Part 2 of 2 of San Francisco Vacation...
Sunday
Sunday morning I got up before everyone. I considered heading to the festivities on my own because I really didn't want to risk missing anything (I also more or less had the public transit figured out at that point to get to the Civic Center). Alas, I thought it would offend my hosts to do as such so I got ready before everyone and waited for them to get up.
Sunday was the only hot day and much more similar to our Winnipeg heat. Everyone kept commenting that "god loves the gays" because it was sunny and hot. :D The weather was not like that any other day I was there.
We headed off late in the morning to check out the gay pride parade after having some yummy breakfast made by Corey's gf. I have to say the parade wasn't quite what I was expecting. I felt it was really inundated with politicians and, granted, maybe it's an election year and they want everyone to know they support civil rights, but it was a bit much to me as a tourist. I'm sure other tourists didn't give a hoot about it and as a Canadian it really didn't matter to me. Gays have been legally allowed to get married here for a long time now so if anything seeing all those politicians really rubbed it in just how archaic Americans are. Rupaul was in the parade and so were the Backstreet Boys, hahaha. One of the cutest parts of the parade was the San Francisco humane society (equivalent) advertising adopting pets and that you can adopt same sex pets ("like Ernie + Bert" with a photo of 2 dogs). The people were walking dogs who had rainbow collars or leis around their necks. Super cute! Oh, another thing that I found really inundated the parade were family related floats/walks. I mean, it would be "gays adopting kids", "adopting gay kids", "gays fostering kids", "foster gay kids", etc. Couldn't you just all combine into one thing instead of 10 separate ones? It really was too much.
So after over an hour of parade watching, I decided my spine was aching too much from standing in one place with a bear in front of me and a burly woman next to him. We headed to the vendors to wander around and check out what was available. I was disappointed in the lack of "souvenir" items, especially gay/rainbow ones. There was 1 vendor that was all rainbow kitschy stuff so I got a pair of wings after a fun gay man told me "everybody needs wings". How fabulous! One of the best things I found was Foxy Monster bear hoods. I totally would have got one, but the price was a bit much for what I was looking to spend. I'd like to put aside some money and get one just in time for our frigid Winnipeg winters though. :) I got a beaded bell wind chime (type thing) for my sister, a t-shirt with a rainbow heart for my friend Heather (the one who I had tried to convince to come with me there in the first place), a wood beaded necklace for Andrew, and a bracelet for my Mom. Mom really wanted a magnet from San Fran, but I couldn't find any! How lame is that? :( Maybe if we had found a souvenir store or something then I could have. I also got a creepy black/silver beaded rosary. I kind of like rosaries, though I don't condone/believe in the religion they're a part of.
While I was looking at the vendor that had the necklace and rosary, I saw someone standing and looking at me out of my peripheral. I turned to my right to see a dude pointing a camera at me at close range so I flashed a thumb's up and cheezy smile just in time. *lol* His comment? "I love your tattoo!" (Medusa half sleeve) Of course you do. :)
I was surprised/shocked to find that there were naked men milling around the vendors. Full out naked guys. Cocks out and all. It's not like the vendors are hidden away from kids; people could easily be walking around with children. I also nearly accidentally touched a dick which would have been really disgusting. The funny thing is that the guys walking around naked really didn't have much to be proud of. If you have a big dick then there's that at least. That wasn't the case. There were a lot of cute gay guys in tiny spandex shorts/underwear though, hahaha!
We headed to Herbivore again by late afternoon to catch an early supper. The waitress was amazing. She was singing and dancing and just in a great mood. She gave us huge portions of ice cream for dessert which was awesome. I ate so much I thought I was going to puke so I took a Gravol, hahaha! We then went back to Corey and his gf's place where I proceeded to have a long nap. I wish we would have gone to the Golden Gate Bridge like Corey had mentioned, but... *shrug* After naps, I talked to Andrew and then we watched some TV where I fell back asleep.
Monday
I was up early again on Monday due to all the sleep I had and the stress about flying again. To add to the stress, there was a fucking earthquake. I didn't know what the hell to do and I was quietly freaking out to myself, trying to remember just what the hell to do other than go in a doorframe, and wondering why no one was waking up or saying anything. Turns out it was a "mild" one that happened right in their neighbourhood. It was a 3.3/10. Still scary for a person whose homeland terrain does not move. If missing Andrew, Mia, and Romeo hadn't made me really ready to come home, that sure as fuck did it.
Once everyone got up, I had my leftovers from Herbivore and we just dicked around killing time. I think it's safe to say that we were all mutually done with entertaining each other by that point, ha. We went to a shopping centre where we hit up Hot Topic as we don't have one in Winnipeg. Have to say, found way more gay souvenir related things there than at the gay pride vendors. So I got a couple of pins, one for Andrew that says "This is my straight guy costume" hahahaha!, a keychain, and a t-shirt for me that has stick figure boys holding hands. We then went to Starbucks where they fucked up our drinks and Trader Joe's (we don't have that in Winnipeg) where I got vegan gummi drops and chocolate. We headed back to Corey and his gf's where I frantically had to get my shit together in order to get to the airport in time. It was a mad dash and from now on when travelling I will listen to my nagging voice.
