OFS Labor Day Weekend
I know I have at least one partner in the business who thinks I’m crazy, but if you live your life like a fast and furious roller coaster, give this ride a try.
While planning to visit to write about the Sonoma County Wine Weekend that took place over Labor Day, I came across a couple of other events that kept our interest; being my wife and me. In 2007 we were able to visit the formal opening event of the Sausalito Arts Festival before venturing out to Mendocino for the rest of the holiday weekend. So knowing how much fun the art festival had, I included it in the planning for this year.
Lo and behold, I was enjoying reading Saveur magazine and noticed an article for the Inaugural Edition of Slow Food Nation which is taking place, among other things, in SFO during the same Labor Day weekend.
Should I dare to risk and try to do all three? Is the Pope Catholic? Let’s see, hop on a plane to SFO on Friday in time for lunch and settle into our Argonaut Hotel. While this Kimpton hotel has a great location, it’s still on Fisherman’s Wharf and that’s a good or bad thing, depending on a lot of factors (think crowds would be #1).
Enjoy an early dinner if you’re coming from the East Coast due to the time difference, and sit back and think about all you’ll see and do in the days ahead.
Saturday morning is time for a light breakfast (nothing to drink on an empty stomach) and rent a car near the hotel. It’s still early days, but the journey over the magical Golden Gate Bridge and into Sonoma is the one time when speed doesn’t matter.
Sonoma Showcase starts at 11am and we stop right after the first race. What a way to start the day with The Bubble Lounge right at the start of the Mac Murray Vineyard grounds. Eat and drink (in moderation) and enjoy the Steel Chef competition and other cooking demonstrations. It’s time to grab your souvenir wine glass ($150 per person souvenir for this event) and head back to Fisherman’s Wharf by mid-afternoon. We miss all the lunches and dinners and really miss the auction on Sunday, but life in the fast lane has few vacancies.
Dinner may just be room service for most of this evening. Some of us were smart enough to visit the Farmer’s Market on the pier early this morning, so instead of another big dinner, their charcuterie, cheese, some of the famous SFO sourdough bread, and a nice 60-pound bottle of Pinot Noir degrees and some US Open tennis at night.
Sunday brings more glorious weather and what an idea. The car rental place was closed early so I still had the rental. This is a GREAT IDEA. After coffee, I had my wife move into the garage where the car is stored overnight (the parking fee is about the same as the cost of rent, but it’s a holiday, right?) Slow Food Nation is on display. My timing couldn’t be better. It’s early (think East Coast folks) and we’re out on the streets of San Francisco around 7am on a Sunday. Nobody else is. You can really do u-turns at this time of day. We only see the assembly in the civic center because they are still closed. We drove up to Coit Tower and found parking spaces! Drive through Little Italy and find another parking space for some of that mighty coffee and pastries to die for…
All this with enough time to recover the rent, the shower and the taxi until the opening of Slow Food Nation near the Fort Mason Center. First year for the event, so that’s fine and fun, but it’s not an option. Why worry? We walked back to our hotel and came across Ghiradelli Square and had lunch at McCormick & Kuleto’s. Good karma is definitely working this day. We later went out for oysters and found out that the famous Scomas do NOT allow food in the bar after 3pm, too bad someone will take my money but not them.
Nice dinner on the Embarcadero and home for more wine and tennis before our last day, the actual Labor Day. Prearranged online, I had our ferry passes and Sausalito Art Fair tickets in hand and boarded the first special ferry out of SFO. What a walk around the harbor going straight past a famous prison (they all give me hives) and being dropped off at a pier that has a direct entrance to the festival. Almost like the red carpet treatment at the Academy Awards.
Once again I am totally impressed with the art festival. Tons of artists and their best works on display along with enough food and drink to make the day great indeed. Let’s go back to Fisherman’s Wharf and we’re even crazy enough to venture onto Pier 39 and find safe harbor at a wine tasting bar. Heaven again.
Sad to say, but all we have time to do is prepare for our last meal of the trip, but what I won’t like since we’re in San Francisco. Tonight, to surprise us, we took a taxi back to North Beach and Columbus Ave and to a place I saw when we had coffee and sweets the day before. The restaurant is one of millions catering to locals and the prices match. A good bottle of Chianti, an app and a copy of magical Italian dishes make this trip the best.
Limo back to the airport somewhat dark and a full day of travel back home. Am I happy I crammed all of this into one weekend? I hope I can say in writing that the overall answer is a very positive YES. Deep down, please listen to that tune that always seems to be playing in my head… We may never pass this way again…