Note: I apologize for the terrible quality of these photos. Most were taken with my cell phone, which doesn’t have a flash.
The fun mostly came to a close on Day Three, when the conference officially started. Suddenly I found myself trapped in a bland hotel meeting room for most of the day. Horrifying. The most exciting presentation I saw was given by Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive. If you don’t know about Brewster and the Archive, that link might warrant a look. They are doing important work over there. That’s all I’ll say about the conference, though, because I don’t think the majority of the content would be of interest to readers of this blog.
I snuck down to the Ferry Building on Day Three for more donuts. I just couldn’t help myself. Even though it was almost a 20-minute walk from the conference hotel, it was worth it. What can I say…I have a thing for donuts. And vegan donuts are not easy to come by, at least not where I live.
Goodbye, vegan donuts…
I ate at Loving Hut one more time, too. Even though it was in a mall…blech.
Goodbye Loving Hut…
On the morning of Day Four, I had to check out of my hotel. The room was a bit small but it suited me fine. They also had free fair trade coffee every morning and a free wine happy hour every evening. The irritating thing was there was no free internet anywhere in the hotel, not even in the “business center.” But at least they printed our boarding passes for free.
Goodbye hotel lobby…
We had to leave as soon as the conference ended and headed straight to the airport. As I stared out the car window at the hills, I didn’t feel ready to leave. There was so much more to explore! I knew I would have to return some day.
At the airport, I ate the only burrito of the trip, which was surprisingly good for airport food. I wasn’t looking forward to the redeye flight staring me down, so I consoled myself with a double espresso (on the company dime, of course!).
Goodbye California clouds…
Once home, I consoled myself with a full day of birding on the weekend. The bright songs and flashy colors of the forest songbirds were the perfect salve for the vague unsettled feeling I usually get upon returning from a trip.
Hello green green park lands…
s. d. stewart 
theinkbrain
/ May 9, 2012Geez – no fair! those donuts….
birds fly
/ May 9, 2012Ha! I know…it’s cruel.
thisismyeverest
/ May 10, 2012Oh my god. I was just in SF a couple of weeks ago. Those donuts are AMAZING, are they not?? We went to the Ferry Building twice. The salted caramel is where it’s at! I miss those…but my waistline sure doesn’t. ;)
birds fly
/ May 10, 2012Haha…yeah, I had the salted caramel, too! So good. The first time I went the place was all shuttered up and I feared the worst, but after asking another vendor I realized I was just too early. It was sheer agony waiting for them to open…
thisismyeverest
/ May 10, 2012I noticed that nothing opens before 9 in SF. At least, from my count. I’d be up and ready to explore the city around 7:30-8 but we couldn’t even get breakfast out of the way until at least 9!
birds fly
/ May 10, 2012What part of the city were you staying? I stayed near Union Square because that’s where the conference I was attending was located. I wasn’t that impressed with the immediate area, with the exception of Millenium, which was just around the corner. If I go back, I’d like to stay somewhere else more happening on the vegan front.
thisismyeverest
/ May 10, 2012Union Square as well, on Bush Street–right off of Powell. We took the BART daily, sometimes twice, to go to the Mission to eat. That seemed to be where all the vegan grub was at. I gained two lbs despite all the walking we did…so that means I thoroughly enjoyed the vegan fare. :)
thisismyeverest
/ May 10, 2012Oh, and I meant to ask, you found the burrito at the airport? SFO, right? I googled “vegan food at SFO” and found what I assumed to be folklore about some burrito place because I never saw it, and I roamed all around in a starved frenzy looking for it. Boo.
birds fly
/ May 10, 2012The place was called Andale. It was in Domestic Terminal 3, post-security. They had a tofu burrito, but for some reason it’s not listed on the menu on their website.