June 19: Treasure Island and Beach Blanket Babylon

Dear Friends and Relatives,

I have only one more day with Maureen after this one, and time has flown by so fast!  On Friday morning I have an early Southwest flight to Los Angeles to see Alexandra before returning to Dallas late on Sunday.  For those of you who are wondering when my next trek gets started, please know that I leave for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as Paris, on June 28, and that I will return to Dallas on July 12.  Today’s and tomorrow’s blogs will follow my last two days in SF, and then there will be LA blogs covering June 21-23.  

But In get ahead of myself.  My knee was much better today, so I was able to do an increased amount of walking, particularly this afternoon and evening.  

We were able to sleep in this morning, and then drove to our first venue, Treasure Island. 

Description

Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay and a neighborhood in the city and county of San Francisco. Built 1936–37 for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, the island's World’s Fair site is a California Historical Landmark.  It also features a large airplane hangar in which quite a few films have been shot, among them a “Raiders of the Lost Ark” film.  The island is about 3/4 across the Bay Bridge (the one that collapsed during the earthquake of 1989) and is very industrial in nature.  A lot of huge shipping containers seem to have made the island their graveyard.  

But there is also lots of activity and progress to be seen, as the Job Corps is located here, along with its dormitories.  It is here that students who do not have financial wherewithal are receiving training in the hospitality industry and in a few years will be making their mark.  Maureen and I were seated for lunch, and had a very nice African-American student to serve us.  His name: Eugene Walker.  Meats are prepared by the Fine Dining Class; desserts by the Pastry Class; breads by the Baking Class; and service was provided by the Food and Beverage Class.  Each class is instructed by a different and well-renowned chef.  A three-course lunch cost only $13!!  

I had a wonderful salad with mixed greens, honey ginger citrus vinaigrette, roasted beets, oranges, iced carrots, and pickled red onions with feta cheese.  The entree I chose consisted of baked orange roughy and shrimp papillote—ginger, garlic, shitake mushrooms, fish, and shrimp baked in parchment paper, with jasmine rice, asparagus, and broccolini.  Maureen had an excellent roasted beef tenderloin with sauce diane.  There were two different appetizers to choose from, and five different entres.  Four different desserts were on the menu, and both Maureen and I had tarte aux fruits—fresh fruit tart with pastry cream, lemon curd, and creme Chantilly.  Right before the dessert we had a little amuse-bouche consisting of dark chocolates, a macaron, and a brittle that tasted like the inside of a Butterfinger candy bar.  All in all, a scrumptious lunch!

Afterwards we returned home and spent the afternoon reading before taking off for a slog of a drive downtown.  Maureen has an unerring navigational sense, and I never cease to be in awe of it.  Finally we parked and walked to our venue for a quick dinner, Piazza Pellegrini, where we consumed a few slices of pizza with mushrooms and Italian sausage before walking to Club Fugazi to witness Beach Blanket Babylon’s performance.  It celebrates over 17,000 performances and has been seen by over six million people from around the world.  The production continues to delight audiences with pop music and political parodies, spectacular costumes and outrageously gigantic hats.  Much of the humor and parody naturally centered around Trump and his family.  The production lasted about two hours without intermission, and each cast member’s timing and singing were first-rate.  Enjoyed it thoroughly.  They are threatening to end the last show by Christmas of this year, but somehow I doubt that will happen.  The house was packed tonight.  

It is about 11:00 now, but I must stop.  Take care, and write soon!  Maureen says hello.  As ever, Sylvia