Urban living

My former partner and good friend Tim, along with his wife Angie, live smack dab in the financial district of San Francisco, some 43 stories up in the air. The vast majority of their ultra-modern and comfortable 1,300 square foot living area has floor to ceiling windows gazing out on the harbor and the vibrant center of the city. While we always have enjoyed walking out our patio door into our yard and garden, we have to admit that this version of lifestyle is unbelievably compelling. They are in such a prestigious location that as we pulled into the valet parking Joe Montana was pulling out! Tim confirmed that Montana lived in the building.

After a tour of the condo and gawking at the spectacular views, we headed out to the streets. Even though it was a weekend, traffic in the financial district was intense. We walked to the San Francisco offices of RSM US on the 45^th floor, maybe about 4 blocks from where Tim and Angie live. I have no doubt that we arrived in maybe half the time it would have taken to drive. There is a grocery store and an urban Target store well within walking distance as well. I think I could get used to it.

The views from the RSM offices were even more spectacular than from their home, if possible. Tim was actually in charge of the build-out of the space, and made sure that the reception area, coupled with the main conference/reception room, have the most impressive view of the bay. When you first walk in you are stunned by a focused view of the Embarcadero, the Warf and the bay.

After the home and office tour we headed to historic Sausalito and grabbed a very nice lunch on the bay. One of Tim and Angie’s favorite locations is the Sausalito Crab House. It sits on the water, and has an open patio that has wonderful views of the bay and the San Francisco harbor.  The weather was perfect for an outdoor lunch and we took full advantage, taking in their crab chowder, a fresh crab cocktail, and some ginger martinis. Yummmmm!

After lunch our friends took us to some views in the Golden Gate Recreation Area that we had never been to before. The weather was Ideal, and despite intensive traffic, Tim was able to score a couple of places to park. So we were able to get some to die for views of the Golden Gate, the harbor and the bay.

On the way back to their home to bid adieu we got to experience a bit of what their next two weeks have in store. Their home is in the midst of the Superbowl Village that San Francisco is creating on the Warf. All traffic is closed in the blocks around their home, and they have to display a special resident pass even to get to their condo. Smartly they packed in some food and other supplies and don’t plan to take the car out until after the big event!

As long as we were in San Francisco proper we decided to take in a few sites we have not been to. The world headquarters of Lucas Films is in the Presidio, so we swung by just to see what the campus looked like. We just strolled around the area - Yoda says Hi by the way.

From Lucas HQ we spotted a building we were not familiar with. The Palace of Fine Arts was constructed as part of the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition held in the Marina in San Francisco. This ornate structure was built to exhibit works of art during the Exposition. Today it is primarily used as a large event venue, and still holds the imaginations of all visiting in its shadows.

While here we visited the mission that was almost the farthest north that the Spanish influence extended in the 1800’s. The 6^th mission, San Francisco de Asis was founded by Fray Francisco Palou on June 26, 1776. While now embedded in the center of San Francisco, the mission was nicknamed “Delores” for the saint of birds and animals. The mission is the oldest structure in the city of San Francisco.

We drove Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. We have done that many times, but since we were so close, why not again! We hit the Wharf and the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park. While we have visited this part of the Wharf long ago, it was before this collection of maritime history was gathered together under the management of the National Park System. Also at the suggestion of Tim and Angie we visited the nearby Jelly Belly Factory. Founded in the mid-1800’s in Illinois by the Goelitz family, the company faltered in the economic doldrums near the turn of the century, and re-emerged still holding to the Goelitz family name. During the roaring 20’s the 2^nd generation of the family moved the company to California and started making Jelly Beans.

The owners knew that at that time in America families were struggling to feed themselves, focusing a lot on various agricultural beans for their diet staples. Making a candy “bean” seemed like a good idea. Over time, they perfected their product making it the Cadillac of jelly beans. Other candy companies flavored only the hard coating of their bean. Jelly Belly introduced flavoring in the coating, but also infused the same flavor in the jelly center. They spent hours tirelessly testing their flavor formulations so that their customers could visualize the origin of the flavor just from the taste. In addition to more traditional flavors, their developers came up with beans that tasted like buttered popcorn, draft beer, dead fish and stinky socks. Some of their perfected flavors are obviously more popular than others.

Their current success is mainly due to Ronald Regan. Regan had an affinity for jelly beans, and when in the Oval Office he required that bowls of Jelly Belly beans be present for all meetings. The beans became such a cult phenomenon that they spawned an art form. Artists began creating mosaic art made from Jelly Belly beans as they now come in nearly every color of the spectrum. In our tour of the factory we not only learned about how they are made, but also got an extensive review of bean art. If you are ever in Fairfield California near Oakland take in the free factory tour – it is fun.

Talk to you soon!