We should have known something was wrong when the cab driver who was taking us from Oakland to San Francisco admitted that he didn't know where the Marina was. We were lulled by the fact that he seemed to know how to get to Davis and Jackson, where our friends would meet us at Starbucks.
"There it is," shouted Fran, spying a Starbucks across the street.
"Make a u-turn," I added.
Noori, our driver obliged. Did we mention it was pouring rain? Why else take a cab from Oakland airport? Who knew that little luxury would end up costing more than our plane ticket?"We're at Starbucks," we announced.
"So are we," was the reply.
Duh, wrong Starbucks!
Finally united with our friends, we headed off to dinner, first stopping by Book's Inc. to introduce ourselves. We were pleased to see an announcement of our reading posted by the door, along with a display of copies of the book. Bob, in charge of the evening's event, welcomed us warmly. We knew we were in good hands.
Book's Inc, the West's oldest independent bookseller, has been around since 1851. The Marina store, located on Chestnut Street is spacious, well lit, and well organized. It was impossible not to browse, and each of us bought books -- not our own.
Dinner at A16, just down the street, was fabulous. After a shared dessert, we left the bookstore. To skip ahead a bit, lunch the next day was something out of a Steve Martin comedy. The restaurant, a new addition to the Embarcadero, was a study in casual elegance. No fault could be found with the food. Fran, however, made the mistake of ordering a cup of coffee. Our overeager waiter snapped his fingers, and two more servers quickly appeared at his side.
"Coffee?" said our man. "We have a blend of beans from three African countries, and then there's Blue Bottle, a local favorite. We have drip, Americano, French Press, automatic, full strength, half strength, decaffeinated...."
"French Press, Ugandan, Espresso, drip...."echoed the chorus.
"Which of those is like regular coffee?" Fran naively queried.
"I would recommend the French Press."
"Fine," said Fran.
"Which French Press would you like?"
"How many do you have?"
"We have three."
Fran's eyes were glazing over. Thankfully, our friend intervened.
Our presentation at Book's Inc. was well received, and we stayed to answer questions, mostly about assisted living and the challenge of aging. We also spoke about how we hoped the writing of the book would prepare of for our own golden years. As we left, thankfully out of earshot of others, our brutally honest friend reminded us that, in his word, "You two are no spring chickens!"
The little gift of a Book's Inc. book bag and moleskin journal given to us by Bob, helped blunt the pain! Next stop, Santa Barbara!
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