It’s a glittering Sunday morning in Vancouver. I SO lucked out in the hotel department. The 901 Beach Hotel, I found on internet, sounded good, turned out to be a few hundred yards from the water in this section of Vancouver (West End, Yaletown, Gastown) that is almost an island; 90% of the perimeter of this area water-surrounded. Totally kayakable (and SUP-able).

Yesterday afternoon I took a ferry across to Granville Island, a thriving public market, 100s of vendors, great food, fruit, nuts, wine, oysters, crabs, smoked salmon, craft beers, art, music, restaurants,food stalls, outdoor wear, kayaks — crowded, lots of tourists, yes, but vital and fun nonetheless. Going back with grown-up camera today.

PLUS a block away is The Tartine Bakery, with as-good-as-it-gets lattes, muffins, bread, and wi-fi.

I had dinner last night with my friend Vic Marks at his farm a half hour south of V. Turns out he’s a car nut: 1939 Studebaker pickup truck, possibly the most beautiful p/up truck I’ve ever seen. A sleek low black Jaguar. A purple 1930s Cord (810/812),  forchrissake’s — immaculate, I couldn’t believe I was seeing a Cord in person. Will put up pics when I get chance — you car nuts are gonna love these vehicles.

PLUS let’s hear it for Ploom stealth!

I just sent this out to my high school friends:

A couple of things:

1. A friend told me to check out the Camera Obscura at the Cliff House, which I’d never done. It’s a small building down below the restaurant, with a rotating lens that gives you a moving 360° panorama of the beach and Seal Rocks. Also, in the Cliff House, on the left side of the bar, there’s a large monitor with photos of early San Francisco, including Sutro Baths, the original (and spectacular) Cliff House circa 1900, and Playland at the Beach*. You can get a beer and watch the procession of old photos.

2. Last week I got a book titled The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld by Herbert Asbury. I didn’t realize how lawless and violent San Francisco was in its early days. It was like Deadwood, the TV series.

Here are a few other books (I know there are hundreds) on San Francisco:

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Well actually, NYC and her hot cousin, Brooklyn…

This was, from start to finish, a great trip. I had biz class ticket due to frequent flier miles and it was a Boeing 757-200, a great model plane, the biz class seat reclined so you could lie flat + an individual monitor for each seat (for all seats in the plane) and maybe 50 movies plus TV programs to choose from. I watched “Tim’s Vermeer,” a documentary about an incredible guy who had a theory about Vermeer’s use of a camera obscura…Staying in the Village was fantastic. It’s still a village, albeit inhabited I would guess mostly by richos. You can get into very quiet cul-de-sacs, lots of leafy trees, tons of restaurants…speaking of which here’s where I ate. Often as not these were places I’d sussed out by walking by:

-Buvette, 42 Grove, French bistro, unique, stylish, also pretty well known

-Taverna, 63 Bedford, Greek food, genius chef. Great Feng-shui due to eye-level mirrors all around room…BTW, around the corner was Nakazawa Sushi, no window menu, obviously expensive, filled with smug looking youngish people; ah, to have a salary of 300K/year…

-Yerba Buena, 23 Avenue A, East Village, chef from Mexico City, Latina fusion

-Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop, Gotham West Market, 611 11th Ave. Good, inexpensive. Another place in this complex has over 400 types of beer, which you casn buy and take to the Slurp Shop.

-Mo Mo Sushi in Bushwick, totally excellent. Unusual.

-Gastromarket, 315 10th Ave (near Highline), cask conditioned beer and great food

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