San Francisco Pride

After our evening in Big Sur with the middle of the night hot tubbing experience under our belts, we headed north back toward San Francisco. On our way we stopped off at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for some shark viewing and ate lunch on Cannery Row. I wish I liked John Steinbeck more and maybe I would have thought the town of Monterey was more exciting than I did. The Old Man and the Sea simply cannot be forgiven in my opinion.

We spent the entire weekend in the city. Upon arriving at our hotel, we learned that we happen to have arrived just in time for the annual Pride Celebration (the largest gay pride celebration in the country by the way). All of the sudden the rainbow flags flying throughout Union Square started to make more sense.

Being in San Francisco during Pride is a good example of why I think all people should travel every chance they get. It is the responsibility (in my opinion) of all humans to learn as much as we can about other humans while we're alive. Experiencing life in a completely foreign place, even if for only a few days, can be enough to change someone for the rest of their life. Cody and I spent 72 hours with thousands of people gathered to celebrate a way of life that is far from celebrated in our bubble of the world. We met all sorts of people (gay and straight alike) who were open and friendly and crazy and passionate about the rights of all people to live whatever lifestyle one may choose. We saw wild stuff unfold on the streets of San Francisco that served as a reminder that feeling a little uncomfortable, having to remind yourself to quit staring, and witnessing happenings almost incomprehensible in your own brain only makes you a more accepting person at the end of the day.

The costumes were off the chain!

Cody and I accidentally missed the majority of the actual Pride Parade as we were bicycling across the Golden Gate Bridge at the time. We did get to be a part of the Dyke March that happened sort of randomly on a street that we just happened to be walking along. The feminist in me loved the enormous gathering of mainly women fighting for equal rights. Their tagline for the parade was "My Body. My Business. My Power." So cool. We saw topless women, transgender women, single women, all kinds of women (50,000 people in all). There were also lots of men in the sea of people celebrating lesbians. We experienced an impromptu dance party that erupted without warning in front of a store that had a large sound system perched out front. People smoked weed openly and literally beside policemen in charge of managing the parade. It was chaos, and it was awesome. Cody and I both had a really good time and walked away with a renewed appreciation and understanding of other people. 

Side note: I unknowingly saw Big Boo from Orange in the New Black during the Dyke March. It wasn't until they posted a pic of her to IG that I realized that the woman who looked exactly like Big Boo was actually Big Boo. 

Next up...other happenings in San Francisco.