Very cheap Advent calendars.
But Ogii bought this somewhat more expensive one. Worth it, because I love dark chocolate.
A house with the lights synched to music.
Another actor on Cheers I know from somewhere else. In this case, she's the ghost of Christmas present in Scrooged.
A bit of a rainbow.
Learning Hawaiian.
There are too many "good X" for different times of day. I'm never going to remember those.
We went to the Staff of Life grocery store...
... for the Santa Cruz Winter Wine Stroll.
Ogii reading for some tastings.
Ogii's first pour.
Cool cans.
There was also food. This looks delicious.
Various cheeses.
Another pour.
And another.
A few more drinks here.
And here.
Their logo is a Japanese raccoon dog.
Various desserts.
More drinks this way.
Ogii getting some more.
All different types.
Nice mural.
That's a great name for a smoke shop.
The highways between Santa Cruz and San Jose are so windy, and they often get crowded.
We parked at the Civic Center Garage in San Francisco, which has a view of the City Hall all lit up for Christmas.
These people look like they're going to a rave.
And street hot dog vendors means a show of some sort nearby.
There must be a concert at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.
San Francisco Symphony building.
Musicians out front.
I love when businesses have cool murals.
We stayed at the Hayes Valley Inn.
Nice corner room.
With a great view of the top of City Hall and the Salesforce Tower.
Looking down from our room to the streets below.
Shared bathrooms.
And separate shared showers. I'm seeing more of these pop up. They're kind of between hostels with shared bedrooms and hotel rooms. Almost like a bed and breakfast, except those usually have at least a few staff members around. These have nobody; you check yourself in. I like them because they're cheaper than normal hotels but we get our own bedroom.
They even have an ironing board in the hallway.
They had a ton of these San Francisco tourist maps. I swear I remember those same maps from like 15 years ago.
Walking outside. This restaurant has outside seating, probably leftover from COVID, with a TV they set outside on a stand.
A nice French restaurant, although we don't have time to eat right now.
An optical store.
With a cool logo.
The Sydney Goldstein Theater.
Our seats were up these stairs.
To watch the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus Holiday Spectacular. Why are all these people out here?
A little preview song.
Our seats.
Getting ready.
They had a fun ad; hopefully the show is as good.
Sometimes the whole choir would sing.
And sometimes there would only be a few singers.
Fun Christmas sweaters.
Quick costume change into sexier outfits.
Santa.
And Rudolf with the other reindeer.
Fruitcake.
Joseph and Mary.
Britney Jesus.
It was a great show. They did a lot of traditional songs at the beginning, and then it turned into a Britney Spears medley with crazy outfits at the end. Definitely fitting for San Francisco gay men.
A few video clips. Our favorite was Silent Night where they signed the lyrics instead of singing them, especially when the orchestra stopped playing and it was completely silent.
Late night dinner at some place close to our hotel and still open: a Mano.
Inside.
Our food.
Sunrise from our room.
The light from the sunrise hitting some buildings.
I wonder if the stairway was put in later or changed in some way? This partial window is weird.
Ogii pointing to our hotel room, the top-right corner one.
Some homeless people sitting between the outdoor dining areas.
One wandered by, knocked these recycling bins over probably looking for food, but then didn't put them back up. That's not very nice.
Cat statues in a park.
We had breakfast at La Boulangerie.
Many choices.
Breakfast sandwiches.
Ogii with a huge croissant.
I like that their pillars look like the Golden Gate Bridge.
Someone painted faces on these pipe tops.
Yep, definitely San Francisco.
A neat cutout at the Performing Arts Garage.
A couple more above.
The upper balcony at the symphony hall is cool.
Lots of gold on top of City Hall.
Some homeless people sleeping.
Why are his pants partway down? It looks like his butt is really cold.
The parking garage is underground.
It's locked.
But if you have your parking ticket, it will let you in.
I guess they don't want all of the homeless to come in here, although there's a ton of room at night after most of the cars leave. I wonder if they could set up a system where the ones who agree to not break into the cars could sleep in here.
Some Christmas glasses left on a broken electronic box of some sort.
Neat mural.
Jack London Square in Oakland.
Ogii is going to take the train home...
... while I drive north for work. I love the view of downtown San Francisco from the Bay Bridge.
Ogii's fellow passengers waving to the train.
Sleeping.
Passing a very rundown area.
With some homeless living in a tent.
A ton of junk by this RV.
Fields.
Cows.
And a little walkway.