Tour Diary: Richmond and San Francisco, CA

My trio of Bay Area gigs began with another kick in the gut, but eventually folded into a pair of solid shows, and a long day in the city with a great friend.

The sun came up on a Wednesday morning in Richmond, CA and I had my mind set on exploring San Francisco and the surrounding area. I’d dipped into the city for a couple of hours the night before, but hadn't been able to see much of it in the daylight. My pal and San Francisco resident, Pete Coe had promised me a tour of the city on Friday, but with a free day on Wednesday in a nearby suburb, I decided to make the most of it.

I perused the internet for free activities and walking tours in San Francisco and found a one hour tour of the Japanese Tea Gardens at Golden Gate Park. I reserved a spot on the 9:30 am tour and made haste to Aretha for the journey into the city. Bay Area traffic is no joke. I had expected it to be clogged, but I did not expect mammoth traffic jams to make a 16 mile drive last more than two hours.

I arrived into the city just bef…