AKAMichelle
11-12-2010, 03:26 PM
The weekend was the first vacation I had planned for myself in 27 years. My wife was never one to travel so I never had the freedom to travel. She wouldn’t go so it meant that I wasn’t going either. So this weekend meant an awful lot to me.
The first step in the trip was a flight into LA. Now I flew there dressed and I intentionally went through the backscatter x-ray machine because I realize that these machines are going to be used everywhere eventually. So I wanted to make sure to prepare myself for this new technology. The trip through the scanner resulted in a pat down on my front torso only and an explosive test on my hands. 5 minutes later I was on my way. I ended up at the airport earlier than expected because I was planning for the full cavity search and got only a minimal pat-down.
When I arrived in LA, I had to pick up my rental car and then check in to the hotel. Everything went as expected and had no issues. After checking into the room, I started to unpack my bag. That’s when sheer terror took over. I quickly realized that I didn’t pack any male shoes or shirt for my meeting with the client on Monday. The revelations got worse before they got better. I also forgot the nail polish remover and my cell phone charger. Luckily I had 2 days to fix the issues so my meeting on Monday would go perfectly.
Saturday morning, I got up and got dressed as Michelle and drove to San Francisco. I was a little worried since I had never been this way about how to do the trip as Michelle, but I preserved. When I arrived in SF, I went to the Hilton Hotel at Union Square to check in. I was so proud of myself because I got the room for $122 / night instead of $300 / night room rate. Then it hit me as I drove into the parking garage, there were going to be a lot of surcharges with this stay. I ended up paying $51 / day for parking and $13 for internet. The next day I learned about the most bizarre surcharge as I paid $40 for bacon and eggs. They weren’t special eggs or anything. I could have gone to Denny’s and gotten the same breakfast for a lot better price.
I guess it is best to describe my adventure to you. I was really lucky to have met AllieSF on the forum here and she offered to be my tour guide. Allie was determined to create the ultimate experience for me and I am really thankful. Allie met me at 3PM at the hotel and was a great sport to help me get my cell phone charger issue fixed. Then after I got my cell phone charger replaced, she took me to the green area on the bay. She worked as my personal photographer and took some really good pictures which are included below. Allie took me on down to Fort Point under the golden gate bridge. Then she took me on down the bay to the beach. The sunset was so amazing. After the beach Allie told me that no trip to SF was complete without a trip to the Castro so off we went. Allie knew of a wine bar there called “Blush”. That’s when the fun really began. Allie has this special talent for meeting people. Her secret was so unique that it got us into some very interesting conversations. We talked with several people there at the bar before deciding to go somewhere to eat. So we went to Zuni on Market St and it wasn’t my type of restaurant but the food was good. Allie went to work almost immediately finding someone to talk with. In just a few minutes we were talking to 5 gay guys about politics. Did I mention that Allie and I were republicans and hetero? Yes Allie got us into the mix about politics in SF with people who didn’t agree with us, but it was my favorite part of the whole trip. I can’t believe how interesting the conversation was that we ended up talking with them for almost 3 hours. When everyone finished eating, I was pooped so I had Allie take me back to the hotel. Immediately we ended up meeting 3 more people who took our picture at the front of the hotel. I always thought that I could talk with anyone. Allie never met a stranger and was the most incredible host. I even want to go back if we can do it again because I had so much fun.
The next day was a little more subdued. Valerie who is co-organizer for the meetup group in SF took me out. I finally got to see Chinatown, Russian Hill, Little Italy, Lombard Street and the wharf. It was a much different trip because it was raining all day but one that was very fun. When I got to the wharf, I finally got to see the Cannery Row and Pier 39. So when the tour was over I dropped Valerie off in Oakland and started the long drive back to LA.
Luckily on Sunday I was able to go shopping for male clothes as Michelle. Very weird feeling, but I got everything for my meeting. I really enjoyed the trip and I am enclosing a few pictures to show what we did. I have never smiled so much in my life while out of town. It was the best vacation and it was only made better by Michelle being the person on vacation.