I flew Delta back (San Fran to Minneapolis to Winnipeg) which was a long flight. To add to the problem, Delta likes people to do self check-in. That's totally fine and an employee was helping me...but my info wasn't coming up. You've got to be fucking kidding me. I was scheduled to leave at 2:50 p.m. and it was approaching 1:30. I was told to get in line which was about 20 - 30 mins. Virtually no one was working the counters and anyone who was decided to work in slow motion. By the time I got up to the counter, the woman couldn't figure out why my info wasn't coming up and she was like, "Oh, you leave at 2:50." She then shouted to the line that anyone else leaving at that time needed to move to the front of the line. No shit. Maybe if y'all would move your ASSES! So, it was a hurried goodbye between me and Corey as I had to literally clear security and head straight onto the plane.
Besides the horrible counter service, I have to say overall Delta's customer service was awful. Really, really awful. The flight attendants were total bitches to me when all I wanted was some fucking water in order to take Gravol and not vomit all over the place. You'd think I was asking them for a cup of virgin blood. United seemed to have better service than Delta. Valentine's Day was the movie on flight. What a boring ass movie, but at least it made the time pass. Maybe that movie is what was making me feel like vomiting and not the plane. ;)
The flight from Minneapolis to Winnipeg was virtually empty. I'm not kidding when I say there was maybe 20 or 30 people on the flight. It was only 2 seats per row and there was no one in the seat next to me or the woman across the aisle from me. So, thankfully, I got to lie down for the short flight. I arrived in Winnipeg just before 11:00 p.m. Winnipeg airport is pretty good to go through at that time of night as it's quiet, peaceful, and the officers don't really give a shit, but are still pretty nice. I was so happy to go through the doors and see Andrew's smiling face. When we got home, Andrew said to the dogs, "Who's here?" when they were in their kennel (I had kept quiet). They ran out around the corner and I can't even describe the look of excitement on their faces. Mia's eyes lit up and she covered me in kisses. Romeo did his happy bark like crazy in my ear while trying to get kisses in between Mia. So adorable!
That's that! I have some video of the parade that I would have to break down into segments if I would upload it onto YouTube. I would definitely go again, but with a fellow tourist and make sure to book Alcatraz tour tickets in advance. Maybe Heather and I will go next year or the year after that (I'm thinking probably the year after that due to finances for me). I think she and I would have a great time together.
Sunday morning I got up before everyone. I considered heading to the festivities on my own because I really didn't want to risk missing anything (I also more or less had the public transit figured out at that point to get to the Civic Center). Alas, I thought it would offend my hosts to do as such so I got ready before everyone and waited for them to get up.
Sunday was the only hot day and much more similar to our Winnipeg heat. Everyone kept commenting that "god loves the gays" because it was sunny and hot. :D The weather was not like that any other day I was there.
We headed off late in the morning to check out the gay pride parade after having some yummy breakfast made by Corey's gf. I have to say the parade wasn't quite what I was expecting. I felt it was really inundated with politicians and, granted, maybe it's an election year and they want everyone to know they support civil rights, but it was a bit much to me as a tourist. I'm sure other tourists didn't give a hoot about it and as a Canadian it really didn't matter to me. Gays have been legally allowed to get married here for a long time now so if anything seeing all those politicians really rubbed it in just how archaic Americans are. Rupaul was in the parade and so were the Backstreet Boys, hahaha. One of the cutest parts of the parade was the San Francisco humane society (equivalent) advertising adopting pets and that you can adopt same sex pets ("like Ernie + Bert" with a photo of 2 dogs). The people were walking dogs who had rainbow collars or leis around their necks. Super cute! Oh, another thing that I found really inundated the parade were family related floats/walks. I mean, it would be "gays adopting kids", "adopting gay kids", "gays fostering kids", "foster gay kids", etc. Couldn't you just all combine into one thing instead of 10 separate ones? It really was too much.
So after over an hour of parade watching, I decided my spine was aching too much from standing in one place with a bear in front of me and a burly woman next to him. We headed to the vendors to wander around and check out what was available. I was disappointed in the lack of "souvenir" items, especially gay/rainbow ones. There was 1 vendor that was all rainbow kitschy stuff so I got a pair of wings after a fun gay man told me "everybody needs wings". How fabulous! One of the best things I found was Foxy Monster bear hoods. I totally would have got one, but the price was a bit much for what I was looking to spend. I'd like to put aside some money and get one just in time for our frigid Winnipeg winters though. :) I got a beaded bell wind chime (type thing) for my sister, a t-shirt with a rainbow heart for my friend Heather (the one who I had tried to convince to come with me there in the first place), a wood beaded necklace for Andrew, and a bracelet for my Mom. Mom really wanted a magnet from San Fran, but I couldn't find any! How lame is that? :( Maybe if we had found a souvenir store or something then I could have. I also got a creepy black/silver beaded rosary. I kind of like rosaries, though I don't condone/believe in the religion they're a part of.
