Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Legion of Honor Cafe

The Legion of Honor Cafe is a wonderful place to visit for lunch even if you aren't visiting an exhibit at the museum. The cafe is located on the first floor of the museum across from the museum store. The cafe offers breakfast pastries in the morning and an assortment of soups, salads and sandwiches for lunch. The cafe also offers unique menu items themed after current exhibits. By far, my favorite thing on the menu is the BLT with meyers lemon aioli. The cafe also has some of the best iced tea in town as they brew delicious Paradise Flavored Iced Tea.

The cafe is not only delicious but is a beautiful space. The flower arrangements and decor change often and are always seasonally themed. Outside seating is also available with a view of the Barbara Osher Sculpture Garden. It's a great place to relax with a salad and a glass of wine.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

San Francisco Sailing Company

Almost two years ago, I purchased two Living Social deals for sail around the bay and finally used them last Friday. The two deals were for a two-hour cruise around the bay with booze included.

Booking the cruise was fairly simple, although the first two times I tried to book the boat was already full. So be prepared to send multiple dates for your adventure. We chose the City Lights Night Tour over the daytime Golden Gate Bridge Tour as our deals expired before a day cruise spot was available.

The cruise left on time with about twenty passengers. I couldn't help thinking about Gilligan's Island "Three hour tour....." as the young captain and bartender led us to our boat, and I must call it a boat rather than a ship. I was really surprised at the size of the boat, 34' for twenty plus people. We all quickly grabbed a spot and settled in for the voyage. We were offered our free drinks, which sadly consisted of Budweiser in a can or cheap champagne. Cheap champagne for me! The tour moved along the Embarcadero, past the Ferry Building and the FiDi and settled in McCovey cove for about a half-hour. The time in McCovey cove was quite boring unless you were a baseball fan. Luckily we didn't have to stay for overtime and made our way back to the dock after about 2 hours total on the water. The ride back was much quicker (probably making up time for the extra inning).

I would say the ride was nice but not great. I couldn't help thinking that the two guys running the boat, a captain and bartender, were more interested in talking to the young ladies and smoking cigarettes than giving a proper tour. A little information on the sights would have been nice. I also kept thinking that these guys woke up one morning and thought, "Hey, let's charter a boat around the Bay" and put little other thought into the details. I wouldn't book a charter with this company again, I prefer one that is a bit more professional.