After a long day on the road the day before, followed by a lively night out with Leane, we were quite content to spend our only full day in the City staying within leisurely walking distance of the hotel.  Heading off on foot towards Union Square, we stopped at some of our favorite stores - Banana Republic, Crate and Barrel and CB2 - to drop a little cash.  From there we continued on to the beautifully renovated, waterfront Ferry Building, where we  enjoyed perusing the impressive selection of gourmet offerings, such as fresh raw oysters, cheeses and mushrooms.  After pausing for a bit to watch the ferries come in from the rear deck of the Ferry Building, we  moved on to an inexpensive hamburger lunch (saving up in more ways than one for our NYE dinner reservation later on) at the delightfully old-school Red's Java House, conveniently located on the the waterfront  just up the Embarcadero from the Ferry Building.  With full stomachs and tired legs, we made one final stop at the Container Store to pick up that extra spice rack basket we'd been wanting to add to our set at home before returning to the Mosser to get ready for our night out on the town.

Dressed in our black-tie finery, we continued our pleasant day into the evening, meeting up with several friends for an unofficial reunion at Perbacco, a casually upscale Italian restaurant where our friend Kris has a friend who is a chef and so was able to get us a somewhat last-minute reservation.  John and Carey flew in from Hawaii where they now live, Kris and Jessica arrived from Kansas City, although they live in New York City and Jen and Tod made the long and arduous trip in from Oakland (if one takes Tod at his word) to spend a celebratory evening with us.  It was a wonderful meal full of catching up, hearty laughter and great food.  Chef Nicole really topped it off with her generous gift of glasses of prosecco and a large selection of desserts for the table.

After the meal, we parted company, continuing on to Bimbo's 365 Club with Jen and Tod to the party that sparked the idea for our entire trip back in November, while our remaining dining companions went to another friend's party.  The bands may not have been as good as we remembered but the drinks were flowing and much silliness ensued.  (There was no turning back, especially for Tod, when Casino Royale did their kitschy rendition of the theme from the Dating Game!)  It was a fun evening filled with much drinking, dancing and laughter.   Fortunately, with all the drinking, we didn't really mind having to walk the several miles back to the hotel in the rain, taking a break at Vesuvio for last call along the way, since there were no cabs to be had and even the buses were packed beyond capacity!

Cowgirl Creamery at the Ferry Building

Out behind the Ferry Building, the ferries constantly come and go

Darn Good Onion rings at Red's Java House

Caroline sure does miss San Francisco shopping!

Jen & Caroline at Perbacco

Jessica & Kris at Perbacco

NYE at Bimbo's

Bottoms up!

Happy New Year!