vacation - part 2

I am still on vacation. It's still wonderful.

The main purpose of my vacation was to visit my good friend Lindsey, and her husband Jonathan. Here they are “posing” for the camera.


Before staying at their home, I got to stay with some of my extended family in Gilroy. My family just built a brand new home and it is amazing! I felt like royalty while I was staying in their home … it is SO big and beautiful. They just moved in and are still working on all the furnishings (feels like The City Church!) so I am excited to come back when it is all finished. My cousins were both attending school dances in the evening so here is a quick picture of us before they left.


Yesterday, Jonathan and Lindsey and I went to The Stanford Theatre to see Love Me Tonight. It’s basically an old, renovated theater in which they show classic Hollywood films (this particular movie was from the 30s). The theater is amazing … plush red seats, fancy décor and a Wurlitzer organ … a man actually plays music on the organ from the film before it begins and when the film begins the organ drops down into the floor … yep, amazing. The movie we saw was interesting – it was so weird that I liked it … at least I think I liked it. We had a good laugh and you can’t beat the atmosphere/location!

Today we went to Abundant Life Christian Fellowship. It was a fairly gospel-inspired service so I really appreciated the gospel worship music, the choir (and their powerful soloist) and the black woman sitting next to us who responded to the preacher at least every minute. It was one of the most diverse churches I’ve ever been in – there was a decent representation of almost every ethnicity – probably a somewhat accurate picture of heaven.

Well, after church we were off to San Francisco.
We drove up to Coit Tower for a view of the city below.


Then we walked through the arcade at Fisherman’s Wharf. Before putting my money in a machine I asked one of the clerks which machine was her favorite. So, I took her advice and put 25cents in the “End of the Trail” … it ended up being the lamest thing I’ve ever seen … remind me to explain it to you in person sometime.
Below is Jonathan trying his luck at being a Junior Deputy.


After the arcade, we visited Pier 39. I have driven through San Francisco MANY times, but it was actually my first time as an official tourist in the city … I had never even been to the Pier. We walked around for awhile and then met Aaron (the best man in their wedding) for dinner at the most amazing restaurant I have ever experienced in another part of SF. Any man who is a real man would think he has died and gone to heaven if he ate in this restaurant. I am not sure I can do it justice by explaining the experience, but I will try. Basically, in the middle of your table is a small, round grill or hot plate (like a frying pan) with a bowl of boiling water in the middle (hopefully you can see it in our picture below). Then there is a giant buffet of raw food against the wall … you fill up your plate with ANY food you want and then cook it on the frying pan like thingy. Then the bowl of water is for creating your own communal soup. So, maybe you aren’t that impressed yet, but I will keep explaining …… there is an entire wall of just meat – lamb, pork, beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, etc. – you can take as little or AS MUCH as you want and COOK IT YOURSELF at your table. Then, you can grab any vegetables you want and cook those too. You are cooking it right on your table!! As much as you want, as long as you want, as messy as you want (you don’t have to clean up!). It was SO amazing! And you can keep eating until you are SO full that you can’t fill yourself with anymore. And even when you are that full you still eat a couple more egg rolls and another piece of sushi and then you decide you’re finished. DELICIOUS!! And when you are walking to your car you realize that every part of your being (and your clothes) smell like cooking meat --- does it get any better??


After our incredible dinner, Aaron took us to this amazing fish shop. We walked through walls and walls of tanks … frogs, seahorses, salamandars, anemones, puffer fish (Lindsey checks one out below), trumpet fish, neons, koi, eels, and pretty much everything else under the sun. And when we reached the back of the weird, run-down building, there was a creaky old staircase that led us up to more weird fish. It was great! It really topped off our night. Tomorrow we are off to another adventure. I LOVE vacation!! :)