Sunday, September 2, 2012
Slept in. Patrick baked cherry phyllo rolls. Brunch at home: veggie burger, 8 ounces of organic orange juice. Patrick and I drove from San Francisco to San Jose for a one-day, 85-degree getaway. We stayed at Hotel De Anza. Hotel De Anza is a very elegant hotel whose primary audience seems to be small-to-medium-sized event planners, those event attendees, and mid-to-higher-end business travelers. Our stay had some problems but the staff dealt with the issues reasonably well. Upon arrival by car we were a bit confused by the valet service. There was no one outside, so we parked, and immediately someone came out to receive us. Inside we checked in and showed ourselves to our room. Within a few minutes a maintenance person knocked and explained that someone had earlier reported that some of the lights in our room were not working. He did a quick check and confirmed the report. A few minutes later we were called by phone and asked if we wanted to stay in this room or be moved to another room. We had just arrived, so we didn't mind being moved to a room. We moved to another room—same corner of the building but one floor higher. Upon arrival we found the same lights problem existed in this room. We later learned this to be true for all the rooms in this corner of the building on all the floors. I volunteered us to wait in the lobby while they arranged a different room. Finally we were in. A different corner of the building. After we were settled in our room a few minutes, we realized we were confused about the breakfast that was included in the package we purchased. Monday (tomorrow) is Labor Day and a letter indicated that the restaurant serving the included breakfast would be closed. I inquired by telephone about this and was told that he thought the restaurant would be open for breakfast only but he would check. Later, by telephone I was told with apologies that the restaurant would not be open and instead we could obtain breakfast items at the Raid Our Pantry room and that our bill would be adjusted accordingly (less $30). The rest of our stay was fine—no other problems. We borrowed a DVD from their DVD library which seemed to be well curated and even included recent releases. Dinner with Patrick at Billy Berk's after finding Mezcal to be closed due to Labor Day weekend. On the way to dinner we noticed that we were walking distance to Splash, a nightclub that happened to be having a gay Latino night tonight. Billy Berk's serves excellent food in huge portions. Patrick ordered beer-battered fried chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and country gravy and a side of broiled asparagus, iced tea. I ordered beer-battered fish and chips with a side of roasted beets, peach fizz (non-alcoholic). Upon arrival, the asparagus seemed steamed rather than broiled. Everything was delicious except both Patrick and I found the beets too buttery-rich. We ate some of the beets but opted to not take any home. The chicken was essentially two very large breasts, perfectly cooked. The fish was 4 small log-shaped pieces. We couldn't eat everything and took home one of the chicken breasts and 2 of the fish logs. Too full for dessert. Our server was a Causcasian woman with a multicolor, short, spiky hairdo, and she reminded me of Pink. Back to the hotel. Nap. The night was warm with occasional warm breezes—nice. We walked to Club Papi at Splash, enjoying the very large spaces that gay bars usually don't have in San Francisco. Spent a few hours having a drink and dancing. We saw our server from the restaurant and said hello. Walked to the hotel. The Raid Our Pantry feature of this hotel is just what it sounds like. Between 10 PM and 5 AM they have a pantry with sweet and savory snacks and supplies for sandwiches and an assortment of beverages. If you're hungry you can help yourself to some food, so we did: sandwiches, coffee for Patrick, mint tisane for me.