We departed Monday morning for our family vacation to our old home of San Francisco. It’s always an emotional event for me, as my feelings about this city are so mixed and so strong. It’s a true love-hate relationship.

Freya did well on the flight. We had lots of snacks for her, some new toys to play with, and she even napped a little in my arms, and Brian’s, too. While the plane was landing I talked to her all about what we could see down below, and then encouraged her to be super excited about touchdown and taxi.

Then we fetched our suitcase and headed for BART. She was quiet throughout the train ride, looking around curiously, probably lulled into a daze by the roaring white noise that BART trains make. We got off at Powell and headed up the street about four blocks to Union Square and our hotel, the Westin St. Francis, which is pretty famous and fancy. The lobby was opulent as hell, like a palace, with crystal chandeliers everywhere and gleaming marble tile and so on. I wondered if our room would be like that.

We stayed in the Tower section, which is actually behind the older part of the hotel, and features a set of external elevators with 180 views of the city below. We were on the 24th floor, so the elevator ride was a huge highlight, especially for Freya, who started saying “wheee” when we were in there, much to our delight.

Our room was not that fancy. It was just a hotel room, king bed, white sheets and towels, blah. The view we had was fantastic and the best part and perhaps how they get away with charging a fortune to stay there. As far as amenities, I have stayed at many other hotels that offered WAY more hospitality. The Westin left shampoo, conditioner, a bar of soap, and a lotion. Woopdee doo. Oh and a mini bar that offered $8 Snickers. And room service that sold a $14 fruit plate. And $15/day internet access. What a joke. BUT I’m sure that since 80% of their customers are on expense accounts, why not charge whatever the fuck they want? The last place we stayed in the City, The Orchard Garden, had a beautiful room, and provided all kinds of toiletries and cotton balls and q-tips and a sewing kit etc etc. I liked that place.

Anyhoo. So we checked in and relaxed. Freya ran around the room a little bit. We went down to the SF Shopping Center to get a bite to eat and find Freya some yogurt. I felt like my senses were being assaulted by the pure chaos of thousands of people and noises and trolleys and sirens and insanity. Which is funny because I used to work downtown and was immersed in it daily and wasn’t really affected by it. But now I live in a small town of 9000 people. Life is quiet here. I realized that I like that.

We had dinner with a group of friends at a place called Cafe Mason near our hotel. That was fun — they brought all their kids so we had one baby, two toddlers, and a preschooler. Freya was the only girl. She behaved pretty well at the table, as she usually does. Very interested in playing with the straw and plastic cup of water. This kid loves water, yay.

After that it was definitely bed time. It was nice to be in a king bed, tons of space for everyone, though little miss snugglepants still found a way to shift me closer to the edge of the bed.

Oh, did I mention the weather? Yeah so it was pretty much raining this whole time, and Tuesday morning, raining even more. Crappy. We went to have a big fat greasy American breakfast at Max’s, and I only finished maybe half of mine. Freya had no interest in the pancakes, and only wanted my eggs, which was fine. I make her whole wheat pancakes with no sugar, these ones were buttermilk and tasted pretty sweet. Good girl. Brian let her try his orange juice. She was pretty into that — she loves oranges already.

We did not have coffee at Max’s since we knew we were headed to Blue Bottle at the Ferry Building to meet Tamara and her daughter Eva. We walked all the way down there. I felt the familiarity of the streets, and noticed all the changes, too. The Ferry Building has also changed and grown. That makes me happy, as I love that place. I frequented it on many a lunch break long ago.

Tamara and Eva were waiting in the long line at Blue Bottle. I ordered a drip coffee, a half pound of beans for our neighbors, and a little shortbread cookie to share with Freya. She accepted a few little bites but didn’t seem too enthralled. Good for you, kid. We sat at one of the huge tables near Peet’s and Eva chased pigeons around hilariously.

Brian left us to go to a work teambuilding event (Circus School!), and Tamara and I took the kids to her car and drove up to the shopping center to do a couple returns. The night before I had purchased a cute pair of black Converse sneakers for Freya, only to have one of the velcro tabs totally come apart an hour later. Ugh. So back they went. I wish we’d had more time to shop and browse like we did last time, when our babies were little infants, but now they are toddlers, and pretty much dictate the schedule. We gave them some lunch downstairs, then got back into the car to head for Rena’s flat in the lower Haight.

On the way, both girls fell asleep. We tried rolling down the windows, pinching toes, calling their names, but they both passed out about five minutes before parking. So of course we just carried them in our arms into Rena’s building and laid them out on her bed. Yes, there are pictures.

So the playdate got off to a slow start, but we were entertained by Ivo, Rena’s adorable son, who is two weeks younger than Freya. They are pretty much the same height and weight. I think he is the only kid we know so close to her in age.

We let the girls sleep about a half hour, then roused them for playtime. It took a little while for Freya to wake up and acclimate, so she was a little clingy monkey for a few minutes, which is fine by me. Then she was ready to hang out and explore. My former roommate Heidi also showed up with her son Evan, who recently turned one. Four babies is pretty hectic. I wouldn’t recommend anything larger for a playdate in a small SF apartment.

Around two, Tamara and Heidi departed, leaving just Freya and Ivo to play together, and it was cute as hell and there is video which I need to get pronto. Freya loves running up and down hallways while shrieking, so she did that for a while until Ivo joined in, and it was hilarious. I wish these two could spend regular time together. Sigh.

