Discovering San Francisco

As my time in Northern California is approaching its end ,I felt it was time to get busy visiting the places I had told myself I would explore before coming here.  I'll admit it, aside from some earlier hiking trips I did when I fist got up here, I have fallen into a bit of a rut--a rut in the couch.  It's just so easy to waste a day away watching hours of Battlestar Galactica on DVD, but I made up my mind this past week that it was time to get off my arse and actually do some exploring.  My list of places to visit included Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, The Redwood Forest, Monterrey, and San Francisco.  Usually it would not even be a choice--I would go with Yosemite.  I'm an outdoor guy.  Going to the mall--blah, going to REI--dangerous!  I quit going to REI "just to look around."  I would actually like to own a house some day to put all of that beautiful equipment in.  If you're like me you may think it absurd to spend $200 on Diesel jeans but think it perfectly rational to spend $300 on a Patagonia Gore-Tex shell or $150 on a pair of Vasque boots.  I understand John Muir and Henry Thoreau's obsession.  I finished Into the Wild the night before I first hiked into the Grand Canyon by myself.  I get it.  This time around, however, I opted for the big city experience.  You see, as much as I love hiking mountain trails and camping under the stars, it doesn't satisfy all aspects of my inner yearnings.  I crave diversity as well as natural beauty and for that San Francisco exceeded my expectations.  It is both a beautiful city and ethnically and culturally diverse.  Once I stepped off the bus at the Embarcadero the all out sensory assault filled me up with traveler's joy.  First thing I noticed was how people dressed.  I have not been to Europe yet , but the way a young, hip San Franciscan dresses is close to how I envision a European dresses.  Designer jeans, designer hair, lots of preppy sport coats, and either leather shoes or colored Converse All-Stars.  Noticing people's shoes made me acutely self-conscious of my own shoes.  I was wearing a tee shirt, cotton plaid shorts, and running sneakers with white socks.  As opposed to the European-esque San Frannies, my look was decidedly touristy.  I will say that at least I was not wearing a fanny-pack!  If my tourist garb was not a dead give away, the Frommer's guide book and laminate map of the city that I kept whipping out to study surely sold me.  I decided to let it go though because my rational mind assured me that no one was looking at me analyzing my dress.  The people of this city were all moving about with a purpose; people who all seemed busy to get where they needed to go.  The city street is kind of like an airport terminal--everyone walking fast, looking straight ahead, serious.  I could tell right away that I was going to like this place....