The first step in the trip was a flight into LA. Now I flew there dressed and I intentionally went through the backscatter x-ray machine because I realize that these machines are going to be used everywhere eventually. So I wanted to make sure to prepare myself for this new technology. The trip through the scanner resulted in a pat down on my front torso only and an explosive test on my hands. 5 minutes later I was on my way. I ended up at the airport earlier than expected because I was planning for the full cavity search and got only a minimal pat-down.
When I arrived in LA, I had to pick up my rental car and then check in to the hotel. Everything went as expected and had no issues. After checking into the room, I started to unpack my bag. That’s when sheer terror took over. I quickly realized that I didn’t pack any male shoes or shirt for my meeting with the client on Monday. The revelations got worse before they got better. I also forgot the nail polish remover and my cell phone charger. Luckily I had 2 days to fix the issues so my meeting on Monday would go perfectly.
Saturday morning, I got up and got dressed as Michelle and drove to San Francisco. I was a little worried since I had never been this way about how to do the trip as Michelle, but I preserved. When I arrived in SF, I went to the Hilton Hotel at Union Square to check in. I was so proud of myself because I got the room for $122 / night instead of $300 / night room rate. Then it hit me as I drove into the parking garage, there were going to be a lot of surcharges with this stay. I ended up paying $51 / day for parking and $13 for internet. The next day I learned about the most bizarre surcharge as I paid $40 for bacon and eggs. They weren’t special eggs or anything. I could have gone to Denny’s and gotten the same breakfast for a lot better price.
I guess it is best to describe my adventure to you. I was really lucky to have met AllieSF on the forum here and she offered to be my tour guide. Allie was determined to create the ultimate experience for me and I am really thankful. Allie met me at 3PM at the hotel and was a great sport to help me get my cell phone charger issue fixed. Then after I got my cell phone charger replaced, she took me to the green area on the bay. She worked as my personal photographer and took some really good pictures which are included below. Allie took me on down to Fort Point under the golden gate bridge. Then she took me on down the bay to the beach. The sunset was so amazing. After the beach Allie told me that no trip to SF was complete without a trip to the Castro so off we went. Allie knew of a wine bar there called “Blush”. That’s when the fun really began. Allie has this special talent for meeting people. Her secret was so unique that it got us into some very interesting conversations. We talked with several people there at the bar before deciding to go somewhere to eat. So we went to Zuni on Market St and it wasn’t my type of restaurant but the food was good. Allie went to work almost immediately finding someone to talk with. In just a few minutes we were talking to 5 gay guys about politics. Did I mention that Allie and I were republicans and hetero? Yes Allie got us into the mix about politics in SF with people who didn’t agree with us, but it was my favorite part of the whole trip. I can’t believe how interesting the conversation was that we ended up talking with them for almost 3 hours. When everyone finished eating, I was pooped so I had Allie take me back to the hotel. Immediately we ended up meeting 3 more people who took our picture at the front of the hotel. I always thought that I could talk with anyone. Allie never met a stranger and was the most incredible host. I even want to go back if we can do it again because I had so much fun.
The next day was a little more subdued. Valerie who is co-organizer for the meetup group in SF took me out. I finally got to see Chinatown, Russian Hill, Little Italy, Lombard Street and the wharf. It was a much different trip because it was raining all day but one that was very fun. When I got to the wharf, I finally got to see the Cannery Row and Pier 39. So when the tour was over I dropped Valerie off in Oakland and started the long drive back to LA.
Luckily on Sunday I was able to go shopping for male clothes as Michelle. Very weird feeling, but I got everything for my meeting. I really enjoyed the trip and I am enclosing a few pictures to show what we did. I have never smiled so much in my life while out of town. It was the best vacation and it was only made better by Michelle being the person on vacation.