Broyles

Todd got to go to a dental convention in San Francisco earlier this month. It was a great opportunity for him to get CE (continuing education) credits and go somewhere fun. Since I had never been to San Francisco before, I was very quick to respond with a “Yes!” when he asked me if I would like to go along. We stayed downtown at the Prescott Hotel; by Union Square and a short walk to the Moscone Center where the convention was held. I could not believe the shopping! There is every imaginable store from Louis Vuitton to Niketown, Barneys to Tiffanys, Saks, Nordstroms, Bloomingdales, De Beers, Ben Sherman, Crate and Barrel, and on and on. . .all within a few block radius. Simply incredible. Of course who can afford all that? I have no idea, but certainly fun to look.

We walked everywhere (well, only the safe places, Mom). I think we walked at least five miles each day. I had heard about the steepness of the streets but until you walk up one, you really have no idea just how steep they are. Whew! The first day we walked through Chinatown, on our way down to Fisherman’s Wharf. Just outside of Chinatown we pasted through several Italian blocks. Todd stopped short at a little bakery with the entire front window filled with pastries. He got a cherry turnover that was yummy – so yummy we went back two more times during our stay and enjoyed not only the cherry turnovers but the apple as well. When we finally reached Fisherman’s Wharf we ate at In & Out Burger -- Todd had it mapped out before we left Boise – a very tasty burger indeed. We toured Alcatraz and saw Al Capone’s cell firsthand. (I even got a picture of Todd inside one of the solitary confinement cells.)



The dental convention was quite informative. I picked my own seminars to attend from the schedule and learned a ton about insurance, collections and estate planning. I only had to text Todd a few times for the definition of terms like alveoloplasty. What?? We walked the floor where all the dental reps were ready, willing and able to hit you up with the latest and greatest stuff. I was overwhelmed to say the least.



Todd and I thoroughly enjoyed being back in a big city. It is fun to get “lost” in the crowd of people and observe all the sites. The diversity of cultures was also refreshing. Aside from the huge Asian population, we noticed many European languages spoken by those around us.