marriage certificate (with the address of the parents, where the reception is) and sends us to the police station for directions.  Yes, the marriage certificate!  It certainly makes for a unique souvenir of the wedding.  The church itself is the Unitarian church in the center of Cohasset, the set for “The Witches of Eastwick.”  Sorry we missed it!  Anyway, we do find the reception which is at the home of Mark and Elizabeth Brennan, the parents of the bride.  And since Oedipus pointed out my detail-oriented work, I’d better go to another paragraph for the reception …

Because of the weather, the grounds have been enclosed in clear plastic but as the night wears on, the ground beneath us does become somewhat wet, leading to damp bottoms.  But not damp spirits as this is a wonderful group of people.  Let’s start with Albert O, the groom (note picture of him and jen). I’ve known Albert since those early days on the radio; indeed, as Chief Announcer at the time, I actually signed the paperwork for him to do his first official show; he’s been an announcer with WBCN forever now.  We then worked in a variety of enterprises together, including Tickle T-Shirts which was the first store in town to sell New Wave/punk stuff.

I don’t know his wife, the former Jen Brennan, very well, but she has certainly seemed to have made Albert’s life better (plus he gets along very well with her father).  I finally meet his brother, Mark, face to face after many years; as mentioned in this site a few months ago, it turns out he’s currently involved in Manhattan’s Chelsea Lobster Co. (the former Claire’s restaurant).  We’ve eaten there before and now I’m sure we will again.  His mother and siblings are also there.

As for friends, I correctly predict that Oedipus will be there, with cigars.  Also from WBCN (and WZLX, their recent sister station) is their general manager, Tony Berardini (“Today, I’m just the guy drinking a beer at the next table”), music director Steve Strick (and his very handsome boyfriend, Matt) who gave me my first opportunity to spin records (bet you don’t remember that, Steve), Charles Laquidara, Carter Alan (friends with U2, he gave me their first album to play on the air almost 20 years ago), Janet “Juanita” Egan (she is the local music maven and former intern to Bill and me), various staffers like Ed Lyons, Tim Johnson, Patrick and Amy and more.

There’s an ‘FNX contingent headed up by Neal Robert (formerly of WBCN, formerly of WFNX and back and forth).  I didn’t have to mention that Bill and Alice Abbate and Jeff Marshall and Alli Wong were there, do I?  The designers of the wedding are also the interior decorators of the house, John and Josef, who are lots of fun (yes, there’s lots of gay people there so of course we all mingle).

All this talk of people … how was the wedding?  Just wonderful.  We walked in to a toast by Albert and then incredible hors d’oevres (how does portobello mushrooms on heart-shaped polenta grab you?).  Then a buffet with a huge side of perfectly cooked beef and a swordfish the size of a cow!  The caterers were quite good!  And what’s a good wedding without free-flowing spirits and wines?  Needless to say, all the guest were quite happy with an amazing feeling of family (right down the traditional Oedipus food fight).  Even the wedding cake was delicious.  All in all, the reception ran from about 5:30 to 9:30 pm; I’m sure many guests stayed much later.  All this, even considering the possibility of the tent collapsing on us!

By 11 pm, Jeff and All (who drove) and Bryan and I were back at the apartment for the evening; we watched the end of Austin Powers and then a terrible bootleg of “Something About Mary.”  It looked like an old porno film or John Waters movie from the 70’s; some subtle advice about bootlegs!  We all sat up until around 1:30 in the morning, drinking vodka and finishing the donuts from the morning.  What a fine day!  Something even the weather couldn’t dampen.

Sunday, October 11, I’m up at 9:30 again, this time for Dunkin Donuts coffee and muffins.  Everyone is up around 11 and we have brunch at Kokopelli Chili Co. on across the street from the apartment.  The last time B and I ate there, the service was horrible and the food not much better; we weren’t inclined to try again except for Jeff’s recommendation.  And he was right; everything was quite good this time.

Then by 1:30, Bryan and I are shopping on Newbury and Boylston Streets; surprisingly for us, we don’t buy anything!  But we do get our architectural lessons from the Boston Public Library and more.  We stop at Davio’s on Newbury Street for a drink (some very good cognac for me, Black Russian for B) and then we’re back at the apartment by 6 pm, just in time for Alice Abbate; Bill joins us less than an hour later.

