Corndogs + Avocados

So we took Flat Stanley with us on one final adventure before we had to mail him back to Utah to our niece.

On Martin Luther King, Jr. day, the three of us took BART into San Fran and hoofed about, loosely directed by an architectural self-guided tour we found online and printed out. It was a phenomenally typical San Francisco day - drizzly, overcast, and a little cold. But we were determined to start getting to know this city on our own two feet… Four feet. Would be six, but Stanley traveled in Darin’s pocket.

We got out at Embarcadero and kept our wanderings for the day pretty close by, as far north as Washington Square, down through China Town & Portsmouth Square, and then a side trip south of Market down 4th to Mel’s drive-in, at which time the sky opened up and it started to downright pour. So we packed it up.

First off, Flat Stanley has been converted to See’s Candy. It’s sort of a family obsession on my side. For me it’s always got to be a butterscotch square. For Darin, the pecan roll. B-U-T-T-E-R-S-C-O-T-C-H S-Q-U-A-R-E. It is always appropriate to show your love for Liz with a butterscotch square from See’s. Or a pound…

This is at 1 Embarcadero. Untitled by Fritz Koenig.

Hooray PG&E! Hooray Dad! Old station J, at 569 Commercial, was built in 1914. For more San Francisco landmarks click here.

Flat Stanley loves both the Transamerica buildings. Too bad the weather made for dismal photographs. And too bad I can’t help but post a million of them anyway. I have no self-control.

Plaque from old building, built in 1907.

New building finished in 1972.

Cool apartments on Columbus.

Vesuvio Cafe

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New Sun Hong Kong Restaurant on Broadway.

Sister Nancy (she’s my sister, not a nun), you keep all of China Town looking sharp.

The St. Francis church on Vallejo is much more beautiful on the inside than it is on the outside. Built in 1913.

But Flat Stanley and I spent more time checking out the Saints Peter & Paul Rectory, built in 1924, at 666 Filbert. Nope, I didn’t make up the address. It was beautiful inside and out. I wasn’t allowed to photograph the inside, but if you have the chance, go in! It is gorgeous.

Representing the four gospels. An angel or divine man = Matthew.

A winged lion = Mark.

A winged ox = Luke.

A rising eagle = John.

Commodore Stockton school annex. Original school erected 1914.

I love this playground sign. What do you suppose is meant by “Woo Woo”?

Darin and I (and Flat Stanley) all loved this old gothic revival church, Old St. Mary’s, built in 1853 by Chinese laborers.

Juxtaposed with the Sing Fat and Sing Chong buildings right across the street (California & Grant). Built in 1908.

The Nam Kue School built in 1925. I LOVE the colors on this building!

Flat Stanley wonders if he could get a translation.

Flat Stanley wonders if he would make a good benevolent assistant.

Flat Stanley loves Chinese cinema (& Ratatouille - can you spot it?).

Flat Stanley loves cable car history. First one operated in 1873!

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Flat Stanley wasn’t too keen on this slide. Very pretty to look at, but hard on the hiney. If I’ve got my facts straight, this slide is part of Portsmouth Square, designed in 1971. You’d never guess it from this park, but it was the plaza of the Spanish colonial port town Yerba Buena, renamed San Francisco in 1847.

Flat Stanley recycles, he’s a friend of the earth.

He also washes his hands, so he can be a friend of Darin & Liz.

I love this sculpture by Stephen de Staebler, entitled “Angel.”

This is the Palace Hotel, built in 1909, where we did NOT have tea for $100.

This is Mel’s drive-in restaurant, where Darin purchased the “$12 burger” and I got grilled cheese. This is our second time here (the one on 4th & Mission). We love it for good old burgers and fries! Darin did note that he would not get the $12 burger again soon. Way too much food.

Finally, Flat Stanley was drawn to the hearth. We had purchased firewood a week or two previously when the power went out for the evening. Flat Stanley, being quite rustic, thought it was hilarious that we bought firewood in the first place, and that it had such a ridiculous name in the second place. He and Darin laughed heartily. It took a while for my suburban brain to register why any of it was funny at all. Next time the power fails in mid-winter I challenge either of them to head out into our concrete jungle with an ax and not get arrested, let alone find firewood.