fammin' in san fran

to fam:
v: to take part in the tourist activities the local area has to offer, as you might never do without the excuse of visitors.
i.e. "we totally fammed Napa this weekend." or, "have you been famming in the City? there are a lot of fun tours and gardens i didn't know about." "is there famming in Sacramento, or is it just the home of the Governator?"
i think this term will really take off; try it. ;-D

my mom, her new husband, Chris, and his daughter, Becca, are visiting san fran this week!
this was my first time meeting my new step-sister. she's a super-spunky 12-year old with a good head on her shoulders (as opposed to growing out of her kneecap.. !). she's a whole lot of fun. :)
sealion and i rode in and met them for dinner on saturday pm (at a brewery on embarcadero~~ Gordon Biersch) before sealion had to head to work.
i spent a coupla days with them, seeing the sights~~ fammin' it~~around the city. i played tour guide (a new one for sure. . ) this was my first time navigating san fran on my own (with Becca's help!). the most i'd done by myself before now was to take BART in, to one specific location (the UG auditions), and leave the same way i came. we got 3-day MUNI passes, and used them to ride the trolley, street cars, and buses.
we started out safe with the Wharf area, Tourist Central, on sunday. the sidewalk performers were out in full effect, as were the crowds. we shopped for Becca a t-shirt, visited the Musee' Mechanique (a place with mechanical coney island-style amusement-before-arcade&video-games), pier 39's sealions, toured Boudin's Bakery and Museum (cool!! yummy!!), and Ghirardelli Square with free samples (yum again!). it was overcast, cool, and breezy. i ended up buying mittens (socks), a hat and scarf before long, and we stopped more than once for warm drinks (The Original irish coffee, anyone? at Buena Vista. . ).
the hotel hot tub was a must that evening!!
next morning we headed via street car to the Mission, and toured the original san fran mission ~~Mission Dolores~~ before having crepes at Ti Couz (YUM!!!!!!), just down the street. seafood crepes.. salmon and sauteed onion, and tomato and cheese crepes, followed by a lemon sorbet dessert crepe (yes, please!!). as well as deliciousity, Ti Couz served up coolitude, as well: Becca ordered lemonade, and the server brought out the fixins for "mix yer own" lemonade: an iced glass of fresh-squeezed lemon juice, a carafe of water, and a bottle of sugar-water (simple syrup). Becca's mix was perfect.
we walked off brunch on the hills of Haight Street on our way to Golden Gate Park. Mom enjoyed the painted ladies along the way. we toured the Botanical Gardens (which i wanna revisit again and again!!), and the Japanese Tea Garden. always awesome.
we bussed it back downtown to the hotel and then trolleyed it (Becca got to hang on on the side in the front! she said the driver went "too slow!!" down the big hills!) down to the Wharf where we met sealion for dinner at the Franciscan~~a restaurant with fresh crab anyway you wanna eat it (yum yet again!!) and a sweet view of the bay at sunset.
tomorrow sealion and i are planning on picking them up for a driving tour of the Napa area, and dinner chez tif in sac. :)

photos here: lemon sorbet dessert crepe a la Ti Couz,
Becca does the trolley,
bread bear at the Boudin Bakery Museum,
saint in the garden,
Mom and Chris at the bus stop.

now i direct you to my .mac website, where you can view my gallery:
http://web.mac.com/galactikitty/iWeb/Site/famsanfran.html

"to 'fam' means to visit tourist attractions.
remember: to 'fam' means to visit tourist attractions!"