If you’ve previously read my posts, you know that my favorite destination in the world is Manhattan. However, a close second has to be beautiful San Francisco due, not in small part, to the fact that this is where my brother Bruce and his husband Bill both live.

Whether it’s traveling to the other’s home or meeting somewhere in the middle like Las Vegas, we try to make it a priority to take time out of our busy lives to meet up whenever we get the chance. Bruce’s is especially busy now with his hit publishing website, SerialTeller.com (www.serialteller.com).

Last month, it was my turn to travel, but I kept trying to put off telling Bruce exactly when because Bill was planning a surprise party for his husband’s special birthday.  And knowing Bill, this would be an event to remember.

Day One:

 

My family and I took United Airlines to San Francisco but there turned out to be a long delay because the flight crew couldn’t get to Albany, New York in time.

Something I hadn’t seen before, though,was an email from the airline that I received during our layover in Chicago. The message expressed the company’s apologies for the delay, and it gave each one of us a “customer appreciation” voucher of $50-$75 to for a future flight. I hope that this is a new trend because I usually have to fight for any form of compensation like this.

After checking into our rooms at the Grand Hyatt overlooking Union Square, we walked about a block to E & O Asian Kitchen to surprise my brother with our arrival. Great food and service, and I was happy that they had a nice selection of gluten free dishes for my daughter, Sarah.

 

 

 

Day Two:

The next day, we met up early at the Ferry Building to enjoy that area’s extensive farmers market filled with all sorts of organic produce and meals.  

 

After lunch we walked over to Pier 15 to visit the new Exploratorium.  Promoted as a “21st-century learning laboratory,” I anticipated that it might be geared more towards little kids, but we all loved the interactive and interesting exhibits.

A trip to San Francisco wouldn’t be complete without a Sing-A-Long movie at the Castro Theater so we headed over there in the afternoon. “Sing-A-Long Grease” was playing, but I heard that “Disney’s Frozen Sing-A-Long” was understandably the big hit of the moment.

Why don’t they do more of this around here?  Before you enter this beautiful old theater, you’re each handed a little bag filled with goodies. While singing to on-screen lyrics, you use these items for when certain parts of the movie are shown (Anyone remember Rocky Horror Picture Show?). For instance, in “Sing-A-Long Wizard of Oz”, you’d blow bubbles when Glinda the Good Witch would first appear.

Day Three:

 

Great time, but Bruce still wasn’t aware of his big birthday surprise. We were all traveling to Sonoma Valley to visit Viansa Winery and Marketplace. The  story was that this establishment was providing us with a tour and we would later have a birthday dinner back in San Francisco.

But after our guide took us around a bit, we opened the doors to their lovely tuscan style wine cellar to reveal Bruce’s friends and other family members sitting at tables and wishing him a happy birthday.

 

 

Happy Birthday again Bro! No place too far.