We nosh on cheese and crackers while enjoying the bottle of Cennatoio Chianti Classico 1996 that I got on our wine tour last month; it’s very good and worth another purchase.  Around 8 pm, we all head over to The Five Seasons, a new restaurant in Washington Square.  Although the food is incredible (and the pina coladas that B and I have are made with fresh bananas and pineapples with coconut juice and Myers Rum), the restaurant is having significant problems between the kitchen and wait staff (both are to blame) and I can tell that both Bill and Jeff are aggravated.

By the time we’re out of there (almost 10:30), the Abbates have to leave us.  Jeff and Alli then drive B and I to Avalon on Lansdowne Street for their insane Sunday night gay party.  And considering it’s Columbus Day weekend, the place is hopping.  Observations?  The music in Avalon is all intros and outros, just the feel of techno without the lyrics (not a great thing); in Axis (yes, the former Spit) it’s songs, and damn good ones also.  Flashback:  while in Axis, they play New Order’s “Blue Monday” – one of my biggest weekly spins.  Also, the bathrooms are beyond disgusting; hey, Pat Lyons!

Nonetheless, we have a fun time drinking Black Russians (our drink of the night) before heading over to one of Boston's oldest gay leather bars, the Ramrod Room, which has just opened a new downstairs (“Machine”) which is three times the size of the former club.  We stay there about half an hour before cabbing back to the apartment (Bryan is shocked that there’s no where to get a bite to eat or do anything after 2 am in Boston).

Monday, October 12, Columbus Day, we’re up around 10 am; and yes, to Dunkin Donuts munchkins.  We’re on the road by 1 and make excellent time back (including a stop for brunch at Bickford’s).  By 7 pm, we’re home, unpacked, and at Dick’s for a drink.  Before winding up at MaryAnn’s on Second Avenue for Mexican, we pick up an unusual Art Nouveau poster from Gary’s Thrift Shop on 5th Street; it’s from 1973, advertising an art exhibition but the art is old and features a male pharmacist with cat (men are rare in Art Nouveau) – and it was only $12!

Tuesday, October 13, and then it’s off to Dick’s and Pangea.  Bryan’s friend Greg joins us for dinner.  B and I have wonderful hot rum toddies and I have a Moroccan style seafood paella which is just superb.  I don’t care for scallops, so they left those out and increased the clams and mussels by my request; along with shrimp, they cover a saffron risotto in a cilantro broth.  Yeah!

Wednesday, October 14, as the day goes by the weather turns beautiful and they’re predicting 80 degrees by the weekend!  Dick’s and then sushi at Chikubu 2 across the street from the bar.

Thursday, October 15, Bryan tells me that his latest test results show his t-cells rising from around 400 to around 800; plus his viral load remains undetectable.  Choir and then pizza at Jim and Jamie’s; bed by midnight.

Friday, October 16, Bryan and I have dinner at Brunetta’s and get a phone call from Uncle Ralph right before we leave, so he meets us at Dick’s for a drink and then we go over (it’s his first time there).  The food is decent but the atmosphere is what makes it fun.

Saturday, October 17, lunch 1 pm at the Lunch Box, of course.  Then it’s a shopping trip to Old Navy for birthday presents for Bryan’s nephew (also Bryan) who is one year old on Wednesday, then Bed Bath and Beyond, and book shopping at A Different Light for a new Damron Accomodations book and the latest issue of Out and About as we are definitely becoming world travelers.  We also pass a very interesting print shop with tables upon tables of different prints.  We’ll be back there for sure.

By 4 pm we’re home and resting up for our dinner with Uncle Ralph at Carl and Jeffrey’s apartment (we still have never met them).  Joining us for dinner are his friends Frank and Don, and their friend Alex, a 32-year old Hong Kong pathologist.  Ralph makes some fine potato gnocchi in alfredo sauce and shrimp scampi.  After apple pie and coffee we head back to the apartment by midnight.

Sunday, October 18, we have blueberry muffins (coffee for B, iced chai for me) at Day Break on 12th Street, a cute place that we rarely stop at, even though it’s close.  Then it’s off to the West Village.  We have many things we could do, but it’s a beautiful day, about 75 degrees … cancel all plans!

