Running, Eating and Drinking Our Way Across San Francisco

Just got back from the Bay to Breakers 12K (7.46 mile) run in San Francisco. I haven't eaten so much, drank so heavily or laughed so hard in a long time.

This was my first ever travel run and I hadn't been to SF in years, so I was super excited and ready to make a fun weekend out of it!

The run completely lived up to its crazy reputation. The majority of participants were in costume. And even though I had heard about the naked runners, no matter how many I saw (20 - 30 maybe), I could not get over how bizarre it was! I mean, how often do you see someone running down the street in the nude? With tennis shoes? And a back pack? So weird!


There were also tons of entertaining costumes. Rubber duckies, My Little Ponies, hula girls, smurfs, bees, men dressed like women, women dressed like men - you name it. And, it wasn't just the participants, but the onlookers were dressed up too. It was one huge street party.

We couldn't think of a good costume idea, but we had shirts made with our team logo and put ribbons in our hair and blue eyeshadow and glitter on our faces. It was our small way of getting in the spirit.

I'm pretty sure this was also the biggest run I've done as far as participation - I think I heard there were 50,000 runners and walkers. Each corral was on a different block and on the course there were people as far as I could see in either direction.

It took us about an hour and a half weaving through all those crazies, but the great people watching, live music and tortillas flying through the air (tortillas!!??!!) made the race go by super fast. It rained a little, but even when the sun came out, it was COLD. It took us hours to warm up after it was over.

Three Picky Amigos
Eating out with Kate and Ciela could be a disaster - I'm not eating meat, Ciela avoids gluten and Kate - well, she's not that picky, but we don't want to make her eat gluten-free vegan food all the time when she has no diet restrictions, so it's awesome when we find places that cater to all three of us.

We found a perfect brunch spot called The Red Door. It was tiny with a ridiculously kitchy decor and a line out the door. Our male waiter wore ruffly panties, a bunny tail and thigh-high rainbow socks - not something you see everyday! But, he totally pulled it off and he was super warm and friendly. My Korean "beef" tacos were scrumptious. Kate's sausage breakfast burrito meal was called Le Big Cock, though I'm not sure why since it didn't have any chicken in it... :)

All weekend, we were able to find restaurants that worked. Friday night, we went to Saha for Arabic fusion. Ciela and I shared a red curry dish and Kate had a lamb tangine, which was like a stew. We also shared a fattoush salad with romaine hearts, English cucumber, tomato, olives, mint and red onions. And of course, lots of wine!

We also had good luck at a Thai restaurant called Osha and Plant Cafe, which serves all organic.

Wine Amongst Movie Stars, Beer in Dark Dives
Last night, we went to the Red Room bar in the Clift Hotel. The artwork - back-lit Klimt paintings (Kate's favorite artist) , kept changing order -which added to cool ambiance. The bartender told us that Hugh Jackman has been staying there for a few weeks for a movie shoot. We didn't see him, but we did see Wallace Shawn from the Princess Bride in the lobby, by the HUGE chair.

We could have stayed all night if it wasn't so expensive. But in search of cheaper drinks, we found the Owl Tree - a cute little dive bar with fun music, 70s Clint Eastwood movies playing on the TVs above the bar and a crazy owl mosaic on the front of the building.

We drank lots of Anchor Steam all weekend (to support the local beer industry). And I discovered that steel barreled chardonnay from France is better than the oaky ones from California, and that sauvignon blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand is my new favorite wine! Kate and Ciela know their stuff!

What an amazing weekend! We cracked up at everything from the strange voice of the announcements in the BART stations, to ourselves primping in the bathroom mirrors. I feel so lucky to have good friends I can laugh with, legs that can carry me for miles and the means to travel and experience these adventures!

After all of that chilly cloudy cold, I was ready to get back to sunny SD! And, after all of the splurging, I'm ready to get back on the raw diet! I'm starting fresh tomorrow and I've resolved to eat as much raw food as I can for as many meals as I can. I'm not crazy enough to think I'll never eat cooked food, but I'll know when it's worth it to indulge.

Wish me luck!