SOMA to South Park

On Sunday, November 5, 2023, I wrote that on the previous Thursday I got home from work and ate. I watched TV and texted with an acquaintance of mine, a doctor from the North Coast, who said he would be visiting in the morning. I woke at a reasonable time and walked to BART to find him as he was getting in. We went to a coffee shop and chatted. I left him with a key to my apartment before I headed to work.

I managed to leave the office by 3 o’clock and at my apartment found my guest had made himself at home. I took the time to unwind from work. We shared a cocktail and did some catching up before getting a meal at the local South Asian restaurant.

When we got back to the apartment, I gave him one of my bikes and we visited Clarion Alley to catch our breath. Then we stopped at the liquor store before heading off to meet up with San Francisco Bike Party at 17th and Harrison – Inchan Kaajal Park.

The ride left a bit after we got there. We went up 15th to the Castro and down 18th which I thought was dumb but my companion was pretty happy with the experience. I sent pictures to our mutual acquaintances. We returned to Valencia and headed east on 26th to Balmy Street.

The first stop was Potrero del Sol. I introduced my companion to a bunch of people I know. However, he was making friends on his own. Later he told me that he remembered the skate park from when he was a kid. Everyone was having fun but the cops showed up so we had to leave a little early for SOMA.

We were a little worried that we were leaving the group behind so hurried up Potrero Street. Cops harassed us as we turned onto 17th but the ride was moving along. I pointed out groups of people I knew as we rode.

We rode through Mission Bay and some of the narrow alleys we passed through made the experience really unique. We passed through Soma to South Park, the second party stop. I reconnected with a bunch of people. One group I was really interested in speaking with was a big crowd. We discovered some new friends.

When people started to leave I said bye to everyone. Then the two of us rode up second street and stopped by the Chieftain. Later at The Tempest I noted that the Karate Kid was playing on the TV. The bartender said she liked to put interesting movies on. I suggested Lost Boys.

We rode through a bunch of alleys then and eventually ended up on Mission Street. Later back at the apartment, I ate ice cream and the bikes ended up left in a corner spot in the hallway.

The next morning, a Saturday, I woke at 9:30 and boiled water until I had everything ready. We had made eggs, toast, sausage and hashbrowns. We chatted for a while and looked through my rock collection.

Later, we got the bikes and rode to Page and Divisadero where we coffee sitting in a parklet. A it later we rode to Steiner and I saw a person I knew who showed us a picture of a toucan from a garage sale. We also bought a few things there.

It was really hot out. We went to Waller skatepark where my companion got some skating in. There were pro-skaters there. I was really impressed with the stones along the edge of the skate park. I noted that there was a lady watching her husband skate while holding their infant. When I spoke with them I learned that they both like to skateboard. I texted pictures of the skate park to our mutual acquaintances.

We rode up Willard to Carl Street and I got us to Carmel Street, which was tedious because the grade is pretty steep. However, once we got to the top, we descended Clayton to Market and across to Grandview where we had sodas at Neighbors Café. It was still pretty hot. The view from up there was really great. I suppose that is why they call it Grandview.

We visited James Lick school, which was the site of a well known skate spot known as the Ripper on Clipper. The professional guys we had seen at Waller Skatepark had recently organized an event there with Thrasher Magazine. I got pictures.

We went to 24th and ate at Barney’s before taking in a few art galleries. The weather changed quickly to mist at this point as the sun was beginning to set. We bought some art and chatted with locals as we made our way through the Mission to Valencia. We looked inside of Boogaloo but they were closed.

As there was some kind of shopping event going on in the neighborhood, we stopped at 826 Valencia, Paxton Gate and City Art before stopping by the apartment to dump all of our loot - records, art and even a jacket. However, we quickly returned to Valencia to visit a skate shop near 14th and a couple of other places.

When we were done, we went to the Latin American Club for cocktails. I was excited because we ended up sitting next to some interesting ladies. We also walked over to The Royal Cuckoo Market which was fantastic.

The night was a bit damp. The people were really nice. We got to know a few people before finishing the night with tacos at 19th and Mission. My companion got packed to head off to the airport when we got back to the apartment.

We both woke at five in the morning but I went back to sleep as soon as he had left. Apparently his flight to the east coast got canceled and he was put on a waitlist. However, the flight attendants ended up giving him better deal and he ended up getting to there before the rest of his party.

I woke up at what I thought was 1030 but it was 930 because of daylight savings time. I went to Mercury and had coffee. Then I went home and I was alone and lazy until I wen to do laundry. When I got back, I started the dryer and started writing.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.