Our first stop is the Duplex for pina coladas, then Julius for a cosmopolitan and Pieces for the same; all the while wandering in and out of stores.  By 6:30 it’s time for dinner; we stop at El Charro Espanol at 4 Charles Street near Greenwich Avenue, Scott Dangerboy Reich joins us a few minutes later.  Along with red sangria, we have about six or seven different tapas; they’re very good but the place is also a bit expensive so I’m not sure we’ll be back.

Monday, October 19, Bryan goes bowling after a short nap and I stay home and watch Melrose and read magazines until almost midnight.  Bryan is a bit hungry, so after meeting him at Dick’s for a drink, we wind up at Village Yokocho at 8 Stuyvesant Street (the little triangle near 9th Street and 3rd Avenue, upstairs from Around the Clock), mainly because they’re open until 3 am.  But we are pleasantly surprised to find a small place populated by native Japanese kids!  And very native food (with access to a Korean place next door).  Bryan has the eel, I have very good tempura but don’t eat my steamed oysters; although they smell excellent, they’re even too large for me.

Tuesday, October 20, dinner at Pangea by 9 pm.  There, we have a fierce discussion about the Episcopal Church’s response to the recent gay murder in Wyoming.  Bryan’s position, to which I have begrudgingly come around, is that it’s worse to say something and not do anything about it; it gives people the impression that it’s still ok to oppress gay people.  I always said that there would come a day when gay people would just take their rights from the church instead of waiting to be given them; now may be the time.

Wednesday, October 21, a usual day at work; afterwards, I drive directly into the city and pick up Bryan, his boss Michelle Petersen and her son Matt.  We’re dropping off some carpet remnants at his apartment near 80th Street so, after doing that, we park and eat at Divino on 2nd Avenue between 80th and 81st Streets.  Well, isn’t it incredible?  First, they hand you little pizzas and bruschetta while you relax; we also ordered a couple bottles of very nice verdicchio (I may have the spelling wrong, it’s a white Italian like pinot grigio).  Then wonderful appetizers (Michelle with portobello mushrooms, B had asparagus with excellent mustard sauce, Matt a solid minestrone and perfect stuffed baby artichokes for me) and entrees (Michelle won again with bowties in a very tasty vodka sauce, Matt had steak with red wine and mushroom sauce – very tender, Bryan had a striped bass in a black olive and tomato sauce – a real winner, and I had shells in garlic, broccoli and zucchini).  After coffee (and a very fine tiramisu for Matt) we headed home around 10 pm.  After dropping of Michelle at work (Matt had walked home), Bryan and I stopped off at Dick’s for a nightcap.  I had a pink lady, yes, that old drink … although they didn’t have egg whites (needed to make it frothy and smooth, but who needs raw eggs these days?) … it’s made with gin, grenadine and half+half.  And yes, it’s as terrible as it sounds, although it looked good on the bar!  We headed home around 11:30 and heard all sorts of screaming and yelling – yes, the Yankees had won the World Series.  Who cares?  In bed and asleep by midnight.

Thursday, October 22, Ralph Taylor and I go to my parents around 5:30 for dinner. Mike Gow, from the choir, also joins us for macaroni as he’s got pictures for Connections.  After eating we get out and Mike and I go to our dress rehearsal for the Bach Cantata on Sunday.  Afterwards, at Jim and Jamie’s, Donna Reagan and I talk about the Holy Spirit’s influence on Trinity parish.  She and I believe that Fr. Craig cannot impose his will on the parish; even though, to outsiders, it might look like we’ll be a Burger King in a few years.  And anyway, if that’s what happens, that’s what the Holy Spirit must want.

Friday, October 23, a quiet day and simply a recommendation for bourbon - Knob Creek.

Saturday, October 24, dinner around 9 pm at the Flea Market on Avenue A near 9th Street.  We’d had dinner there before and the food is quite remarkable.  Bryan had a tuna and salmon tartare followed by steak tartare; I had sublime mussels followed by steak au poivre.

Sunday, October 25, we rush to get up so I can attend church.  Since it’s a full day in NJ, Bryan is coming along.  We get out the door with minutes to spare, only to find out that we’d forgotten to turn the clocks back!  We have a whole extra hour!  So we have breakfast at the Cranford Diner.

After mass, we go visit Carl Goldenberg, who works for Continental; we’re hoping he’ll get us an upgrade for San Francisco.  His apartment is full of beautiful things from the turn of the century, including a rare Victor Victrola.  Plus lots of things related to dirigibles (his passion) and other transportation related items.

