[Continued from "Best.  Day.  Ever.  (Part 3)."]

The Viking and I were one of the first tables sat for dinner at A16.  On our previous trip to A16 we’d been sat similarly along the east wall, only this time it was closer to and within a better view of the open kitchen.  Ok, so I had the view of the kitchen; the Viking had a view of me (which he seemed to like).

Very soon after we were seated (“sat” to you British folk), our waiter told us of the specials: roasted peppers for appetizer, and lamb for entrée.  Yum, I wanted both.  The Viking isn’t too keen on lamb, it tending to have strong flavor.  I like gamey meat, but then I’ve been eating meat my whole life; the Viking was meat-free for almost 15 years.

But, as the Viking is wont to do, he indulged me.  We didn’t want to eat too much or have much in the way of leftovers since we were going to the Exploratorium after dinner so we ordered the roasted peppers, a pizza, and the lamb.  A16 is known for having a great wood-fired oven, so anything cooked in it was sure to be tasty.  We opted to share everything.

Very quickly after ordering our meal I realized our waiter was hot.  She was kind of dykey with her hair in a short, hip hairstyle, and she had the requisite tattoos.  And the tattoos I could see were cool:  What appeared to be geographic outlines of states or countries on her triceps – sexy.  Added to that, she provided great service – I love me someone who does his or her job well.

The chilies arrived.  They were delicious and beautiful.  [Pictures of all the food will eventually be posted on the Viking's food blog.]  It wasn’t until after they arrived that I realized I had had them before.  Padrón peppers are damn tasty.  They’re mostly not spicy but every once in a while there’s a nice hot one.  Yum.  We devoured the peppers, leaving behind piles of pepper stems on our plates.

Our waiter refilled my wine properly and our water glasses never emptied.  Our next course was a thin crust pizza.  Again, delicious and beautiful.  It was so good we really wanted to eat it all, but I’m trying to do this thing where I don’t get overstuffed and feel like shit.  And we had anther course coming.  We opted to take half the pizza home.  We didn’t think it’d suffer too much from lack of refrigeration while we were at the Exploratorium.  (It didn’t; it was damn tasty cold the next day.)

Our main course conveniently consisted of two pieces of lamb.  We ordered cannellini beans on the side.  Great choice – the lamb and the beans complimented each other nicely.  The Viking was pleasantly surprised with the flavor of the lamb, which was not at all gamey.  I’m determined to get him to really love lamb.  I imagine I will accomplish this goal when it gets cooler (wherever the fuck we are) when it will be appropriate to make my very tasty lamb chili.

A very classy move that made sure our waiter made it into my spank bank involved wine glasses.  I had been drinking sparkling wine by the glass and the Viking had a carafe of a nice light red.  I didn’t want another whole glass of wine, and the Viking didn’t seem to be tearing through his carafe so I had some of the red in my sparkling wine glass.  Our waiter saw this and very quietly without fanfare of any kind placed a red wine glass on my side of the table.  [The Viking just reminded me that our waiter was even smoother than I thought.  She not only gave me a red wine glass, she also poured the red wine in my white wine glass into the red wine glass, split the rest of the carafe between the two of us, and took my white wine glass away.  All of this was smooth and flawless.  He says I drank my first sip of red out of my white wine glass, and by the time I got to my second sip everything was in my new red wine glass.  How classy is that?]

We asked to have the lamb bones boxed up (for Isis), took them and our pizza, and walked to the Exploratorium.  We decided dessert would have been way too much food.  I felt just the right amount of full.

Because it was the Thursday before Labor Day, when Burning Man takes a large number of San Francisco residents to a desert in Nevada, the Exploratoium was gloriously sparsely populated.  Though it was our eighth Exploratorium AfterDark, and except for the time it was overrun with fucking children, we’ve stayed and explored for hours, we still found new exhibits to play with.

Then we looked at the stuff in the store.  There are some fun nerdy things, but I settled on a Periodic Table of the Elements t-shirt.  I’m hoping to learn through osmosis in my sleep.

By the time we left the Exploratorium, it had cooled down significantly.  Though the day was especially warm, the evenings in San Francisco almost never are; it’s the Pacific Ocean keeping our weather temperate.  We had taken the bus from the Mission to the Marina when it was warm.  I was wearing just a t-shirt and skirt with flip-flops, an outfit that anyone in San Francisco is rarely able to get away with.  I rarely leave the house without at least a sweatshirt over whatever shirt I’m wearing, and bare legs are a downright luxury.

Waiting for the 30 and then waiting for the 49 before walking home would have been a very cold and unpleasant affair.  We took a cab home.

Isis and Joaquin were happy to see us.  We (or I, or he) took Isis out and then we went to bed.  No fucking that night, as the multiple severe fistings had been quite enough, at least for me.  I’m sure the Viking would have gone for another round had I given him the opportunity.

It was a damn fine day.

I swear.  True story.

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