Brian came back from his work event close to three, and we said goodbye and walked over to Cole Valley for a little snack and coffee. Then we rode the N all the way back downtown. Memories…

I wanted Indian food for dinner, but the closest place was Naan n Curry on O’Farrell. The one in the Sunset I recall being good, but this one was just filthy and gross and I regretted it, even if it was dirt cheap. Ugh. I guess the food was alright, but the ambience kinda ruined it.

Brian had a martial arts class after dinner, so after he left I hung out with Freya in our room. She had a blast being somewhere with no gates, so I had to manage her the whole time, mainly to keep her from touching the toilet or bonking her head on furniture. But overall she was awesome and was so happy to just run back and forth and play with her new matchbox cars. She also loved looking out the window at the panoramic view, and pointing out passing airplanes, gulls, and so forth.

The next day, the rainclouds were finally gone. I got up early and looked outside at the city coming alive. It was a beautiful sight. After everyone was ready, we walked down to the financial district to Noah’s, where I had an everything bagel with cream cheese on the side. Gave Freya some cream cheese and fed her a yogurt, too. Then to Peet’s for a latte, and then to Brian’s office, where he was to spend the morning working. Freya and I headed out on our own.

I used to work on California and Battery, and as I walked near my old office, where I walked every morning exactly eleven years ago, I kind of thought of how funny it was that I would pass that way again over a decade later, this time with my daughter. The building I worked in (for a short time when I was still with Gap) had been transformed. The first floor had once been a Lasik center, now it’s a Staples store. I looked up and tried to remember what floor I worked on.

We walked to Embarcadero Center. Nothing was open yet. I showed Freya the big waterfall sculpture, and the nearly tame adolescent sea gulls that were walking around. The area around the sculpture was of course crowded with homeless camps. The city was as full of homeless people as ever. I do not miss that one bit. Who would?

I wanted to go to the Ferry Building again, so I got another coffee and took Freya to the waterfront area to chase pigeons around and check out the Bay Bridge and the murky green water. She protested wildly when it was time to get back in the stroller. I am just not comfortable letting her get very far from me still, especially in SF, even with only a few people around. I’m a bit of a mama goose in that way, except that my child doesn’t follow me everywhere. That would make it easy, huh.

I headed up into the financial district again and happened to pass a kid’s clothing store. Inside I found two dirt cheap pairs of sneakers just like the Converse ones. Eight dollars each, one pink pair and one blue/green. Also, $3 sunglasses, a tank top, and jeans. I guess they were having a big sale, I don’t know.

Back to hotel room, Freya was winding down fast. I nursed her to sleep on the bed and then just chilled out for a while. Brian finished work and picked up a couple of chicken schwarmas for us. Mmm. It was important to me to find food that you can’t get in Poulsbo. After I wolfed mine down, Freya woke up and I excused myself to the BCBG store downstairs to buy aforementioned cute blue and white top. It’s more flattering on me than it is on that flat-chested model.

While I was shopping, our friend Karen arrived from Clearlake, in northerner California, along with her four month old son, Kellog. As soon as I walked into our room, she handed him to me. I was amazed at his lightness. Ahhh, little babies! And he didn’t try to squirm away, either! He is so very adorable.

We all walked down to the Westfield Center (again!) so that Karen could find a gift for a friend of hers, and so that I could buy those cute pewter leather flower sandals from my last post, which are so very comfy. On our way out, we also indulged in a favorite SF indulgence, eclairs and cream puffs from Beard Papa, to be enjoyed later.

It was our last night in the City and it was finally sunny and warm, with the usual ocean breeze blowing up and down the streets. We wanted to end our trip with some good Mexican food, but not too far from the hotel. We ended up at a place called “Herbert’s Grill”, which despite the name, was pretty awesome and cheap tacqueria style food. Brian and I each got Mexican Cokes, a TOTAL treat for a couple of people who never drink soda. They also sliced up a perfectly ripe avocado for Freya to eat, with jack cheese sprinkled on top. I had a couple of very juicy chicken soft tacos, and we were joined by Brian’s friend Rebecca, from the Bujinkan dojo in SF. It was a perfect local meal to close out our stay.

Back at the hotel, it was time for Freya to have a bath, so I got in the tub with her and we tried to approximate our baths at home, though much shorter and without the toys. She seemed to enjoy herself. I had a shower by myself after that, then we just hung out listening to the Giants beating the Dodgers on the radio (stupid fucking hotel didn’t carry the channel that broadcasts Giants games. WTF), and I ate my eclair: puff pastry with chocolate on top and vanilla bean custard inside. It was magical and sublime.

I got up in the morning before anyone else, as usual, and watched the sun rising behind the tall buildings downtown, turning the sky pink. It was totally clear, finally appropriate weather, just in time for us to go home. Brian was awesome and packed for us as I was getting Freya to bed the night before, so getting ready to go was easy. We checked out, saying farewell to the fun elevator, and started toward Market Street, where we had a coffee and food pit stop at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf cafe. They had some fruit and cheese for us to give Freya, too.

And then we took the train back down to SFO, and flew home. Freya had a slightly harder time on the plane this time. She really wanted to nurse a lot, and the lady sitting next to me was highly unaccommodating. But Freya was a good baby as always and as always, we got a compliment from another passenger on her great behavior.

When we landed at Sea-Tac and arrived at where our car was parked, Freya shrieked with excitement. She was ready to get home, too, and smiled and kicked and sang as we drove to the ferry.

There will be pictures from the trip in my next post!