Sunday, June 30, 2019
Pride Sunday. Patrick wore his Elmo t-shirt (this might tickle) and jeans. I wore my (80s?) rainbow Apple logo t-shirt and the beige Uniqlo stretch jeans I acquired in Tokyo on January 1, 2011 and my mirror vinyl sneakers. On my back I wore a sheet of paper with a rainbow flag and the words CELEBRATE EVERY INCH which I had created in Adobe Illustrator and affixed to the t-shirt with painter's tape. We walked and rode Muni to Montgomery Street Station, then watched the pride parade for a while somewhat near the television cameras. This year is the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. Hot dog carts were everywhere. It turned out to be the coldest and windiest Pride Sunday ever, and we didn't bring jackets because we didn't want the extra weight, presuming it would be warmer than where we lived in the Sunset. This year would have been good to wear a rainbow-colored onesie or two. We saw Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom in the parade. After a while we walked toward Embarcadero and then back. The parade seemed to have stopped. We didn't know at the time, but some protesters had halted the parade on the basis of (I think?) police violence, particularly against trans people. We saw a Tesla semi parked in what seemed to be a parade staging area. We got stuck in a tight squeeze of people trying to pass at the corner of 4th and Market but otherwise the sidewalks were pretty easily traversed. We left Market Street toward SoMa then walked Folsom to 11th to the Streat Food Park because Patrick had never been and wanted to go. It seemed as though only a handful of the trucks were open. Maybe many were working the Pride festival? We first got fried chicken at Kokio Republic, then empanadas at (I think) Nucha Empanadas, then drinks at a truck that I think did only drinks. Thai iced tea for me, milk tea for Patrick. There were very few other patrons eating, so it only took about 15 or 20 minutes. Kokio's fried chicken with honey mustard sauce I thought was perfect. Patrick thought the chicken was excellent and wanted a bit more mustard flavor in the sauce. The chicken came with a complimentary small piece of frittered greens of some kind which were also tasty. Excellent crunch to the crust and very juicy within. Our two empanadas were one with grilled bell peppers served at room temperature and another of pecan pie served hot. We both liked both empanadas. The drinks were good, mine not overly sweet. Afterwards we walked to the Pride festival. We attempted to enter at Polk and Hayes, but discouraged by the long line, we walked west to Van Ness Avenue then north to Dr Tom Waddell Place where there was another security checkpoint, and we were able to enter the festival with almost no line at all. I carried my five-liter Peak Design Everyday Sling 5L bag, and this size of bag still required a search, but it took only a few minutes. We were amazed at our fine discovery which probably saved us 45 to 60 minutes of waiting in line. We walked the festival grounds for some time. Walked and rode Muni to the Castro. Walked in the Castro despite the cold, or perhaps in an attempt to generate body heat from the activity. Early dinner at Canela. We shared four small plates: two cow's milk cheeses (urgelia and san simon) with accompaniments and bread, ham and cheese croquettes, grilled red pepper (piquillo, not spicy), and gambas pimenton. Root beer for Patrick, plain water for both of us. Dessert: chocolate almond cake. All food and drink was excellent. $72.15 before a $14 tip. Rode UberX home. Rested. Browsed Twitter for today's happenings. Watched with Patrick Green Room DVD extras on Netflix DVD, I Think You Should Leave s1:e5 on Netflix instant watch, and part of Ricky Gervais: Humanity on Netflix instant watch. Nail care. Resolved a water blister on my foot that I had gotten today from walking over 18,000 steps, then used the shoe stretcher on the shoe for a long-term solution. Patrick had had 12 events planned for us this Pride weekend. We did only 5 of them. Late snack: a banana.