I left my liver in San Francisco...Sept./Oct. 2011

As a thank you to my friends Amanda and Paul for hosting me at their place in San Francisco earlier this month, I've written the following "tripadvisor" review of their triplex apartment, aka the South Seas Lanai.  I hope you enjoy!

“Best B&B I’ve ever stayed at!!!” ***** Reviewed 10/28/11 NEW

I’ve had the pleasure of staying at the South Seas Lanai, an “Urban Island Oasis,” on two separate occasions.  The proprietors, Amanda Monson and Paul Etter, are incredibly gracious hosts, extending every courtesy to a thirsty out-of-town visitor.  My most recent stay was the weekend of October 1, 2011.  I arrived to SFO on Thursday, September 29, and was greeted by Amanda at the airport with a courtesy ride to the B&B.  Upon arrival, I settled in to my room just in time for the evening cocktail hour.  Paul saw to it that a variety of cheeses, crackers, hummus dip and chips, and other snacks that wonderfully complemented the fully-stocked Oktoberfest bar.  After a restful night’s sleep, I was given a walking and drinking tour of the neighborhood by Paul on Friday morning.  We started with breakfast at Park Chow (note: they do not serve Bloody Mary’s—only beer and mimosas!), followed by Bloody Mary’s at Pacific Catch, where we were joined by another local hipster, Bob Ashworth.  The bartender was incredibly courteous and accommodating, giving me a beer chaser for my Bloody Mary, all while trying to oversee a medical emergency occurring with another diner.  He also humored us by playing a prank on local hipster Bob, serving him a Shirley Temple that was nothing but vodka and a splash of cranberry juice.  Oh, and he also gave us a free order of French and sweet potato fries! 

After eating and drinking for (relatively) free, we wandered back to the South Seas Lanai for beers on the rooftop deck.  The weather was perfect for day drinking, and day drink we did.  Around 3:00 PM, Amanda joined the three of us and we walked over to The Taco Shop at Underdog’s for a late lunch/early dinner.  Having been there on my previous visit, I was thrilled to dine there again, as I can’t get enough of good Mexican tacos and guacamole!  We all had a couple of drinks and finalized our plans for the evening: Oktoberfest by the Bay.

The events of our evening at Oktoberfest are very fuzzy, but I can distinctly remember two incidents:

1. Making a pit stop on the way home at Happy Donut for chicken wings as we were waiting for a cab.  I don’t even like chicken wings, but these hit the spot.
2. Once we arrived back to South Seas Lanai, everyone in our party decided to head over to the Mucky Duck for more revelry.  However, it was packed upon arrival, so we settled for pizza from Milano’s Pizza instead.  I ordered a single slice and received it quite quickly.  Amanda and Paul, however, decided to order a whole pie, and it took much longer to cook.  So much so that one patron, a rather large man, who ordered after them received his single slice before their pie was finished, resulting in Paul saying the most memorable quote I’ve heard in a long time: “Fatty got his pizza!”  I think we can all agree though that we definitely needed pizza after a night of oompahing and polkaing at Oktoberfest, so the wait was worth it.

 

The next day was a day of recovery, which started with the world’s biggest croissanwich, purchased by Paul from the local market Andronico’s, and consisting of at least 20 slices of crispy, delicious bacon, 3-4 slices of cheese, and about 4 scrambled eggs piled on a croissant that was at least 8” wide.  I managed to eat half of the sandwich, then picked away at the bacon and croissant on the other half, before my body shut down and required a nap.  Luckily, the South Seas Lanai is the type of establishment that encourages napping whenever you feel like it, which I fully support as well.  I woke up from my first nap of the day, got cleaned up, and then resumed sitting on the rooftop deck and drinking beers.
If memory serves me correctly, a special delivery arrived on Saturday to make my stay that much more comfortable: a luggage rack.  Now, I know what you’re thinking: “I would have WALKED OUT of there if there was no luggage rack upon arrival!  My luggage will NOT sit on the ground!”  I’ve been there, trust me, I’ve been there.  This too shall pass.  But I decided to let it slide for the first two evenings, seeing as how they offered me triple rewards points for the inconvenience.  But THANK GOD the luggage rack showed up when it did!  I couldn’t take it anymore!  Luckily, South Seas Lanai was kind enough to order a wooden luggage rack, not one of those bush league metal ones.  I placed my carry-on bag on the rack and instantly felt my pulse drop back down to a healthy rate.  Crisis averted.

In keeping with the community spirit, I later trekked to Andronico’s and picked up supplies to make Bloody Marys, as well as other garnishes which are absolutely necessary when drinking Bloody Marys.  We were once again joined by local hipster Bob, as well as local father Jay, who thoroughly enjoyed the retelling of our incident at Milano’s Pizza.  Unfortunately, we all learned too much about Jay and his ability to throw foot-skin shards across the room into a tall, metal vase.  Needless to say, if you’re ever at Jay’s house, don’t look in the vase in the living room about 15 feet from the La-Z-Boy recliner.  Rookie mistake.  Later in the afternoon, BBQ-master Paul smoked up some Memphis-style ribs, baked beans, coleslaw, and round after round of tiki-inspired drinks from the tiki bar.  Day turned to night, I took another nap, and woke up after the sun had set and was met with a Memphis-style Bloody Mary—a homemade Bloody Mary garnished with a single BBQ rib.  It was mighty fine.

Sunday, as it should be, was a day of rest.  We enjoyed breakfast at the Rain Tree Café, but unfortunately for Paul, his burger came on a baguette—apparently, the Inner Sunset neighborhood is a big supporter of serving burgers on baguettes instead of buns, as the folks at Park Chow do this as well.  So, a minor blip in the radar, but nevertheless, the day was not going to be ruined by this slight problem!  As with the previous two days, beers were enjoyed on the rooftop deck before heading to the main attraction for the evening: Domingo de Coco at Smuggler’s Cove.  The bar features special rum drinks in hollowed-out fruits on the first Sunday of each month, and since was the first Sunday in October, we went there to have a few coconut drinks.  Having heard and seen so much about this location on Facebook, I was definitely interested to check it out in person.  It did not disappoint!  I felt like I was inside a Disneyland ride—no details were missed in the décor, and you felt like you were truly in a cove somewhere in the islands, hidden amongst various treasures smuggled off of ships by pirates over the ages.  Upon Paul’s suggestion, I started with an in-house brewed dark beer (the name escapes me), followed by a special drink prepared for Domingo de Coco: “Monk’s Respite,” which was full of gin and deliciousness.  We each had 2 drinks before heading home.  A long weekend of cavorting around town, drinking everything in sight, was catching up to all of us.  But first, we stopped at La Fonda for some Mexican food.  Upon Amanda’s recommendation, I ordered something with chicken mole—chicken mole nachos.  I love nachos (well, anything good and Mexican, really), and the mole sauce was fantastic, so I was very pleased with my selection.  Some movie watching and beer drinking in the living room before bedtime rounded out another fantastic day in San Francisco.

The next morning was my time to depart, but not before once again being transported to the airport by the courtesy shuttle.  I was very sad to see this stay end, and as with my last visit, it left me yearning for more time in San Francisco and a life as relaxed and fulfilling as that which I experienced during my brief stay at the South Seas Lanai.  This “northern girl” would love move there in a heartbeat!

I hope to spend more time at the South Seas Lanai in the future!  A wonderful stay with wonderful proprietors, but even better friends!