Vacation and July 4th Fireworks

I'm not going to apologize for being a silent blogger as of late, since I was on vacation for the last 10 days and while I don't consider blogging to be work, it's nice to disconnect for a while and not feel the pull of the computer. 

I traveled back East to Pennsylvania for a week for an annual family reunion at my family's lake house in Northeastern PA, near Scranton. Many of you may only know of Scranton as the setting for The Office and I assure you that, as the show clearly displays, there is very little reason to visit. But, my family's lake house is up in the mountains, about 45 minutes from Scranton, and happens to be one of my favorite places on earth - it always offers deep relaxation and good times.

     

July 4th at Crystal Lake is always an especially good time, because the whole lake is abuzz with excitement over the holiday - extended families visit, parties are thrown, kids are running around everywhere, and fireworks are set off. For our family, this weekend means gathering parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins for the weekend. We always eat well (perhaps too well), play lots of yard games (bocce, bocce golf, cornhole, croquet, etc), usually get out for a round of golf or two, and enjoy sitting on the dock by the water and just relaxing. This year was a bit different, because we are in the midst of building a new boathouse and dock, so we spent a lot of time watching the construction progress and less time sitting on the dock. But, the new boathouse deck overlooking the water was completed in time for the weekend and we enjoyed taking advantage of it. 

    

The fireworks display on Friday night was pretty amazing. My neighbor Scott and my brother Ben had bought a ton of fireworks in Maryland and South Carolina, respectively. The pictures in this post are all from the fireworks display - it was impressive.

Saturday Hiking in Point Reyes

Feeling the need to get out of the city for a while and get some much needed exercise, I decided to head up to Point Reyes National Seashore on Saturday for a hike. I decided to do an 8 mile hike from the Palomarin Trailhead to Alamere Falls. I have consistently heard that the coast north of the city is really beautiful. 

The falls are actually a series of falls culminating in a 50 foot drop down right onto the beach. The trail to the falls winds along the coast with spectacular views back south towards SF and north towards Point Reyes. There is also an inland section that cuts through some forested areas and goes past several little ponds that look like some good swimming holes. 

I sat on the beach for a while, enjoying the scenery, the peace and quiet and the isolation. It's hard to believe that I was only about an hour from one of the biggest cities in the US. I have found that to be one of the best things about SF. It's a big city with lots to offer within, but it is really easy to go a short distance and feel like you've left it completely behind. I felt this same way when I visited Muir Woods a few weeks back. 

Driving back south down the 101, you enter this short tunnel and as you exit, you can immediately see the huge red towers of the Golden Gate Bridge and then almost as if by surprise, the entire expanse of San Francisco appears to your felt. It is a breathtaking vista and made me feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful city. With the possible exception of Sydney (which I have had the pleasure of visiting twice), SF is the most naturally beautiful city that I have ever visited. 

Geologists are cool and sexy!

Finally the recognition we deserve, even if it is from American Dad. Watch this clip if you don't believe me...

#92, we will miss you!

While not completely unexpected, I was saddened today by the retirement of Michael Strahan. After 15 seasons in the NFL, all with the Giants, he has amassed the fifth most sacks in NFL history, including the single season record of 22 and 1/2. But more than that, he was the emotional leader of the Giants through good years (especially this past season) and bad years. He goes out on top after leading the Giants to a huge upset victory of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII (I still get excited just thinking about that game!!).  

I'm really going to miss that gap toothed smile and the joy of seeing Strahan rush the quarterback, knock the ball loose, or get a monster sack. Luckily, we still have Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck to continue to spread fear in the minds of quarterbacks around the league. 

The iPhone 3G is here!

In his customary jeans and black turtleneck fashion, Steve Jobs announced the new 3G iPhone today. The Worldwide Developers Conferences actually happened mere blocks from my office, but I kept track in a very low tech way by reading constant updates on macrumors.com. I decided not to buy the first iPhone, because I figured it would be buggy, the features just weren't there yet, and I have had Verizon for a long time (not to mention the $500 price). But with today's announcement, Apple has added faster internet speeds, better integration with email and calendar, an open software platform that allows for some great applications, and prices of $199 and $299. So, since my Treo is slowly dying (the keyguard doesn't work and I keep almost sending blank emails from my pocket). Plus, my iPod is so old that I am literally embarrassed on the bus sometimes (especially in techie San Francisco). So, come July when the phone comes out, I think it is time to take the plunge!

