A "Wicked" Thursday

Thursday…..Claire’s Birthday….the big 28!!!  Today we headed to Sausalito, a little town about 20 minutes from the big city.  We decided to go ahead and rent another car for the rest of the trip.  Just much easier to get around, especially if you’re planning on going outside the city limits.

We took a cable car to the rental car place…..and were so ecstatic to find a 2 hour line awaiting us.  Oh well, patience is a virtue.  It was worth the wait tough, because we got the cutest little VW rabbit.  We named her Abbey Mae, in honor of our sweet friend Jamey’s basset hound Abbey.  I don’t know….it just fit the carJ 

We crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped to take a lot of pictures.  It was really foggy this morning, and the bridge looked so cool.  It was so crazy to ride over something you’ve seen your whole life on television.  It was kind of surreal.  There are tons of people biking and running on it.  I’m sure a lot of them do it everyday.

We stopped and grabbed lunch at Louis’ Deli and Café. It was great.  Obviously, a regular lunch hour stop for a lot of locals.  Have I mentioned everything is very experience here??  You’re never going to drop less that $10 on a simple lunch or $30 for dinner.  I would need to pick up a second job J Anyway, the town of Sausalito was really cute.  It’s just a short stretch of coffee shops, boutiques, etc, right on the dock.  Didn’t seem very touristy at all, and was a good getaway.  We stopped and got Claire’s “birthday cake,”which equaled blueberry bread pudding that was yummy, and a fudge chocolate brownie!!  Oink, oink…..so good though.

On our way back, we stopped at a place called Point Bonita that a guy we had met in Half Moon Bay had recommended.  It was an amazing view and Claire got all kind of good pictures.  She worked fast though because it was absolutely freezing that high up, and the wind was out of control!  Still blown by the beauty of this state. 

 When we got back we took a stroll down Pier 39……probably the most well known pier in San Fran.  There are tons of shops, restaurants, and crazy people to see right on the pier.  We also got to see some more sea lions.  They were chilling out on the floating piers, further out in the bay.  They were selling some BEAUTIFUL fruit, but I knew if I tried to bring it home it would be juice….so I just admired it J  And we saw another “not-so-homeless” looking, homeless person, obviously in need of money.  Please go sell your cowboy hat, diamond earrings, and trenchcoat before you ask others for their hard earned money.  I mean…at least try to look homeless!! 

And now for one of my favorite parts of the whole trip….WICKED.  What an amazing show!!  We jumped in Abbey Mae and headed to the area referred to as Union Square  Definitely the shopping district and very ritzy.  It felt a little more like New York, with shops like Tiffany’s, Gucci, and the Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door Spa all in the same area.  The people walking around with bags in their hands looked like celebrities, minus never having seen their face before.  They were DECKED out for sure.  Driving in this area is a learned behavior……DOES not come naturally to girls from Birmingham.  But we managed, and arrived safe and sound at the Orpheum Theatre. 

The show was absolutely phenomenal!  The storyline, singing, dancing, costumes….aggghhh!!  Such a great experience.  You just have to see it for yourself.  I was so glad Claire got to experience it on her b’day. 

We tried to go grab a last minute “Birthday Snack” but everything was closed L  Everything but Walgreens that is!!!  We grabbed a 2 pints of ice cream……1 Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and 1 Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby.  Yum yum.  It was money in the bank. 

Oh yeah, I think the biggest event of the day, besides Claire’s b’day of course, was the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, passing away.  Don’t forget Farrah….bless her heart.  I know her family wishes she could have passed away on any other day but the same one as Michael.  I mean…..talk about lack of coverage.  Kind of felt sorry for her L  The wax museum had his statue out in front so that everyone passing by could see it.  There were flowers, cards, people taking their picture with it, even the news was there.  I guess it is kind of a big deal.  He just seemed like, even though his music made so many other people happy, he was never truly happy.  This seems to be the case with most of Hollywood.  They need Jesus so bad.  So funny that we can idolize someone so much just because they can sing and dance, but forget about the one who gave His life for us.