Several members of the medical staff at Regina Medical Center were at a medical staff training seminar in San Francisco earlier this fall. Various family members tagged along, including me. The physicians and such learned about the fine points of managing staff privileges and of investigating problems. I sat in long enough to hear a little about managing ‘hearings’ for misbehaving staffers – those guys give a really good seminar. Aside from that, the rest of us got to wander around San Francisco.

I wandered around our hotel and took photos of various SF architectural details, visited the waterfront, and got out to the Palace of the Legion of Honor. After the seminar was over, we all went on a bus tour of Muir Woods and the Golden Gate. This yielded some nice pics of San Francisco cityscapes and of the Regina staff and families.

I’ve visited SF maybe 4 or 5 times, but this is the first time I’ve been on the peak of the Golden Gate, with that lovely view of the Bridge, the bay, and the city. Definitely worth seeing.

For the past 20 years or so, we’ve always tried to visit the Pacific Cafe, down at 34th and Geary Street (a straight shot from the Palace of the Legion of Honor). We ‘discovered’ the place when I was in SF for a robotics conference in ’85 or ’86. They don’t take reservations – you go down there, wait in line, and they pour you glasses of white wine while you wait. I’ve always loved their scallops.

Back downtown, we finally found a Chinese restaurant we can’t live without: House of Nanking on Kearny Street, near Jackson. The calamari is to die for. We’re not sure how it’s cooked, but it seems to involve lots of fragrant oil, maybe some vinegar, and hot peppers. Melts in your mouth.

After picking a few dishes, we asked “What’s good?” The chef smiled and said, “I’ll take care of you.” He did.

Apparently this is a common phenomenon. The SF Chronicle did a review of the House of Nanking and got the same treatment.