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I just got back from California after doing some research for a new series. San Francisco is bustling with tourists, bio-tech businesses, high finance, low finance, budget troubles and some of the priciest property in the country. I hadn’t been there in two years, and it’s always good to go back and find that special California charm.
You know, ‘to be where little cable cars, climb halfway to the stars…the morning fog, may chill the air, I don’t care’.
But the research was really in Napa, so for three days I did the Napa Valley, stopping at my favorite restaurants like All Seasons in Calastoga, Mustards and the French Laundry. I visited a variety of winerys, choosing one in particular for my story. This was the Sullivan Winery, a small family owned company that makes some great wines. A new table wine called Red Ink was one of my favorites. (Red Ink. Is that a great name for a wine, or what?) Sean Sullivan and his family couldn’t have been nicer and I came away with a notebook full of information and ideas. Olivia Newton John, the singer/actress, was there, doing a PBS show on grape farming, the tasting was wonderful and I got to walk the catwalks and view the firmentation process.
All of these research ideas I’d pretty much planned on. But visiting the site always gives you the taste, texture, smell and personality that you can’t get by Googleing for information.
So I stopped at Scoma’s restaurant down on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. The affable owner Al Scoma passed away this year, and I was glad to see the restaurant still has the same great food and service. He was a stickler for customer service. I had an enlightning conversation with Chuck, the 70 something bartender. We talked about bridges. There are two ways to get to Napa. The Bay Bridge, five lanes over and five lanes back (you go over on the bottom of the bridge, back to S.F. on the top of the bridge), or the Golden Gate. Either way, it’s a long way over the water. So I asked Chuck which one he chooses when he goes home.
“The Golden Gate,” he answered. “If they get mad at you on the Bay Bridge…they don’t give you the finger, they shoot you!”
“People get shot on the Bay Bridge?” I was surprised.
“They do. So I take the Golden Gate.”
“How many lanes of traffic on the Golden Gate?” I’ve only taken the Bay Bridge, and I’ve never, thank God been shot at.
“Six lanes,” he said. “All on the same level, three over, and three back.”
“Well, I’m not great with long high bridges so I’d probably take the inside lane…the furthest away from the edge of the bridge.”
“Oh,” he smiled, filling a martini glass ( mine if I recall), “the suicide lane.”
“The what?”
“Suicide lane. There aren’t any barriers on the Golden Gate. That inside lane on the Golden Gate Bridge has cars whizzing one way inches from cars whizzing the other way. They call it the suicide lane.”
Bridge shootings, a suicide lane, that’s why I like to visit these places. Bridge shootings and suicide lanes. Now that’s the kind of stuff you just don’t get in the tour books.
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Reminds me of the suicide lane they used to have on Columbia Parkway in Cincinnati. The center lane was reversable; you had to watch for a green arrow or the red X indicator light over the lane to know if you could use the lane, depending on rush hour.
Yeah, I hear when you cross into Oakland you’re entering a whole ‘nother world. I’d take the Golden Gate any day. Besides, I want to visit the spot where Hitchcock filmed Kim Novak jumping into the bay in “Vertigo.”
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Steve;
Lots of great movie scenes out there. Bogart’s Dark Passage, the chase scene from Bullit, Dirty Harry and who could forget Dustin Hoffman, driving the wrong way on the Bay Bridge to save the love of his life from getting married in The Graduate?
DB
by Don
on December 4th, 2007 at 5:56 am
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Great stuff. And don’t forget Peter Bogdanovich’s “What’s Up, Doc?”
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Don, If you like big bridges and exotic settings for your novels, may I suggest Zanesville for the next book.
by C.R.
on December 4th, 2007 at 7:29 am
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What great details, Don. I expect we’ll see them in your book?
I completely agree that actually going places and talking to people are the way to get the real scoop. People offer more interesting things that we could ever make up! : )
by Judy
on December 4th, 2007 at 7:41 am
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C.R.
I thought about it. Long and hard. Zanesville :New Bakery’s hamburger buns ( Wendy’s supplier) or a sparkling Mondavi Chardonay From Napa Valley? Zanesville: United Technologies automotive wiring harnesses, switches and relays, or fresh crab at Fisherman’s wharf, San Francisco. The list was long but in the end…
Steve:
Mrs. Doubtfire as well.
by Don
on December 4th, 2007 at 8:14 am
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Now, checking in, your local aa member and former great friend of “Joe the Bartender” with the question about…uhh, the wine……yeah, the wine. How was that Red Ink? Great name! And worth the search here in Clevland, if its here.
Z
by David
on December 4th, 2007 at 8:15 am
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I’m jealous, Don. The one and only time I visited Napa Valley I was pregnant with my daughter, Anne, and couldn’t drink a drop. I was distraught!
by Casey
on December 4th, 2007 at 8:49 am
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Casey;It’s truly a magical place. The food, the wine, the people…Come up with a good excuse or no excuse at all. And if you go, make it a long stay and see the other side of the mountains. Sonoma is another adventure in itself.
Z, I think Red Ink is in very short supply. You can order direct from Sullivan Winery on-line.
by Don
on December 4th, 2007 at 9:03 am
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I went through Nappa this past summer with the boys. We did a wine tasting but I had to stop after three — I was designated driver.
And it’s a good thing I did stop at three. From Nappa, I had to drive my giggling companions up winding, California 1 along the coast. One of the finest sweaty palms drives in America.
by C.R.
on December 4th, 2007 at 10:02 am
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Casey and I did that drive….in a blinding rain storm. “Fun, fun, fun til daddy took the car keys away.”
Stayed at the Madonna Inn. Even ben there?
by David
on December 4th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
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At least in a blinding rain you couldn’t see how far down it was.
Never heard of the Madonna Inn.
Worst mountain driving I ever did was going east out of Yellowstone on some narrow route. Thought for sure I’d spontaneously combust with fear.
by C.R.
on December 4th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
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I drove the Italian Riviera two years ago. Yes it’s the coastal view. But from seven hundred miles up…on the edge with hairpin turns every two feet.
Now beat that!
DB
by Don
on December 4th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
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