The San Francisco Treat

I picked mom up at the airport this morning from a week spent with Carl in LA. One more day together before she flies home to South Carolina. We went and had breakfast together at the Full House Cafe--one of our old favorites. It was really nice to have a quiet breakfast together after all the company and chaos that occurred right before she left for LA. With all the dress shopping and the bridal shower behind us, we were able to sit quietly and really talk to each other. I always value the moments in life when I can really connect with people and speak to each other from the heart so this was a special breakfast for me. From there, it was imperative that I let mom take a shower and wash her hair. I can't imagine why, but neither Andrea nor mom dared shower at Carl's apartment. Strange that.
All cleaned up and ready to go, Rob, Bob, Jo, Mom and I went to Berkeley to visit the horticultural center I had heard about. Rob and I have been trying to buy a few plants for house to make the apartment feel a little nicer. This horticultural center is absolutely fantastic. I haven't been to many but I would be surprised if this one isn't one of the better ones. I couldn't believe the variety of plants and shrubs they had available. Mom discovered the cactus greenhouse and we spent a good deal of time in there. So many bizarre and funny succulents in there several of which we bought to take home with us. One of the highlights was the hummingbird nest in one of the permanent trees. I've never seen a hummingbird sit long enough to really look at it. Here it is--you can't tell where the bird's body ends and the nest begins.



Rob grabs the opportunity to have his own personal trophy ceremony.



We stopped for lunch and then back home for "power naps" before going to San Francisco for dinner. We decided it was a good idea to check out the Cheesecake Factory which is on the 8th floor of Macy's and has an outdoor patio overlooking Union Square. Rob puts on his best outfit for our evening out.



They don't take reservations at the Cheesecake Factory and when we got there at 7:45 PM they told us it was going to be at least a 1hr and 15 minute wait. Since we had eaten a late lunch, we all felt we could manage the wait and decided to walk across Union Square to take everyone in the elevator where Rob proposed. Mom managed to keep her motion sickness at bay long enough for two trips up the elevator and then we had to call it quits. Only 1 hour and 5 minutes left to go. Not quite knowing what to do to pass the time, Rob and I just started walking down Powell Street and the idea struck us to go on the cable cars. Since we couldn't all fit in a cab to come back, Rob and I thought we would put our parents on the cable car and then meet them in our car at the end. Only thing is we'd have to give up our cracking parking spot right in front of Macy's. As we got to the cable car stop, the driver started shouting that we better get on quickly or they were going to leave and before Mom, Bob and Jo even knew the plan, they were rolling up Powell Street with us running behind shouting that we'd meet them at the end. Rob and I ran to the car and then raced up Powell Street until we were level with them taking pictures out the car window. I think it put my mom's mind at ease to see us there and know that we would be able to connect at the end. Then we raced off again and waited for them at the top of Hyde Street overlooking Lombard. When their car pulled up and stopped to show everyone the view, apparently someone else on the cable car spotted me and asked mom "is that your daughter?" We were becoming celebrities around here.



Down at the bottom of the hill, the three of them got off the cable car and immediately into our car and back to Union Square where our parking spot, unbelieveably, was still waiting for us. About 2 minutes after arriving back in the restaurant, they called our names for a table. If we had needed to look for parking, we would have missed dinner.

The Cheesecake Factory is not a place you will want to eat at very often unless you love cheesecake and a great view of San Francisco. It's a bit loud in general, but particularly if you have a screaming ghetto girl sitting behind you, and the portions are a bit over the top as Rob demonstrates below. In spite of this, we really enjoyed having a fun evening out in San Francisco together. Next time Mom sees Bob and Jo will be at our wedding! Holy Mackeral, WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!