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This is one of those stories that’s a bit hard to explain…but that’s also what makes it fun.

On Tuesday, I cashed in some miles and hopped a flight to Dallas. I joined up with dear old friends Kim and Jeff for a trip that was “classic Jeff”…spontaneous fun with close friends. (FYI #1: For clarification, let’s specify “Seattle Jeff”, lest we get totally confused as to why I would fly to Dallas to meet up with MY Jeff…although he would have enjoyed the movie as well…but probably would have deemed the flight a tad bit excessive…and the destination a tad bit RED STATE. FYI #2: Both Kim and Jeff would smack me to call them OLD.)

Anyhow…we selected Dallas, because it was a direct flight from SF, Seattle, and Richmond…and it wasn’t a place we had frequented. Dallas turned out to be the perfect spot for dinner and a movie. We stayed at the charming, historic Adolphus hotel in the reinvigorated West End.

First the movie. The Bucket List is an obvious catalyst for this type of trip. Its a heart-tugging movie about friendship and spontaneity…with a great deal of humor and fantastic adventure thrown in to tease the senses. Yes, the movie has gotten mixed reviews, but I will just say that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I highly recommend this movie if you go in with the right attitude…this is not an Oscar film…this is a feel-good, make-you-tear-up-a-bit film. It was no more or no less that what it was supposed to be…and it initiated some fantastic conversations about life, family, and happiness.

So, what were some of the notable highlights from this all-to-short trip? Here are a few nuggets:

1. Food. Hearty, Texas-sized portions of meat and potatoes. But this was a “special trip”, so I let my impulses guide me. At “Tex-Asian” Fuse, I indulged in a mouth-watering beef tenderloin, which I finished with a dessert called Tahitian Vanilla Bean French Toast (or as my bartender called it…“sex on a plate”). Dinner at the inventive Tex-Mex Iron Cactus, I was instantly drawn to the Chicken Fried Strip Steak, topped with a creamy jalapeno gravy with a pleasant kick! And for our pre-departure lunch at Razoo’s, I gave my taste buds one last treat with a spicy Cajun-spiced fried chicken breast…plus the absolute best bread budding I have ever tasted. Needless to say…I’ve been trying to eat a bit less since I returned.

2. Innuendo. At the Iron Cactus, Jeff ordered a “double boned” pork chop, and that set off childish snickers that would punctuate the entire 24-hour trip. A few notable phrases taken completely out of context: “We’re going to ride it all night.”, “You’re all expecting big action.”, “You want your chock full of nuts stuffed there?”, “We have two pairs of underwear between the three of us.”, “I was functioning with a goofy ball just fine.”, “Not all history has to be touched.” We also spotted three signs that begged to be recorded: “No In and Out Privileges”, “Condoms To Go”, and “Bone Daddy’s”.

3. A dose of history. As we were driving out of downtown Dallas, we stopped at the site of JFK’s assassination. We skipped the outrageously priced museum (in the old Book Depository), and wandered around Dealey Plaza where Kennedy was shot, including the “grassy knoll”, where a conspiracy theorist approached us and offered to give us the “real story”. Oddly, nearly every tourist darted into the middle of the street to be photographed on one of two painted X’s, marking the locations where Kennedy was hit. An odd historical landmark to be sure.

4. DART farts. We rode Dallas’ DART light rail several stops to and from the movie theatre. In each direction, we distinctly picked up the aroma of farts (or some other nasty smell) from a few of the derelict riders. NASTY.

So, a big ol’ THANK YOU to Jeff for concocting this delightful diversion, and for pushing me to overcome my natural inertia to make it happen.

But I would be remiss if I didn’t leave you with a sarchastic photo that Jeff snapped at dinner. In honor of his (friendly) mocking of my habit of photographing food for my blog, I’ve entitled this shot “SMARTASS”. 🙂

Oh sure, the Presidential primaries on last week’s Super Tuesday captured the majority of the headlines last week (ok…ALL of the headlines last week), but the real news was that San Francisco voters wisely rejected the absurd Proposition C, which would have asked the City government to explore aquiring Alcatraz from the Federal government to turn the island into a Global Peace Center.

Of course, the fascinating part of this story is that only 72 percent of voters voted NO…meaning that 28 percent voted YES. (What a bummer for the #2 Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, who could only muster 22 percent…no wonder he dropped out!)

In spite of declining service perks and increasing travel hassles, United made me happy today. A cheerful flight attendant ventured out of first class and tracked me down in the back of the plane to offer me free wine.

Yes…I can be bought 🙂

For the past week, Jeff and I have been hosting my folks…and we have certainly filled our days and nights with interesting excursions…and quiet evenings in front of the fire. Yesterday, we waved sadly as Mom and Dad passed through the security checkpoint at SFO, knowing that our home would be quiet that evening.

Mother Nature certainly did not cooperate with their visit, but we adapted quite well. We had planned on a weekend driving trip north or south along the coast…or even east to the mountains…but steady rain storms kept us close to home. No problem there…we adapted well…and created a fantastic list of local activities.

On Saturday, we started off with a Saturday tradition…the Ferry Building Farmers Market, including fresh bread from Acme, cheese from the folks at Cowgirl Creamery, and an unexpected citrus tasting event.

We drove from the historic Ferry Building to San Francisco’s oldest building…the Mission Delores. We toured the sparse Mission, its attached Basilica, and the drizzle-enhanced graveyard.

Next, we took our folks to the always-impressive observation tower at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. No visit to the de Young would be complete without a scrumptious burger at the museum café.

The historic Conservatory of Flowers was a repeat favorite for all of us, but with new exhibits.

On Sunday, we took advantage of an early break in the rain to view the City from Twin Peaks. Returning showers ushered us back into our car and sent us north into Sonoma.

We toured two close-by wineries (Viansa and Jacuzzi), bordered by rain-soaked fields. Wine tasting and hearty Italian foods helped us forget the morning rains.

In the afternoon, we drove home for a fantastic make-shift Super Bowl party. My dad made his wonderful fried chicken, and we drank wine. My personal favorite Super Bowl commercials? The two from e-trade with the baby web-cam…I’ve watched them multiple times since, and they still crack me up…something about a sarcastic, talking baby 🙂

FYI, Buster misses my parents too…he is still not sure where the extra warm laps have disappeared to.

A break in our winter storms brought out this gaggle of gulls (and various other sea birds) at a cove along the Bay shore. It was like a scene right out of Hitchcock. Imagine the droppings.

Speaking of crap…we got our San Francisco voter’s guide, which details the City propositions on the ballot during the upcoming California presidential primaries. There is always one City proposition that just makes me roll my eyes in disbelief.

This ballot is no exception.

How about this gem: “Adopting a policy that they City acquire Alcatraz Island to make it a global peace center.” Seriously…we vote on shit like this all the time!! It seems that a niche party rounded up enough signatures (over 10,000!!…who are these people!!) for this non-binding statement of City policy. Its amazing the amount of free time people have on their hands.