An Action Packed Weekend

This past weekend was so action packed that I am just now recovered enough to blog about it. An old friend of mine, Anne, that I have known basically since birth was in town visiting friends and stayed with me. So we got to explore the city and parts of Northern California over the course of two days. Here was the activity breakdown:

Saturday

9:30 am - Ferry Building Farmers Market - Anne and I explored the Farmers Market and shopped for a picnic on Sunday. We bought some fresh produce (arugula, apricots, cherries, rhubarb, etc), three fancy cheese, and some rosemary meyer lemon bread.

11 am - Cafe Trieste, North Beach - we grabbed a quick latte at one of the most famous cafes in North Beach.

11:30 am - Molinari Delicatessen, North Beach - we picked up some pesto pasta, fresh proscuitto, and salami for the picnic. 

2 pm - Muir Woods - we picked up another friend of Anne's and headed up to Marin County to check out the Muir Woods, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. We went on about a 2 hour hike and the redwoods were amazing. We also checked out Muir Beach, which was equally beautiful. We really wanted to grab a late afternoon beer at the Pelican Inn, but it was closed for a wedding that was happening right as we drove by.

5:30 pm - We still wanted that beer, so we headed into Sausalito and grabbed a drink at Horizons Restaurant, right on the water with a beautiful view of the city.

8 pm - B Star Bar - Sister restaurant of the SF icon Burma Superstar, B Star is a shorter wait than it's sibling and real good Burmese/Asian Fusion food. They had this special drink with beer, ginger and lemon juice mixed together that was very refreshing after a packed day.

10:30 pm - We returned home and since I'm getting too old to go out clubbing, Anne and her friend Gillian went out to Ruby Skye where a friend of theirs is a bartender. 

Sunday

10:30 am - Sonoma Wine Country - we left San Francisco for a day of wine tasting in Sonoma. We had plans to check out three different vineyards.

12 pm - Ridge Lytton Springs - by far the best wine of the day - Ridge makes mostly Zinfandel, but we tried a Cab/Merlot blend and two Syrahs, both of which are only available at the vineyard. I've had Ridge wines before and love them, so I lobbied for this stop. We were the only ones there, so we got to slowly try the wines and chat with the woman (we never got her name, so we just called her "Kristen" afterwards) who was serving us. She told us all about Ridge and Sonoma in general and suggested a few other vineyards to check out. Best stop of the day, hands down.

1:30 pm - Ferrari- Carano Vineyards - Kristen told us that this winery was fancy and beautiful, which was true, but that the wine was less than stellar. So, we checked out the gardens, illegally ate our picnic lunch in a gazebo amongst roses, and then bolted for better wine.

2:30 pm - Preston Vineyards - Preston is an organic vineyard and farm that sells wine, olive oil, and curiously enough, underwear. The wines were ok - they had a decent Sauvignon Blanc and surprisingly a jug red table wine that was the best of all the reds (it was only $32!). 

3:30 pm - Rochioli Vineyards - Our last stop was at a small winery that served only three wines. They were decent, but it became clear that we had been spoiled at Ridge and nothing for the rest of the day would compare. So, we chatted with the lady serving us about restaurants in SF and then sat on the veranda for a while gazing out at the Sonoma Valley before we faced reality and headed back to the city.

5:30 pm - Anne and Gillian napped and recovered from their night out on Saturday while I read the NY Times (see yesterday's post).

8 pm - Pagolac - We ventured to the always risky Tenderloin for some quality Vietnamese food at Pagolac where we met Jeremy, another friend of Anne and Gillian. There was definitely an Asian theme to the food for the weekend and while I am not a huge Asian food fan, Pagolac and B Star both were great and reasonably priced. 

9:30 pm - 800 Larkin - another great spot in the Tenderloin. We grabbed some cocktails to close out the night and a great weekend.

Monday

6:30 am - alarm goes off - back to work and back to reality :(

The New York Times - Sunday, June 1

Well, I'm two days late for this post, but the articles are still available online and still interesting, so here is my recap of Sunday's NY Times.

Sunday, June 1

Put a Little Science in Your Life, by Brian Greene - If you want to engage students with science, present the big picture first, details second. This is a great article about science education and I strongly suggest you read it. I have been thinking along these same lines for a long time.

A Player Destined for the Majors Chose First to Play for Himself, by Katie Thomas - It's always nice to see an athlete put some value on a college education and not take it for granted, especially one as talented as Pedro Alvarez.

Who Has the Horse Tranquilizers?, by Juliet Macur - As the Beijing Olympics approach, it is clear that the steriods issue will lead to big news and big scandals. I just hope it doesn't overshadow what is usually an amazing 2 weeks of sports.