At 3 pm, I go over to Calvary Lutheran to get ready for our choirs participation in Reformation Sunday.  Along with their choir and another Lutheran choir, we’re performing Bach’s “Eine feste Burg.”  Bryan and my mother get there a little before 4, when the service starts.  It’s a full festal eucharist concelebrated by our retired Bishop Pettit and their Bishop Riley; the Bach is the sermon.  And considering how complicated the piece is, we don’t do badly.  The only bad thing is that only nine members of the parish (not including friends like B and mom) attend … everyone else was from the Lutherans.

After, Bryan and I sit through traffic and go directly home; then it’s off to La Paella at 214 E. 9th Street, near 3rd Avenue.  This is right next to the Japanese late night restaurant that we ate at last week.  It’s a tapas bar very much like the ones we saw in Madrid; we wanted to eat there Saturday night but it was too crowded.  Well, are we pleased we went back!  Incredible, thick sangria full of fruit, good gazpacho and an olive assortment start us off.  We get a mixed tapas plate (next time we’ll be picky, we just wanted to try it out) followed by some grilled shrimp and grand marnier marinated langostinos.  We see the paella at the table next to us; that’s certainly for next time!

Monday, October 26, I stop at Virgin Records to get Bryan the Squirrel Nut Zippers “Hot” and some platters for me (Minnie Ripperton when she was part of Rotary Connections, and old punk albums by The Saints and Radio Birdman).  I watch the current Melrose Place and last week’s Star Trek: Voyager while awaiting Bryan’s arrival home from bowling.

Tuesday, October 27, I buy a new Mouseman+ by Logitech.  It’s got the Microsoft scroll wheel but this seems better constructed than theirs.  Then Pangea for mai tais at 6 pm (I also get a tasty risotto with butternut squash).

Wednesday, October 28, we’re having a slow start but others aren’t.  Directly across the street from our apartment is an NYU dorm.  Well, don’t you know there are a couple of exhibitionist heterosexuals who just have to show off their missionary technique!  Wow, and going at it!  Even I’m taken aback (but not enough not to drag Bryan out of bed to look).   Talk about waking up.

Dinner is Italian food at Lanza’s, but not before stopping off to see our friend Donn “Waiter Boy” Boulanger, whom we see outside his workplace, John’s Italian.  At Lanza’s, I have my favorite clams oreganota followed by a nice chicken breast in a anise/fennel cream sauce (more mild and sweet than you’d think) while B had a seafood marechiaro; plus we split a bottle of pinot grigio.

Thursday, October 29, getting ready for San Francisco!  Around 9 pm, we have dinner with Dangerboy and Susan at Cucina di Pesce; this is the third time for us.  And although I still think the results are variable, when it’s good, it’s good.  Highlights were the pumpkin ravioli for me, a sublime tuna steak with marsala wine and black pepper sauce for B, and spinach ravioli for Susan.  We all split strawberries with Grand Marnier for dessert.

Friday, October 30, we’re up at 7 am and off to Newark Airport.  Once we board the plane, we find that the third seat next to us goes vacant so we have lots of room for the trip to San Francisco.  And a plug for Continental Airlines; they really are the way to fly.

We get into SFO at 2 pm, right on schedule, and cab it to the Hotel Triton (near Union Square).  They are a very hip hotel, very much in the Ian Schraeger mode.

By 4 pm, we’re out on the streets and take the Hyde & Powell cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf where we take a boat cruise around the bay (under the Golden Gate Bridge, around Alcatraz, that sort of thing) which lasts about an hour and is very enjoyable.  We then walk around Pier 39, the new tourist trap with all the fancy stores and have a slice of pizza at Sal’s.   Here's a picture of Bryan on the cruise in front of San Francisco.

Did we miss something in SF?  I didn’t find any really good pizza the whole time we were there. By 7 pm, we take the cable car back and the hotel sends a car to take us to the Castro District, the main reason for our trip.  For those who don’t know, it’s the gay ghetto of SF.

We have drinks at some of the bars there, including the Edge, Harvey’s and Badlands (where the manager, Eddie, is very nice; we hoped to see him again on Halloween, but it wasn’t to be).  At 11 pm, finally ready for dinner but we find that SF stops eating at that time.

We never seem to get our eating times in sync with our visited cities!  So we settle for Orphan Andy’s, a 24 hour Castro landmark where Bryan has an incredible “zesty gardenburger” and I have a wonderful real burger.  Then it’s back home via cab and lights out by 1:30 am.

