Don’t y’all just hate it when you go to visit at someone’s house and they pull out the Dreaded Vacation Pictures? No they didn’t dread the vacation; YOU dread having to sit there with an artificial grin plastered on your face while they show you pictures that bore… you… to… tears.

Well, the good thing about blogging is that you don’t have to sit there and smile. I’ll never know. So, I’m going to show you my vacation pictures that we took in The Embarcadero District of San Francisco. I was telling y’all about that trip to San Francisco yesterday. You grab a glass of eggnog, if you’d like to fortify yourself and scroll through at your leisure.

After the 1989 earthquake the Embarcadero Freeway was damaged and then torn down. The Embarcadero blossomed and is now a delightful place to visit. It’s considered a “safe” area (though you are going to find street people anywhere in San Francisco), and it’s quiet most days. But, sometimes it is bustling with activity because it has Fisherman’s Wharf, The Ferry Building (with lots of shopping), a very interesting set of five buildings connected by walkways and bridges houses some marvelous upscale stores, a movie theater (for “art” movies, where you can find that foreign film you didn’t know you wanted to see), restaurants, and lots of parks. Go the other direction on the streets and you will find night life galore and more shopping! Did I think I had died on gone to Heaven? You bet I did.

We saw the holiday “decoration” below in a dry cleaning store and had to have a picture. At the same time, Eric and I both snuckled,

“It’s a Major Award!”
[note: "Snuckle" is a legitimate word, because it's on the internet, although I just made it up for you. Give the Google spiders enough time, then Google the word. It should bring you right here. "Snuckle" is a verb that means "a cross between a snicker and a chuckle." It can also mean "a cross between a snort and a chuckle." Or, it can mean "a snarky chuckle." It's just a very versatile word, and when you see it in Merriam Webster's Dictionary twenty years from now, please remember that you saw it first here at my house.]
{MAJOR UPDATE! I should have looked up snuckle before I thought I invented the word!! It does NOT mean what Google tells you!! It means what I said!!!}

An ice skating rink surrounded by palm trees?? It was just incongruous enough to catch our attention.

Santa Claus came to town in a BIG way! Santa was everywhere! Some of those Santas are awfully skinny! They’d have to stand up twice to cast a shadow. It was a “convention” of sorts. According to the Santacon website, “It all started back in 1994 when several dozen Cheap Suit Santas paid a visit to downtown San Francisco for a night of Kringle Kaos. Things have reached Critical Xmas and Santarchy is now a global phenomenon.” Evidently this happens in many cities across the United States. I think the main focus is…ummm…drinking and causing an uproar. They didn’t give me any gifts. But, then, I’ve probably been my share of naughty this year.

Seems like they had their, “Ho, Ho, Hos” about them. Did you see that the New York Times reported that a Santa was fired for saying, “Ho, Ho, Ho?” Supposedly that’s degrading to women! He’s supposed to say, “Ha, Ha, Ha” instead. “Gimme a break,” she snuckled.

I think some of these girls were degrading to themselves! But, I guess if I was young and skinny…and drunk…I’d dress like that, too.

When I win the lottery, I will be living here:

Eric likes the idea, too. Since he’s such a good dishwasher, I’ll be glad to have him along. He has other good features (but this is a G-rated blog).

My sweet spousal unit was trying to be artsy-fartsy with the camera while taking pictures of the mirrored buildings.

Sorry, this hamburger sign caught my attention. We didn’t try the hamburgers, though. They couldn’t have been as good as the sign.

Now, this statue is supposed to be Georgia O’Keefe, at least that’s what the sign says. If it is a likeness of her, she’s a lot uglier than I thought.

Then, there’s the Transamerica Pyramid. I spared you all the artsy-fartsy photos that Eric took from below. He was trying all kinds of angles. I told him to lie down on the sidewalk to get a better aim, but he said, “do you know what the street people do on that sidewalk?” Chicken. But, I saved you from having to see the shots. Say, “Thank you, Shelly.” Thank you.

This was the Church of Scientology, but we didn’t catch a glimpse of Tom Cruise or anybody. Just a bunch of tourists was all we saw.

Whoot! Down near the wharf this fellow sets up to play his “drums,” made from all kinds of found objects. Man, he can play, too!

I found a myspace video of him. You have to listen to him talk for a minute, but it’s worth it.
The Drummer in San Francisco

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We were delighted to find that there is an open air market with street vendors. Saturday seems to be the big day for the Farmer’s Market, but there are artists and craftsmen with booths on the sidewalks year round.

OK, I like bell peppers, so I took an artsy-fartsy photograph, too.

I don’t know my “root vegetables,” and I was embarrassed to ask. Are these turnips? Rutabagas?

This poor dog was hamming it up for us, until we pulled out the camera. Then, he refused to look at us.

Of course, that’s the Bay Bridge.

I think this is Treasure Island. Eric kinda pointed in the direction that I was aiming the camera and said that’s where it was. If it isn’t, well excuse me. I’m just a tourist from Texas. [The man just said that it's Yerba Buena...whatever that is. I like Treasure Island better, don't you? So, I'll just re-name it.]

Then, this was outside the funky little theater where we went to see Oh! Lady! Lady! It was a fun little musical and had some tremendous acting. The theater itself isn’t very glamorous, but it was worth visiting again. Since I ordered the tickets on-line, I’m already getting junk e-mails from them inviting me to other productions. It’ll be awhile.

I tried to make it as painless as possible for y’all. You can show me your vacation pictures and I promise I’ll drink a lot of eggnog and grin.

Technorati Tags: Dreaded Vacation Pictures, Embarcadero District, San Francisco., Santa Claus