Burned two different ways

[howeird]

Got to the Segway place too early, but the streets around them are the artist section, and there were lots of funky photo ops. The Segway tour was gruelling. They gave a good training session which probably saved my life several times. The tour was, as I thought, too long for me. I had originally signed up for the 11 am 1.5-hour tour, but they said there was a minimum of 2 people per group, which was not mentioned on the web site, so they gave me the option of the 2-hour jaunt. I was expecting to have many stops where I could take photos, but the tour zipped through paths and streets and even one lawn, with only two places where we could get off the machine and take photos. Only one of them was scenic.

I had forgotten to bring, and there was no opportunity to buy, sunblock. My arms and face were burned pretty thoroughly.

Verdict: Segways are fun for a short trip, but suck for long distance. They use muscles I don't have, and by the time the tour was done I needed to sit for half an hour to be able to walk again. They are great on a flat path, but on a tilted road it is hard to control them. Perfect for mall cops.

While I was on the tour, the whale watching people called and canceled my 3 pm trip. They offered to put me on the noon one, but the Segway tour was not going to be over in time. They said the captain was canceling because of expected high winds.

So I hiked out to the end of the wharf, had a bowl of the worst clam chowder ever (lots of clams, but very bland), then went to the motel and took a nap. And hydrated.

Next up was 6:30 sunset sail, I got to the harbor at 5, paid for my ticket, decided I didn't have time for dinner (Mother's Day crowds had maxed out all the restaurants). I had bought Dramamine on my way over, took that and bought a bag of chips and a diet cola at one of the little markets. Sat on a bench in front of the museum and had my gourmet dinner, while watching a parade which included lots of pretty women in short shorts. And paddleboard babes in bikinis.

By sail time, there was no wind, even out on the bay. We motored for most of the trip, but managed to sail for a bit towards the end. The sky was clear, so the sunset was kind of ho-hum. However, one of the crew was a very pretty young woman, I took a lot of photos of her. Gave her my photog card when the trip was over.

Footnote - the captain and mate both said the whale boat I had been bumped from did go out for their afternoon run. The sunset cruise people had gone out at the same time, and saw 4 whales. I'm guessing I was bumped for other reasons. This is the second time I have had a cruise with that group canceled. They are owned by born-agains, which may explain it.

Was hoping to have dinner at the harbor, but Mother's Day meant a half hour wait, so I took the mile-long walk to the wharf, only to find that all the places along the way had closed early.

Up State Street I found a place called BT (Blue Tavern) which has a weird menu which they claim is Chilean, but reads like California Health Plan. I made the mistake of ordering the sea bass ceviche without knowing what a ceviche is. It's basically sushi with lime instead of wasabi. It was WAY too tart, I suspect that with the lime shortage they made it with lemon. If it had been done the right way it would have been good, with miniature calamari rings and whole baby octopus   (both lightly breaded and fried).

For dessert I had what they claimed to be a sobet, mango flavor. It was a tiny scoop of mango concentrate mixed with sugar, or something like that. Lovely mango taste, but grainy.

Limped from there to the  motel by way of the rod paralleling the train station. A longer trip than the one I usually do.

The sunburn is proving to not be so bad.

I took a look at the photos from today, some good ones. I'll wait till I get home to process them.

Plans for tomorrow:

Check out of motel
Breakfast at Sambo's, if I can get there by 10
12:45 train back to SJC
Home. Turn on some fans