The Snow Gang: Day trip to San Francisco

For Brett's birthday, Nana got him a ticket to go see 'Wicked' in San Francisco. Tori and I tagged along. And you don't drive all the way to S.F. and not spend the day so we did the tourist thing too. We had kept it a secret...even which town we were going to. We got in the car and told Brett to guess. He guessed S.F. and we said yes and then asked what we were going to do. We were all dressed up. He had on slacks and nice sweater and I was dressed up. So he guesses that we are going to Six Flags...um...no Brett. We are dressed up! I felt really bad. He was so disappointed. We told him we'd give him a hint and Nana turned on the CD and he went "Oh!! Really?!" It wasn't a disappointed 'really?'...just a surprise, so that was a relief. He has never been to a play before and knew the music to Wicked, so we thought this was a great chance to let him experience the theater. Growing up doing theater and choir, Mom and I really could no longer let him stay uneducated ....ok, we wanted to see it too! :p

The entrance to Chinatown

Looking down the street...it's more festive in person and smells yummy! We had lunch at the Snow Garden. We didn't know what it was called til we sat down. Kinda funny! Found some great deals on this street. $1.88 t-shirts and $40 knock off purses! You could also get Frodo's sword for $40 but that exceeded our budget...plus, it didn't glow.

Wicked has been at the Orpheum Theater for awhile now. Mark and I saw this show in 2005, when Eden Espinoza, the longest running Elphaba (the wicked witch) was there. We lucked out on Wed! She has come back for a month and a half and we saw her 2 days after she came back. Her range is astounding and she does a marvelous job. I had chills half the show. After the show we were talking about our favorite scenes and it was interesting that all 4 of us liked different parts. If you ever get a chance to see it, I would recommend it!

Nana, Brett and Tori

The theater is 90 yrs old. The carving on the walls and ceiling inside are a sight to behold!

After the show we were walking up the street and saw all these people congregated around. Then we noticed the stage door and realized it was the cast signing autographs as they were coming out the door. We saw one main charater signing and then he said he was done, put on his bike helmet and bicycled off from work. Helps you to remember that they are real people and this is job for them.

Next we headed up to Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square. Brett wanted to go to Johnny Rockets so we ate and then walked around. We tried to find the place to ride a trolley but by the time we found it, it was too late. Next time we'll know exactly where to go.

At Pier 43 there is the Musse Musuem which is a collection of very old, working penny arcade games. Brett was off and running so I don't have pix of him. Tori getting her fortune told. She was told to stay away from the dark haired man. haha!