Day One in San Francisco

Today I left with some classmates to go to the American Chemical Society Meeting in San Francisco. The flight was good - I slept for about 2/3 of it as usual. I felt like such a leader, because I helped to find us transportation. Only $2 to take samTrans from the airport to the hotel! I guess you get what you pay for (it was pretty dirty), but it sure beats the $17 it costs to take a shuttle. I had never taken public transportation before this, so it was quite an experience. I felt so city-like! We settled for a few minutes once we got to our rooms then started walking and found a California Pizza Kitchen to eat lunch at. We walked some more and found the Yerba Buena Gardens. It was really cool to see a community park and see so many people coexisting.

After a much-needed 1.5 hour nap, we went and ate dinner at Mel's Diner. It was a bit pricey for what they offered, but pretty good. After we paid, we stood outside for a few minutes to decide where we wanted to walk. A bum came up to me and asked me to give him some change or to buy him a meal. He looked in pain, but it was obvious he was over-exaggerating. Welcome to San Francisco.