Day One of Summer "Vacation"

Because I was out so long last year, I didnt get my vacation requests turned in in a timely manner. Therefore I ended up being totally unable to get any summer vacation this year - EXCEPT - I did take my birthday weekend off...

I just came off a 4 days stretch - mostly good except for one especially grueling day - something I usually never do - but it enabled me to have a 6 day stretch off. And that has enabled me to have a 'vacation', or, as they are calling them these days, a 'staycation'.

So yesterday started out with going back and picking out another frame for my new glasses - since the original pair had been discontinued - the color I chose - even tho they kept it on their website.

Then we stopped by and picked up my 3 fair entries - 1 an honorable mention and 1 a second place - and a check! Made back my entry fee + some which along with my free ticket makes it all worthwhile!

Then we climbed aboard BART and headed for the city. Did very little shopping and had a slice of pizz at Blondies - love their pizza AND the place always reminds me of when my son first became aware of homosexuals!!! The look on his 10 year old face was priceless (maybe he was 11).

Then to the theater to see Young Frankenstein. It was as silly as the movie - and the 2 main actresses had the prettiest voices ever! Some really great special effects - and we enjoyed it very much.

Then hop on the bus and over to North Beach Restuarant. Now - we started going to this place years and years ago. They are way over priced and their attitude sucks.....I mean, c'mon, charging for REFILLS of ice tea???? But they have one dish that we really enjoy and have been trying to copy. So we went back to try again....

We were both hungry so we ate what we were served - but it wasnt what we ordered. And when we asked the waiter when and why they changed the recipe - I must admit - he was very quick with his comeback.

You see, we always order SPAGHETTINI (which, according to Wikipedia and other dictionaries, is very thin spaghetti which can be called angel hair in English) LORENZO - a simple dish - garlic, oil, tomatoes, and basil.

Well this time it came in a very small serving ... it is usually a large serving which I always say I can't finish but I always manage to finish ... with oil, very little garlic, one basil leaf, and a strange, almost marinara sauce. Not bad - but not good.

Anyway, the waiter told us it always comes SPAGHETTI but you can order it with any type of pasta. And we disaggreed with him - but he told us the other waiters must just order it differently. HA! (You can read my review on www.yelp.com and I am going to be complaining to the restuarant).

None of the usual waiters, bartender (this woman poured a very light handed glass of wine - which is already over priced - you can almost buy a bottle of wine for what they charger per glass) so I am wondering if they are new owners?

The service was worse than usual ... hubby was almost done with his (again very over priced) salad (truth in advertising - mixed greens and that is all it is - nothing else added) .... and they didnt bother to clean the table between courses either.

Wonder if the waiter realized why he got a poor-ish tip?

Even the cannoli across the street wasnt as good as usual!

Oh well, the day in SF was beautiful and the play was fun!