California Vacation ... fourth leg.

The trip to San Francisco featured a swing in temperatures. We were in the lower 70s in the mountains and as we drove toward the bay, it quickly went into the 80s and then upper 90s. Then as we checked into the Hyatt Regency in downtown San Francisco it was in the upper 60s. Californian truly has it all …especially when it comes to the weather. One of the first things I noticed as we cruised into downtown is that it has a similar feel of New York City. In fact, I told the kids that this was the New York of the West. We stayed near Union Square close to the financial district and within walking distance to Chinatown. Sarah, the only experienced Chinatown shopper, said that New York’s Chinatown is far superior to San Francisco’s.

For dinner we walked to Little Italy and had a tremendous meal at a family-owned, small Italian Eatery. On the way back, I was sensitive to my surroundings for safety reasons, but over-all we felt very safe as we walked the streets of the city. San Francisco has a reputation for being tolerate of alternate lifestyles. We, however, did not see an unusual amount of homosexuals. I was expecting it and bracing myself for it, but it did not happen. It was no different than walking the streets of Atlanta. Well, there were some differences. San Francisco and San Jose has a large Asian population. I guess it makes sense. They are closer to Asia than Georgia. Also, stereo-typical Asian is very smart and the Silicon Valley is the home of some of the brightest people in the world outside of Augusta.

On Friday, we took the double-decker bus for a tour of the city. I know that some folks consider this cheesy, but it was really cool … I mean freezing. We were in the upper deck of this bus with a temperature of 67 degrees with a 35 – 55 mile per hour wind. I quickly decided that I could see the city from the lower deck where it was comfortable. Stuart followed me, but Patty, Sarah and Samuel braved the cold weather. As the bus drove over the Golden Gate Bridge the temperature / wind-chill dropped significantly. Instead of running down the stairs proclaiming that Stuart and I were the wiser folks in the group, they stayed on top and froze. Sometimes stubbornness can be painful. Well, after they crossed the bridge, they brought their nearly frost-bitten bodies down to the lower deck to thaw.

We got off the bus at Fisherman’s Wharf and had lunch there looking over the bay. It was incredible; truly a memory that we will have with us for a long time. My goal that day was to end up at Ghirardelli’s Chocolate Store and get ice cream. I have had their ice cream in downtown Chicago before. It’s almost worth the price of an airline ticket for a taste. So, their headquarters is in San Francisco and there is a retail store just steps away from where we were. I could taste it, but it did not happen. We were stuffed from lunch and had to give up on the ice cream idea.

After the city tour, we ended up at Orpheum Theater around 5:30 PM for their nightly lottery for the show Wicked. You see, tickets for Wicked are around $100.00. If you multiply that by five family members , then you get a little indigestion. The concierge at the hotel told us that every evening at 5:30 PM they have a lottery for unsold tickets. You can put your name in the hat for a chance to win an opportunity to buy tickets for $25.00. Thankfully, we won the right to by four tickets and then the winners could buy an additional ticket for $40.00. So, we bought five tickets to see the show Wicked for $140.00. That’s a good deal but my conservative nature said that we need to take it easy at dinner so we grabbed a sandwich at the local Subway Restaurant and then headed to the show. That evening was truly a highlight. In most of the conversations that we have had after coming home from California, the night at the Orpheum Theater comes up.

On Saturday, we had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and shopped in Union Square. We also stopped by the local Best Buy and replaced Sarah’s digital camera (under warranty thankfully). Then we went to ATT Park to see the San Francisco Giants play the San Diego Padres. Everything about that night was cool…the stadium looking over the waterfront, the players, the people, the atmosphere and so forth. After the game, we loaded up and headed to San Jose. We had dinner at Marie Calendars and then checked into the Embassy Suites.

It was Saturday night and it was my job to find a place to worship on Sunday. First of all, I looked for a Church of God congregation to attend. I am a loyalist. I found several COGs, but none of them had websites or if they did have a website, they did not have a compelling site. In today’s market place, if a church does not have a website, then go at your own risk.

I landed on Jubilee Christian Center with Pastor Dick Bernal (http://www.jubilee.org/). We arrived at their 11:00 AM service and sat down. People were very friendly and the church was large but welcoming. The female worship leader stepped on to the stage and started to sing. She was a female version of Israel Houghton. Wow! As she sung, I knew that I was in the right place. She was anointed and the singers were passionate. It was a great experience. Pastor Bernal did a great job too. I had heard of his ministry through the years and I appreciated the opportunity to hear one of the prominent voices of the charismatic renewal of days gone by. He has stood the test of time and transitioned that church through various seasons. My hat is off to Pastor Bernal. Your integrity is evident. May God continue to bless your work.

After service, we had lunch at Longhorns and hit the mall. What an experience. I felt as though I was in a mall in Southeast Asia. Seriously, I looked at these people and wondered what Silicon Valley company did they work for. I saw a man pick up an Ipod Dock at Marshalls and the thought hit me, “Does he work in Cupertino? Does he write code for Apple?” I know that you think I am crazy, but if you drive down the streets of San Jose, Mountain View, Cupertino, etc, you see all of the major internet players. I was amazed at the number of buildings that had the name Cisco on it. Whew. They have some serious real estate. Then, Google has building after building, then Yahoo, then Verisign, then EBAY, then AOL, then Salesforce and on and on and on. If you have seen it on the web, then they probably have a presence in the Silicon Valley. I loved it. I was getting rush just being in the epicenter of so many brainiacs. Okay, I am a little weird.

Later that night we went to see the movie, “My Sisters Keeper.” If you have not seen that movie and you are looking for a good cry, then go. It’s a tear-jerker. The next day, we visited a East Valley Pentecostal Church. This congregation was one of SecureGive’s first churches on the West Coast. We walked in and talked to Cheri. She said, “Since you are here, one of our units is not working.” I smiled and started working on a kiosk for a few minutes. I realized that I could not fix it there so I sent word to Brennen, our trusty technical support guru, and between the two of us, we had them up and running within a day.

After that stop, we ventured over to Macaroni Grill and then to the outlet malls in Gilroy. While in Gilroy, we stopped by another SecureGive church, South Valley Community Church, but there offices were closed on Mondays. San Francisco was cold; Gilroy was hot. It’s just about an hour and a half from San Francisco. The temperature was in the upper 90s; it felt like home.

Later that evening we checked into the Crowne Plaza near the San Jose Airport so we could be ready for our flight to Long Beach on Tuesday morning. Stay tuned.