For Thursday, Sept 7, 2000                                        Drummer Column, Gibbs, 648 words

 

 

Cassie's whirlwind

 

 

     School has started and there are all sorts of school stories to tell, but I'm not done with my summer stories yet. My friend Gino who swelled up in Yosemite is back home in Philadelphia. Part two of that story ran in the Sunday Herald because of a Thursday snafu. If you missed it, read it on the Web.

     Anyhow, after being here for eight days, three of them spent sick in bed, we took Gino back to the SF airport and put him on a United plane at 10 p.m. An hour later we were at a U.S. Airways gate picking up my 18-year-old niece, Cassie, who had flown out for an eight-day visit from St. Marys, Pa.

     Off we went again, through Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, the beach, the coastal highway, retracing some of the same steps we'd been through just a week before. However, however, however, this was a much different adventure. Gino has been to California a half-dozen times. He knows the city and just wanted to eat well. Food guided that tour.

     Cassie had never traveled much outside of her small hometown beyond a few field trips with her high school Color Guard and one trip to Oklahoma with my mother, her grandmother. The endless stretches of flat red clay, grasshoppers, and dusty roads were not too thrilling to this young teenager.

     "They showed me cows, Uncle Steve. We drove for miles to visit a farm full of cows." She rolled her eyes. This girl wanted to shop, and I was determined to let her.

     Now understand this: Cassie was born to my little sister after I moved away to California back in 1978. I never got to watch Cassie grow up, didn't know her too well, didn't get to buy her many Christmas or birthday presents, never got to see her perform in the Color Guard. I felt I had a lot of catching up to do. So we stomped all over the darn state hitting every tourist attraction, department store, mall, and market we could find. This was to be a whirlwind tour, or I'm not the guy who has been writing this column for sixteen years.

     Day one we took the ferry to San Francisco and walked from Market Street through the city to Fisherman's Wharf, hitting all the department stores around Union Square. Cassie was dazed and amazed at all the city sites. It was a joy to watch her take it all in. The second day we toured Benicia and the glassworks, then on to Berkeley, along Telegraph Avenue and across campus, hitting all the clothing stores and novelty shops. We toured Ikea and ate ethnic foods at the Emeryville Market.

     The third day we drove to Santa Cruz and took a room. We toured the boardwalk, rode the rides, saw Pablo Cruz, and drove back along Highway 1 and through San Francisco again on day four. She very much wanted to see the Castro District, as most visitors do, so we got out and walked amongst them.

     On day five we drove to Sacramento and Cal Expo. We saw cows, lots of cows, along with pigs, horses, sheep, chicken, and rabbits. We stayed at my daughter's house, and on day six we visited Old Sacramento and hit the K Street Mall. The waiters at Johnny Rocket's sang Sinatra songs to us. We swept the Vacaville Outlets on the drive home. On day seven we goofed awhile at the house, then took in a matinee and drove to Scandia for an evening of Putt Putt Golf. Coming home we hit Chevy's for dinner. We told them it was her birthday and she got a big hat and a song.

     On her last day we went to Six Flags MarineWorld and rode all the rollercoasters repeatedly. We packed her bags and departed Benicia early for Fenton's ice cream in Oakland, actually Piedmont. Her flight was at 11 p.m., so we went back to Berkeley for a farewell Top Dog on Durant Street. Of all things, she liked Berkeley best. She's a high school senior this year. We walked Telegraph in the dark. She remarked, "All the stores are closed. Why are so many people out walking the streets?"

     "That's Berkeley, my dear. Being downtown beats sitting in some tiny apartment."

     "Cool."

     We returned her to her gate at the SF Airport and sent her aboard, loaded down with new school clothes and wearing her Chevy's sombrero.

     Hasta la vista, baby.