I think the longest I’ve been without seeing my sister, Kayleigh is the three months I spent in China some ten years ago. Apart from that brief stint we’re never normally more than a couple of weeks away from each other.
Heading off on a year long trip, the twelve months and six thousand miles about to be laid out between us were somewhat hard to swallow. So Kayleigh took matters into her own hands, shortening twelve months into seven and booking a flight to San Francisco.
With misspent teen years spent pouring over teen films and TV dramas such as The O.C, it’s unsurprising that we had both formed a rather romantic version in our minds as to what to expect from the West coast of the U.S.A. That coupled with Californian wine, the sun and some of the best food in the States, made The Big Sur the obvious route of choice for Kayls’ two-week stay.
With my hand drawn banner held proudly above my head, we greeted the first guest of our Inca to Inuit adventure. One teary-eyed, hug filled greeting later and the three of us jumped in our newly cleaned car (admittedly the first time our poor car had been cleaned since we picked it up in Florida!) and head out ready to explore.
Kayleigh and I have a running joke that a Broughton family holiday isn’t truly a holiday if it’s not raining. Presumptuously we had thought that with California having suffered one of the longest droughts in its history we might be have been spared from the usual rain clouds. Nope. As Kayleigh flew into San Francisco so did the rain and not just a shower, a full weeks worth.
Not to be deterred, we headed into downtown San Francisco. The only knowledge I had of San Fran was Mrs. Doubtfire so I was prepared for hills, a trolly car and little else. As with any other day in the life of me or my sister, the first port of call was food and we knew San Francisco had some of the Worlds best on offer. We started with Clam Chowder at Boudin Bakery in Fisherman’s Wharf, an opportunity to take in the sights and smells of the Bay area and peer across to the Golden Gate bridge.
After an afternoon of sipping bloody mary’s and catching up on seven months worth of gossip, it was time to eat again. That evening it would be a celebratory evening of king crab at The Franciscan Crab restaurant  after weeks of tent sleeping and one pot meals on our little camping stove, Jake and I slept like Kings and Queens that night revelling in full stomachs and a roof over our heads.
After a long lie in and introducing Kayleigh to the delights of US motel breakfasts and their waffle making machines, we headed back into the city. With a brief break in the rain, we took the opportunity to trot across the city in style aboard the trolly bus. Another day and another sample of some of the best food San Francisco had on offer. Attempting to balance budget and temptation, Lunch was spent in the presence of 12 time World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana whilst the evening was enjoyed sampling China Town’s delicacies at Hunan Home.
Day three and Kayleigh had planned a trip for us across to Alcatraz. Alcatraz was a welcomed treat to Jake and me who, after four months of being in the USA had opted for free museums and excursions in an attempt to save money. It was also a welcomed opportunity not to have to plan every day. Kayleigh had come armed with a heavily highlighted Lonely Planet to California and was doing an excellent job at planning and guiding us through each and every day.
The trip out to Alcatraz didn’t disappoint. The audio tour provided us with a haunting first-hand depiction of  what life had been life on the island by its former prisoners and guards. For a morning we joined the other hundreds of people who crept around various areas in the prison in a trance-like state as we obediently obeyed the orders of the prisoners on our headsets.
Slightly depressed from our morning’s history lesson we headed back to the mainland to nearby Haight-Ashbury to Tornado, a tap house, serving over 40 beers at $5 a pint, that had been recommended to us by San Fran residents Mark and Danielle who we’d met camping up in Napa a week earlier.
With our plan to move South the following day we sat and asked Kayleigh what she had thought of the U.S.A so far. As a girl, like I, she had only been to Florida and so had only seen the Walt Disney dream version of America. Twenty years later and I think she was shocked by some of the sights she had seen. The vast volumes of homeless peoples that lay out across the city, was something none of us was used to, less so Kayleigh who unlike us hadn’t acclimatised to the US. poverty.
We were all intrigued to see what lay in store for us as we headed south to Santa Cruz and with The Thrills set to Spotify we were on our way.