While I was looking at the vendor that had the necklace and rosary, I saw someone standing and looking at me out of my peripheral. I turned to my right to see a dude pointing a camera at me at close range so I flashed a thumb's up and cheezy smile just in time. *lol* His comment? "I love your tattoo!" (Medusa half sleeve) Of course you do. :)
I was surprised/shocked to find that there were naked men milling around the vendors. Full out naked guys. Cocks out and all. It's not like the vendors are hidden away from kids; people could easily be walking around with children. I also nearly accidentally touched a dick which would have been really disgusting. The funny thing is that the guys walking around naked really didn't have much to be proud of. If you have a big dick then there's that at least. That wasn't the case. There were a lot of cute gay guys in tiny spandex shorts/underwear though, hahaha!
We headed to Herbivore again by late afternoon to catch an early supper. The waitress was amazing. She was singing and dancing and just in a great mood. She gave us huge portions of ice cream for dessert which was awesome. I ate so much I thought I was going to puke so I took a Gravol, hahaha! We then went back to Corey and his gf's place where I proceeded to have a long nap. I wish we would have gone to the Golden Gate Bridge like Corey had mentioned, but... *shrug* After naps, I talked to Andrew and then we watched some TV where I fell back asleep.
Monday
I was up early again on Monday due to all the sleep I had and the stress about flying again. To add to the stress, there was a fucking earthquake. I didn't know what the hell to do and I was quietly freaking out to myself, trying to remember just what the hell to do other than go in a doorframe, and wondering why no one was waking up or saying anything. Turns out it was a "mild" one that happened right in their neighbourhood. It was a 3.3/10. Still scary for a person whose homeland terrain does not move. If missing Andrew, Mia, and Romeo hadn't made me really ready to come home, that sure as fuck did it.
Once everyone got up, I had my leftovers from Herbivore and we just dicked around killing time. I think it's safe to say that we were all mutually done with entertaining each other by that point, ha. We went to a shopping centre where we hit up Hot Topic as we don't have one in Winnipeg. Have to say, found way more gay souvenir related things there than at the gay pride vendors. So I got a couple of pins, one for Andrew that says "This is my straight guy costume" hahahaha!, a keychain, and a t-shirt for me that has stick figure boys holding hands. We then went to Starbucks where they fucked up our drinks and Trader Joe's (we don't have that in Winnipeg) where I got vegan gummi drops and chocolate. We headed back to Corey and his gf's where I frantically had to get my shit together in order to get to the airport in time. It was a mad dash and from now on when travelling I will listen to my nagging voice.
I flew Delta back (San Fran to Minneapolis to Winnipeg) which was a long flight. To add to the problem, Delta likes people to do self check-in. That's totally fine and an employee was helping me...but my info wasn't coming up. You've got to be fucking kidding me. I was scheduled to leave at 2:50 p.m. and it was approaching 1:30. I was told to get in line which was about 20 - 30 mins. Virtually no one was working the counters and anyone who was decided to work in slow motion. By the time I got up to the counter, the woman couldn't figure out why my info wasn't coming up and she was like, "Oh, you leave at 2:50." She then shouted to the line that anyone else leaving at that time needed to move to the front of the line. No shit. Maybe if y'all would move your ASSES! So, it was a hurried goodbye between me and Corey as I had to literally clear security and head straight onto the plane.
Besides the horrible counter service, I have to say overall Delta's customer service was awful. Really, really awful. The flight attendants were total bitches to me when all I wanted was some fucking water in order to take Gravol and not vomit all over the place. You'd think I was asking them for a cup of virgin blood. United seemed to have better service than Delta. Valentine's Day was the movie on flight. What a boring ass movie, but at least it made the time pass. Maybe that movie is what was making me feel like vomiting and not the plane. ;)
The flight from Minneapolis to Winnipeg was virtually empty. I'm not kidding when I say there was maybe 20 or 30 people on the flight. It was only 2 seats per row and there was no one in the seat next to me or the woman across the aisle from me. So, thankfully, I got to lie down for the short flight. I arrived in Winnipeg just before 11:00 p.m. Winnipeg airport is pretty good to go through at that time of night as it's quiet, peaceful, and the officers don't really give a shit, but are still pretty nice. I was so happy to go through the doors and see Andrew's smiling face. When we got home, Andrew said to the dogs, "Who's here?" when they were in their kennel (I had kept quiet). They ran out around the corner and I can't even describe the look of excitement on their faces. Mia's eyes lit up and she covered me in kisses. Romeo did his happy bark like crazy in my ear while trying to get kisses in between Mia. So adorable!
That's that! I have some video of the parade that I would have to break down into segments if I would upload it onto YouTube. I would definitely go again, but with a fellow tourist and make sure to book Alcatraz tour tickets in advance. Maybe Heather and I will go next year or the year after that (I'm thinking probably the year after that due to finances for me). I think she and I would have a great time together.