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Mike is in a mystery city…you only get one guess…

I’m on the road again, but this time it’s in beautiful San Francisco California. I was going to rant and rave about how crummy my airline experience was, but I had such a good day today, I decided against it. I’ve mellowed. Maybe it’s the weather; maybe it’s the conference I’m attending; maybe it’s the California Cuisine.

I don’t want to rub it in with folks in Texas, but the temperature here is downright cool (literally); it’s 66 degrees tonight and quite breezy. My room is stuffy, so tonight I’ve opened the window to let some of “Nature’s Air Conditioning” in. I’m not used to this in June and I know I’m going to pay a cosmic/karma price for it. The forecast for my return to Austin will be near 100 degrees.

My first class of the conference was outstanding. We had an all day session with an experienced IT project manager that passed along some of her wisdom. I’m not one to get too excited at conferences, but I really found her presentation to be interesting and useful and I wasn’t bored at all. I hope the rest of the conference is as good. The Marriott is nice, but I have to pay $9.99 for this internet connection — haven’t they heard about free wireless?

Photography. I told myself that I was going to get out and take pictures whenever I go on the road from now on. So, this afternoon (after class), I went north on US 101 to find a drugstore. As is the case when I am in a new town, I got lost but refused to stop and look at a map…I had to keep driving. I didn’t know where I was going, but I was making good time.

The conference is in South San Francisco near the airport, so in my misdirected wandering, I ended up in downtown San Francisco near Fisherman’s Wharf. I love San Francisco. The style of the buildings downtown are different and yet beautiful. There are brightly colored apartment complexes that look like they were built in the 40s side by side with newer metal structures. You have strong Spanish influences mixed in with the California Western look. The even have old Motels and their neon signs. The whole downtown area was eye candy.

I did the tourist thing and took a bunch of pictures. I took pictures of the wharf area; Alcatraz, and several of the Golden Gate Bridge. My neighbor in Round Rock passed on a few tips about location for taking pictures of the bridge and I was able to find good spots near the old artillery battery on the north shore. I took a bunch of pictures, and filled up 2 xD cards. I was surprised to read about the artillery batteries too. Apparently, they were built in the 1890s to defend the bay. With heavy guns, you could pretty much tear up any floating vessels trying to make their way in. The US Army stepped up activity after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor preceding our involvement in World War II, but the guns never fired on an enemy.

After taking several pictures, I was hungry. After all, it was about 7:30pm local time, but my stomach thought it was 9:30pm. I decided it was necessary to stop at my all time favorite California burger chain: In-N-Out Burger. As luck would have it, there’s one right next to the hotel!

In-N-Out Burger has truly stuck to it’s roots as a fast food eatery. I doubt it’s changed in 40 years. The employees still wear white hats and white clothes. The menu has a few simple choices…unless you know about the In-N-Out Secret Menu! I had heard about the “secret menu” and I decided to try it out. I went up to the counter and rather sheepishly asked if I could have a “4 by 4″. I wasn’t really that hungry, but it was the only thing I could remember off the “secret menu” and I didn’t have a handy web connection to check.

The counter “dude” didn’t even bat an eye. “Yes sir, one 4 by 4…would you like onions on that?”

“Um, yes…fries and a large drink too, please”

“OK, one 4 by 4 with onions, fries and drink. That’ll be $7.50″

I got my food a few minutes later and marveled at the 4 by 4…it was beautiful. I went to a table outside and took a big bite…it was wonderful. If you’re EVER in California, and you like burgers, go to In-N-Out. They have one in Vegas too.