Wayne woke up earlier than I, as typically so, and was searching for spots for breakfast nearby.  we wound up deciding on the Brown Couch Cafe.  Located a scant 2 blocks from the Clarion, we could see it from our room, and it was absolutely filled with people on Thursday morning.  We trekked over, and had a most fabulous breakfast served by the proprietress, a lovely lady. They don’t have a website, just a facebook page, linked above.  They describe themselves as:  “Located on the cozy corner of 14th and Webster in downtown Oakland, Brown Couch is the place for all your cafe needs; strong Coffee, fresh smoothies, amazing wraps and breakfast all day! Open Monday to Friday 7am-5pm, Saturday 8am-5pm and Sunday 9am-2pm.”  I have to agree. With art on the walls, live performances, and just really nice people, how could you not want to have breakfast (or any meal) here? We will be back.

Then it was off to BART to San Francisco.  The system isn’t as user friendly as one would like.  We didn’t realize there was another level to go down to to get back to San Fran until I looked a little harder.  Once we figured that out, it was easy breezy.

We arrived at the Merchant Street stop, and headed in to Westfield Mall, where I got my iPhone and iPad “armored,” and we went to lunch at Cupola, an Italian restaurant on the fourth level under the dome.  We had the Caesar salad and split a margherita plus pizza (buffalo mozzarella, yum!), and I was introduced to Drake 1500 IPA.  Another score for lunch!  Then it was off to the Moscone.

Wayne went up to a series on camping/disasters with your iDevices, and I went on to the show floor.  Oh. My. God.  I was in Apple piggie heaven.  And I shopped.  Really shopped.  Like my little Apple self depended upon it. Cannot tell you how much fun it was, even though it was crowded like nobody’s business!  Wayne eventually came down to see the floor, and we did a little more shopping.  Two very happy apple bunnies!  We went to a final lecture for the day, securing/locking down your iPhone.  Nothing new for me, but good to know that the precautions I take are the right ones, and that I am not paranoid, everyone is simply out to get me.

A call came in from Eileen (very close high school girlfriend, who is now a patent attorney in San Francisco), and we finalized plans to meet at Thursday Night Life at Academy of Science in Golden Gate Park, which opened at 6 pm.  After a trolley ride to Patagonia and then walking down to the water, we got to Golden Gate park a bit before she did, and waited in the cold line for nearly an hour before getting in.

Poor Eileen was stuck in traffic, but arrived as we were snacking, so we finally linked up and visited the aquarium.  For such a small facility, not too shabby.  we tried to get into the tropical jungle area, but that was closed off, so we wandered a little bit, and then Eileen took us (with Siri giving bad directions quite a ways) to our next stop...MacWorld Jam, where Little Feet was playing.  It was overwhelmingly loud, and despite liking Little Feat, we left fairly quickly, BARTing it back to Oakland.

Everything in the Westfield was closing, so we decided just to head back to the room (Wayne suggested a vegetarian restaurant, guess my reaction).  When we got in, we decided to investigate the Ethiopian restaurant, Sheba.  They actually make their living producing vegetarian food for Whole Foods locally, and you can order some of their products online as well.  I had the ahi, Wayne the veggie plate, and we split some hummus to start with.  It was FABULOUS - so much spicier than I remember Ethiopian food being.  I even ate my spinach, which is an accomplishment.  So, if you are in San Fran, make the trip to Oakland to eat at Sheba.

Night all!