Beach Blanket Babylon
Roughly once per year we find ourselves winging west for our pilgrimage to San Francisco, for some reason which escapes me, sometimes known by some as Babylon. For me it is more of a homecoming in the literal and metaphorical senses in that I did live in San Francisco between 1994 and 1997 and because in some inner reaches of my heart, the City has always been, and will always be, a place in which I feel inherently at home, although as I age and as San Francisco itself changes, that feeling weakens.
Immediately after I purchase air tickets my next task is to secure seats in the Magnin Box of Club Fugazi for a showing of Beach Blanket Babylon. This long running cabaret show, begun in 1974 and in its present location since 1975, is a must for the visitor and the resident alike. The show is ever changing to reflect the most current sensations and controversies of the time, all the while preserving the main thematic construct which is Snow White in search of her prince. Not to ruin it for the uninitiated, but her prince is actually the King, Elvis returned to glorious Technicolor life. Or at least it has been for the last few years, but this too could and probably will change. The show includes everyone and everything from George W, the Clintons, Sarah Palin, and the Obamas, to Octomom, Amy Winehouse, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, and Lady Gaga. No one is spared and yet no one could possibly really be offended, although I would say that a more left-leaning heart will make the show more fun. It is a true San Francisco institution and one that never fails to allow me to forget literally everything else in my heart and mind for a glorious 90 minutes of pure joy and laughter. There are cheaper seats requiring long waits in line with more competition, but the Magnin Box allows me to stroll in at my leisure, order a drink, and have an unobstructed view for the best show on Earth. If you are going to San Francisco, get tickets. If you have no other Earthly reason to go to San Francisco than just to see this show, then go. It is better than Broadway and thousands travel to Manhattan just for that every year. Check it out at: http://www.beachblanketbabylon.com/
Of course, San Francisco is a city with seemingly endless entertainment options for literally anyone and everyone from the blue-haired opera set to the purple haired Goth. Tim and I are old so aside from Beach Blanket Babylon we simply occasionally ventured forth to one or two select drinking establishments to nurse the random Anchor Steam beer, vodka, or tonic water in the company of more or less reasonably like minded persons