#88 San Francisco Culinary and Marine Adventures with Steve, Nancy and Dana

Just when I was starting to get a little bit worried that I have started to tap out of new, crazy, and unique things to do, San Francisco proved me wrong again.

Let's start with this amazing experience where Steve and I got to do yoga.

On the beach.

With giant waves crashing in front of us.

NEXT TO THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE.

Wearing gigantic headphones.

Why the headphones? Well, it was a "Silent Yoga Beach Party" that I found at Air BnB Experiences. The headphones allowed us to hear the yoga instructor's gentle, quiet voice no matter what was going on in the ocean behind us and no matter where we decided to be.

So......people in California are really good at yoga. Steve included. He's got one heckava badass downward dog and pigeon.

Me? Not so much. I stopped being bendy about three decades ago (Hey...shout out to my 30th year Penn Reunion friends! College was about the last time I could say I was flexible). And balance? I fall over when I'm standing still.

Did I ever tell you about the time when I just completely fell over in the middle of a hockey rink lobby. I didn't trip. I wish I had. It would have been easier to explain.

Anyways, I don't balance well, so I wasn't sure how well I would be able to stay upright through this gnarly yoga practice.

But it turns out I did alright! And the sand gave me extra ways to grip my toes in and hang on for dear life. I think I'm going to pick up Beach Yoga when I get back home to St. Pete. I loved it!

We then zipped around Sausalito for the afternoon, having The Best Burger Ever Invented™ (This bad boy should be trademarked, it was so good).

And I had my first ever Bloody Mary.

The Bloody Mary was tangy. Sour. Spicy on the palate. Crisp.

(By the way, if I type Bloody Mary--Bloody Mary--Bloody Mary three times, does it still cause trouble? I guess I'll find out, but I won't be looking in any mirrors tonight, that's for sure.)

I had some other "firsts" and unique adventures on this trip too.

I had my first Manhattan. My Dad is a Manhattan aficionado, and he would like to ask servers, "Now tell me...does the bartender know how to make a GOOD Manhattan? Because if they don't, that's ok. I just won't order one". But even though he loved them so much, I never tried one, until now.

It was oaky. Smoky. Alcoholy. Pleasant.

I also tried a large jumbo shrimp head. I was told to "pop out the eyes" before eating it, so I did.

He was crunchy. Salty. Shrimpy. And somewhat gooey when I got to the brain area.

But wait...there's more!

I got to go out to an amazingly crazy restaurant with Nancy and Dana. Remember how Steve and I had Hot Pot as described in my last post?

Well, Nancy and Dana found a hot pot experience that was ramped up on the gnarliest steroids ever invented.

They sit you in a long booth that is aligned with about five other booths with a conveyor belt going between your line of booths and the one parallel to you.

So 10-ish booths.Multiply it by four more clusters and it makes for a futuristic mechanized automatic meal experience that is bewildering to the eye and pleasing to the nose.

Our table had individual hot pot tubs for each person and a communal Korean BBQ grill in the center. The server explained that it was all-you-can-eat meat, fish, and seafood, and we just had to tell him when we were ready for a new round.

There was a gigantic sauce station that we visited, and I got the absolutely best ever invented calamari there from the station. Ummmmm....it was so freaking delicious I couldn't talk for a bit because I was too distracted by enjoying the flavor.

The sauce station did not have chicken feet (whew!) but it did have a wide range of mixes and matches to make my own dipping sauce, cold salad plate, and seasonings for my hot pot.

Then there was the conveyor belt. This machine of delight constantly passed treasure after treasure by our eyes.

Some were the basics -- shrimp. Noodles. Mushrooms.

Some were various vegetables that I needed to learn from Nancy what they were.

Some were the most random collection of seafood you ever did see.

And there was Spam.

Do y'all know I have never had Spam? This was the perfect time to try it! Nancy toasted it up for us on the grill, and Dana and I each gave it a go.

Know what? It was delicious! Salty. Rich. Salty. Hammy. Salty.

Other things were just as surprising. There were these ginormous oysters the size of a flip-flop. For the first time, I ate an oyster that wasn't raw (quick gulp) or fried (crunch). This guy was a two bite, chew and swallow. He was somewhat firm, somewhat squishy, somewhat sweet, somewhat briny, and somewhat mucousy.

These conch shells came around and I couldn't help trying them out. I see them all the time on the beach but never sampled them before. Those dudes are long and curly inside their shell. And delicious! Mild. Sweet. Al dente-type of bite. And a hint of sea salt.

They had octopuses going 'round the conveyor belt, so I decided to try one of those too. What a fun experience to find out that the white, slimy, limp little dude cooks up curly, purple, and pleasantly chewy.

But the best part was catching up with these dear friends. We laughed our heads off, but also managed to have a very meaningful and positive conversation about how we can influence a better response when it comes to death and dying in our communities.

I learn so much from them and always come away from our time together with a smile and a happy heart.

San Francisco, thanks for being such a great culinary- and marine- rich place to be. I'll see you again soon!