Saturday, October 31, Halloween … we’re awake at 9:30, so we actually get 8 hours of sleep; and on a vacation no less.  We have breakfast downstairs at the hotel’s French bistro, Café de la Presse.  We take a quick walk around the area, stopping at the SF branch of Martin Lawrence Galleries where Mikal Jordan entices Bryan with Keith Haring prints.

At 1 pm, we take the bus down Market Street to Haight-Ashbury for more of the tourist thing (and here's a picture of me looking touristy at the corner of Haight and Ashbury).  Interestingly enough, kids still flock here to be useless (oops, am I getting old?).

We walk over to the Castro and go shopping for shirts and sweatshirts for souvenirs and then have a drink at Daddy’s, the new leather bar on Castro Street.

We then take the “F” Line back to the hotel.  This is a group of trolley cars that SF has refurbished, there are cars from Italy in the 1920’s (we rode a fine one from Milan) and American ones from the 50’s (we were on one from Philadelphia painted in colors from 1947 another time).  These are really fantastic, but it’s very indicative of the collapsed transit system of SF.  I mean, these aren’t just for history, this is the transit system!

On the way back, we stop in at the SF Museum of Modern Art but just shop at the museum store.  We have reciprocal privileges from the Guggenheim but I forgot the reciprocal card; a rather silly method, why can’t we just show our Guggenheim card?  Anyway, the exhibit is Alexander Calder … for free we’d go in, but not to pay.

By 5 pm, we’re at the Triton again where we change for dinner.  The original plan was dinner at Michelangelo’s on Columbus Avenue; I’d eaten there with Mark Enos almost six years ago and wanted to go back (it’s Italian and seafood).  But once we got there, we changed our minds (it’s rather bright and obviously touristy) and went even more touristy by going to The Stinking Rose up the street.  Yes, the restaurant famous for garlic!  And that was more appropriate and Bryan is a garlic fan.  We have a fairly decent meal (the skillet roasted mussels are particularly good) and get back to the hotel around 9 pm.

Here’s where things get bad.  The SF transit system really failed us.  First the hotel screwed up by not finding us a cab; then we find out that the subway station at the Castro would close at 8 pm (wait, it gets stupider) and the surface transportation (yes, the 50 year old trolleys) doesn’t have it’s own lane so is grid-locked by the automobiles around it.  Having gotten on one, and not traveled more than a block in 15 minutes, we decided to walk.  Yes, it took us an hour to get to the Castro!  Along the way, we stopped at Piaf’s for a martini.  From what we can tell, this is a lip-synching drag show (and not very good, I’m afraid).

Anyway, we finally got to the Castro around midnight.  The whole area is blocked off, probably six blocks on a side, with thousands of people.  Although not as good as some we’ve seen (LA last year was very good), it was still fun; our prize went to a group dressed as a car wash.  Very conceptual, and had we been in costume we certainly would have gotten “washed” especially by the “drying cloth” (a very hot guy)!  By 1:30, we were ready to return and thought we’d get a head start (bars stop serving alcohol at 2 am) on the transit system.  But it’s worse than the way over!  There is absolutely and completely no transportation out of the area!!!  We literally walk all the way home, through the drizzle, taking over an hour!  Needless to say, we were extremely displeased by this, all the more so since Bryan had his combative boots on, not exactly the footwear for walking.  And, as harsh as this may sound, it will lead to this being our last visit to San Francisco.  Nice city, totally dysfunctional.  Lights out by 3 am.

Sunday, November 1, we’re up around 10 am and off to breakfast at Sear’s Fine Foods on Powell Street; it’s one of those places that’s been around for years (“World famous for our 18 little pancakes”).  We have traditional breakfast fare and then it’s back to the hotel, pack and go around 1 pm.  Note on the hotel:  the staff there is either very good (the concierge, David, is particularly good) or completely clueless; there needs to be far more communication between the staff.  Anyway, the Town Car takes us to the airport where we are bumped up to First Class and have a wonderful trip back to NYC (enjoying many glasses of wine and some very good chili-encrusted shrimp).  By midnight, we’re back at the apartment and even have time for one drink at Dick’s before bed.  Home!

And, placing All Saints Day with Halloween, we’ll call it an end to October.