This year’s annual Romance Writers of America’s conference was held in San Francisco--one of my favorite cities. My daughter decided to go with me, and now it’s one of her favorite cities, too.
I’m not crazy about flying so we decided to travel by train. We boarded
Amtrak’s Coast Starlight at 9:30 a.m. and it pulled out of the Seattle station at 9:45. We had a small
roomette, which has two comfortable seats and a small pull-out table during the daytime. All the comforts of home in less than twenty-five square feet! The sleeping cars are equipped with restrooms and showers, and complimentary tea, coffee, a variety of fruit juices, and bottled water are available all day. Taking a shower in a small stall on a moving has its challenges, but it's definitely better than having no shower at all!
We had barely settled into our compartment when Jose, our car attendant, arrived at our door with two small bottles of California "champagne." He also took that opportunity to tell us where we could find the dining car and the parlor car—meals for passengers with sleeping accommodation are included in the price of the ticket—and told us there would be a wine tasting event that afternoon. Tickets for the wine tasting were $5 and could be purchased from the attendant in the parlor car. And so we purchased two!
At this point we’d been on the train for less than an hour and were thinking we’d joined a non-stop party on wheels. And in case you’re wondering, we weren’t drinking champagne at that time of the morning. Not that we weren’t tempted. We actually brought the little bottles home with us. Here’s mine.
Later that morning, someone from the dining car stopped by our room to take our reservations for lunch. There are several seatings for lunch and dinner to accommodate all the passengers, and reservations are required.
The dining car has tables for four, so my daughter and I always sat with other people for our meals. At lunchtime we met a young couple from the UK. At dinner we sat with people from Portland, OR, and we had breakfast with a couple from Switzerland.
There’s no Internet service on the train but we could usually pick up a signal when the train stopped at a station. Here’s me in Portland, OR, getting a badly needed email fix.
The wine tasting was fun. We sampled four west coast wines—two reds and whites—Hogue Cellars Chardonnay (2006), Snoqualmie Whistle Stop Red (2006), Columbia Crest Shiraz Grand Estates (2006), and Columbia Winery Reisling (2006). They were paired with a variety of cheeses, also produced on the west coast, and crackers. I’ve never been a fan of white wines—to my palate they’re often a bit sharp and vinegary tasting—but the Columbia Winery Reisling turned out to be my favorite. At $25 a bottle, it was also the most expensive. During the tasting we sat with a nice young couple from Tacoma who were celebrating their ninth anniversary by taking a train trip to San Francisco.
At bedtime, Jose came to our room and turned our small space into bunk beds. My daughter graciously agreed to take the top bunk. She didn’t sleep very well but I sure did. After I’ve popped in the earplugs and slid the sleep mask into place, I can pretty much sleep anywhere.
Trains don’t always run on time, but the next morning ours pulled into Emeryville, CA, only about a half hour behind schedule. After a fond goodbye to Jose, we boarded an Amtrak bus that took us into San Francisco. The bus has several regular stops around the city—the Ferry Building, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Westfield Shopping Center. Since the bus was going right past our hotel, the driver agreed to drop us off there. Talk about service!
We had arrived for our five-day sojourn in San Francisco, feeling like seasoned travelers. Instead of staying at the conference hotel, we were booked into an historic boutique hotel on Powell Street. On Thursday I’ll tell you all about it.
Until next time,
Lee
I also found this fabulous little toy hippie van and it’s been sitting on my desk—a source of inspiration and amusement.
Is this cute or what?
Today is Harlequin American Romance release day, which means you’ll find four wonderful new reads on the shelves. To find out what you have to look forward to, please click here to visit the eHarlequin website.
When I first saw the school, my initial thought was, what would it have been like to to be a student (and the product of hippie parents) at that school back in the '60s and '70s?
The tentative publication date is April 2010, and I’m still dabbling with possible titles. I think I’ve mentioned before that my working title is Halfway to the Stars from that old Frank Sinatra song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” All along I’ve known that title will not work for Harlequin’s American Romance line, so I’ve been pondering.
On the personal front, I often get together with my good friend and critique partner, Rachel Goldsworthy, on Friday afternoons. We meet in the upstairs loft a little Irish-style pub for some writerly chat and a glass of wine. This Friday I’ll have something to celebrate!
This photograph of me and Rachel was taken a couple of Fridays ago. It's an outstandingly bad picture of me, but I’ve been promising a glimpse of my new hair cut and am finally following through.
The hotel just completed a major renovation this spring, so the guest rooms have a fresh new, modern feel, including wall-mounted flat screen TVs, a rain shower in the bathroom, and complimentary wireless Internet. The rooms are smaller than you'll find in a modern hotel, but the character of the place more than makes up for that.
The lobby’s art deco decor is comfortable and inviting. Complimentary coffee, tea and hot chocolate are served there every morning. Every afternoon, guests are invited to enjoy a glass of California wine at the complimentary happy hour. So civilized.
The hotel’s concierge, Tom Steele, is hands down the friendliest and most helpful hotel concierge I’ve ever met. He was on staff the first time I stayed there and I was so pleased to see he still works there.
One of the most charming things about the hotel is its central courtyard. I requested a room that faced the courtyard, but those rooms only have one bed. Instead, we were given a quiet room on the sixth floor, which is also the top floor. Guests do not have access to the courtyard, but here's a view from the second floor.
Every time we stepped off the elevator on the sixth floor, we were greeted by San Francisco’s Mermaid. She’s reminiscent of Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, don’t you think? On the wall below her is a plaque that explains her origin. Here's what it says:
I love San Francisco—it’s such an interesting and diverse city, and the weather was perfect. I’ll take cool and collected over hot and bothered any day.
The Wet Noodle Posse got together, or course. Here we are at The Golden Network’s Dessert Reception. From l. to r.: Theresa Ragan, Priscilla Kissinger, Janice Lynn, Debra Holland, Anne Mallory, Trish Milburn (fellow Harlequin American Romance author), Charity Tahmaseb, Diane Gaston, Esri Rose, Merrilee Wren and yours truly. Trish and Charity sold their first books this year and were ceremoniously given "the boot." Congratulations, Trish and Charity!
While I was in San Francisco, I also did some research for my next two books, which are set in this wonderful city. Don’t you love these old Victorians? The heroine in my next book lives on the top floor of a wonderful old house like these.
I’m not crazy about flying so we decided to travel by train. We boarded Amtrak’s Coast Starlight at 9:30 a.m. and it pulled out of the Seattle station at 9:45. We had a small roomette, which has two comfortable seats and a small pull-out table during the daytime. All the comforts of home in less than twenty-five square feet! The sleeping cars are equipped with restrooms and showers, and complimentary tea, coffee, a variety of fruit juices, and bottled water are available all day. Taking a shower in a small stall on a moving has its challenges, but it's definitely better than having no shower at all!
At this point we’d been on the train for less than an hour and were thinking we’d joined a non-stop party on wheels. And in case you’re wondering, we weren’t drinking champagne at that time of the morning. Not that we weren’t tempted. We actually brought the little bottles home with us. Here’s mine.
There’s no Internet service on the train but we could usually pick up a signal when the train stopped at a station. Here’s me in Portland, OR, getting a badly needed email fix.
. . . please come to the 2008 "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing sponsored by Romance Writers of America. It’s open to the public, and it’s free!
