Road Trippin Up North: Part 1

Happy New Year, a bit belated, armchair travelers and road warriors alike! 

A new year offers a clean slate for travel this year. I’ve made plans for Japan, Hawai’i and Europe, that hopefully won’t get delayed by illness, a lost passport, a death in the family or other unknown factors which wreaked havoc on my 2025 travel plans. As Scottish poet Robert Burns famously wrote in a poem to a mouse: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” (Actually ‘tis this: “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men,Gang aft agley.”)

San Francisco, Here I Come…

First stop in the City by the Bay was Glen Park, a residential neighborhood pocket of San Francisco, south of Twin Peaks/near Noe Valley, recently cited as “The coolest neighborhood in San Francisco…” and rated the 35^th coolest in the world, by Time Out magazine. 

I had lunch with a Montecito/Summerland neighbor of long ago, Ana Victorson (some of you may remember her fancy lingerie store Tiffary, with interior design by noted architect Jack Warner on Coast Village Road), whose youngest son Damon now runs a bustling breakfast/lunch spot called The Glen Park Café. After a tasty salad (me) and even tastier tortilla soup (her), Ana showed me around the neighborhood with a lot of ethnic roots and everything a person needs in just two square blocks: a fancy grocery store, Canyon Market; a great bookstore, Bird + Beckett Books and Records, with live music (even jazz) on the weekends (they livestream Friday nights on www.youtube.com/@bird_beckett/streams); lots of restaurants including Manzoni or Gialina for pizza; Higher Grounds coffee house where Ana swears by the “fantastic” crepes; a popular new restaurant, La Cigale, with an intriguing prix fixe menu; a sweet gift store, Brazilian coffee and açai spot, Les Casse-Croutes (a cheese boutique with Lebanese owners) and more. The tiny ‘hood even has an Urgent Care facility, pet shop, and dentist, should those needs arise. There’s no hotel in Glen Park, but there are Airbnb rentals, if you are interested in making this lesser-known pocket of the city your home-away-from-home.

East Bay

In Berkeley that night I dined with friends at a hip Mexican restaurant Comal. We landed on “salsa night” for those wishing to dance in the back patio to cool Latin tunes. Being charged $7 for fresh tortilla chips and tasty salsas was overcome by ordering a huge portion of shared ribs (suggested for 2-3 could have fed 4 people easily) that was a hit with friends, including my former AFAR magazine editor/pal/Carpinteria native Serena Renner, longtime friend Dennis Carty (from Bezerkly during my college years, who took me on an after-dinner, magical memory tour around town) and Zoe Kalionzes, beloved granddaughter of Carp “grande dame”/ beloved powerhouse Donnie Nair (RIP). Tasty cocktails as well.

I traveled to San Francico specifically to attend an art opening and retrospective – at the Catharine Clark Gallery on Utah Street – of a fantastic exhibition of artworks by Masami Teraoka, plus a celebration in honor of his 90^th birthday! A huge crowd appeared – including former Santa Barbara gallerist Pamela Auchincloss – to admire the works, sing “Happy Birthday,” and toast the Japanese American artist. Born in Onomichi, Japan in 1936, Masami remembers, as a nine-year-old child, seeing the atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on August 6, 1945. I met Masami many moons ago in Los Angeles, where he attended Otis Art Institute in the 1970s, before moving and making his home and studio on Oahu in 1980. We have remained steadfast pals ever since. I am one lucky tomodachi (friend).

The opening was preceded by a lovely lunch at Green’s, the longtime Fort Mason vegetarian restaurant that has a new cookbook. After a stroll along the marina waterfront, Fort Mason was not “overcrowded or touristy”… mostly runners and families with baby strollers. My artist friend Stephanie and I planned to hit a few art galleries that Saturday before Masami’s opening and party, however they were all oddly closed for private events or other reasons. Luckily, we discovered the small but interesting (at least to this half-blooded Sicilian) Italian American museum, Museo Italo Americano. A sweet show of noteworthy works by Italian artists (ranging from Lawrence Ferlinghetti to Beniamino Bufano to Tina Modotti and others) runs through the end of September. If you find yourself in the area, it’s worth a stop IMHO.

Marin, Sonoma, Lake County and Back Home Again

I spent the weekend in Petaluma at my longtime friend’s house, the talented artist and long ago Santa Barbarian Stephanie Sanchez (see her website www.stephaniesanchezart.net). We stopped after the opening to meet friends in Marin County’s San Rafael for dinner at Sol Food, a Puerto Rican hot spot, but once I saw a line halfway down the block, we re-calibrated and our group of five had a very tasty, family-style Thai dinner – where we could hear one another conversing – at Royal Thai in San Rafael. 

Another lovely dinner out on Sunday at Petaluma’s Central Market was delish and heartwarming, accompanied as we were by dear friends Alber and Dean, who make award-winning Jubaea Estate olive oil in Sonoma. We shared two great salads, super fresh, tasty Washington state oysters, house made bread and warm olives to start. Dean had a potato truffle oil pizza (“The best” he’d ever had… despite a memorable pizza in Naples, Italy); Alber and I shared homemade pasta with green beans and mushrooms that, while tasty, needed a bit of olive oil to smooth it out. I was kindly treated to our post-holiday dinner; I popped for ice cream cones for dessert, just a block away at fave organic ice cream store, Angel. 

There’s great thrift shopping in Petaluma, but my favorite discovery was an emporium called Maude, with cool clothing for children and adults, nifty gift items from Japan, kitchen goodies and more. 

Although hosted overnight by friends on this trip (thank you Dennis, Stephanie, Bill, Carl and Thea)–for those not as lucky, as far as hotel recommendations go, the Inn at The Presidio, which I stayed at pre-covid, is a favorite. I love the spacious rooms in the former military housing and quietude. I hope to stay at their sister property, The Lodge at The Presidio, next time. It was understandably super busy and booked as ever, this time due to a JP Morgan conference in town. 

Another reason to stay in The Presidio national park on my next trip: many have raved about the exhibitions at the Disney Museum within the peaceful grounds. This area is my fave place to slumber in the city to recover from energetic city life (and dodging WAYMOs), due to its verdant setting. The incredible Andy Goldsworthy redwood tree art installations – towering and cathedral-like – are the icing on the cake.