San Francisco

Today I was back in San Francisco, hanging out with my friends Rob and Peg and their daughter, Ginger. I helped Rob put together Ginger's tables and chairs, and then we used them!

Rob and I had lunch at Nick's Crispy Tacos on Polk. Later, we took Ginger back to Jack's Bar, and hit the happy hour at the Argonaut.

Here are Ginger and I at the wharf--really windy day!

Menlo Park, CA

Today I am visiting my friend Elaine in Menlo Park. We took her two kids down to Shoreline Park in Mountainview where the kids rode their bikes, played on the playground, rode the paddle boats, had a great outdoor lunch, and flew a kite.

IN-N-OUT, CA

You can't come to California without a good burger from In-N-Out.

San Francisco

I'm in San Francisco--my favorite city in the U.S.

Tonight I went to Sausalito, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, and stopping along the way for the photo op above.

In Sausalito, I grabbed a beer at a restaurant on the water, the Spinnaker, featuring a great view of the San Francisco bay and skyline.

I had dinner at Scoma's, pictured below. It was delicious--clam chowder, fresh petrale sole stuffed with dungeness crab and bay shrimp served with a lobster sauce, and a really nice Tiramisu for dessert.

Dinner was followed by a few beers at Jack's Bar back at Fisherman's Wharf--68 beers on tap!

Pawleys Island, SC

Friday, I flew into Charleston and drove to Pawleys Island, SC. Beautiful beach and beautiful sunset over the tidal marsh. Here's the Friday night sunset over the back creek:




And Saturday morning sunrise over the ocean:




Here I am on the sea kayak in the ocean:

And with Smita on the back creek:

Chicago

Great times this week in Chicago for the TravelCom conference, which included a great opening night party at the House of Blues hosted by Google.

Below: a scene from the Google party (courtesy of Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/parrotheader/2399531265/)

The last day of the conference featured an appearance by Sir Richard Branson. Here's my picture of Sir Richard:

Another highlight of my time in Chicago was the Travelzoo Awards. I sat with the founder of Travelzoo and Carribean Jim, from http://www.cheapcaribbean.com/.

Go to http://www.travelzoo.com/ to sign up for great deals!