Friday, January 16, 2009

Same Old Lang Syne - San Francisco, Day 5

On the last full day that we spent in the San Francisco area, we spent a leisurely morning sleeping in and eating a big breakfast and then we set out for the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. When Sarah Winchester purchased this property in the 1800s, it was in the middle of nowhere. Today, the house is surrounded by a shopping center and a movie theater. On our first tour, we saw 130 of the 160 rooms in the house along with one of the worst tour groups known to man, including the following:

The Inquisitor, who opened every door and every cupboard and every drawer and everything that had a handle, knob, latch, or was otherwise fastened closed. He was also into touching, snooping, and drifting away from the group.

The Photographers, a group of five young international tourists who posed in every room, hallway, staircase, doorway, abutment and protrusion while someone else in their group photographed them. In addition, they brought along a small doll that looked like Furbie, which they would pose on antique furniture and photograph.

The First, a ten year old girl who insisted upon being the first one in every room, hallway, doorway, stairway, abutment, protrusion, and tunnel. This child had no compunction about pushing others out of the way in order to be the first to gain access much like George Costanza pushing old women out of the way during the birthday party fire.

Compared to the aforementioned individuals, everyone else in our group was fairly well behaved.

On our second tour of the house, which was the “behind the scenes tour,” we saw the outbuildings, basement, and other mechanical rooms. We were joined by both The Inquisitor and The First. Donning stylish hardhats, we experienced the underworld of Winchester Mystery House. Mother and Brother of Ken as well as Ken herself made every effort to get into these spaces before The First while Father of Ken kept a wary eye on The Inquisitor, who consistently lagged behind the group, wandered off into remote areas unattended, and generally conducted his own self-guided tour.

We left the Winchester House and had lunch at Consuelo’s Mexican Bistro, which was, according to Father of Ken “the most expensive, most vile, and weird tasting Mexican food I’ve ever eaten.” We made a beeline for the Ben and Jerry’s next door after leaving the restaurant.

That evening, we had reservations at a local Italian restaurant that was swarming with New Year’s Eve activity. Across from our table was a couple, one of whom devoured a plate of veal scaloppini while his companion complained endlessly about the lack of vegetarian choices on the menu. She reluctantly ordered a green salad and continued to whine about the menu throughout dinner. After another mediocre dinner, we returned to our apartments for the championship round of Seinfeld Scene It.

And that, gentle readers, was our trip. Many thanks to Father of Ken for additional photography and to both Father and Mother of Ken for their help composing blog entries. Most of all, thanks to Family of Ken for an awesome trip--we ate a lot, laughed a lot, and generally had a great time.

1 comment:

Leah said...

1. There is nothing wrong with photographing a small creature in scenic places. Or, similarly, one's dog. Just ask McKenna ;-) Although Furbies are dumb.
2. Who won the championship round of Scene It?