San Francisco & Michelle's Wedding - Day 5

 

Tyler and I fancy ourselves as "Real Men" who made of brawn, determination and sheer will. When this masked topless muscle man challenged us to an arm wrestling competition (after we inserted our quarters), we rose to the occasion. A real man is not scared of anything and will not back down in the face of adversity. Tyler and I showed that when the rise of the machines does eventually happen, mankind is more than adept at preventing Judgment Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old timey arcade games are the best. They don't make a lick of sense and they only cost a quarter. With the way that inflation has taken a hold of commerce, what in this World costs a quarter anymore? That's why I had no problem tossing a circular Washington into the Sex Test machine to see how I rated. And although I didn't rate as a "Sex Bomb!", I'm pretty satisfied that this machine sees me as "Hot Stuff". So at least I have the machines on my side. Now I just need to convince the human ladies that the machines are right. That sounds like a tall task. I'd be better off waiting for Judgment Day when the machines become sentient. That Artificial Intelligence will definitely see me as the "Hot Stuff".

We decided to stop into the Musée Mécanique because it piqued our interest. It turns out that this is one of the World's largest privately owned coin operated antique machines. Some of these machines were over 100 years old and gave us a glimpse into what entertainment was way back in the day. I had a pocket full of quarters and I wanted to use them all to see Naughty Marietta do Her Stuff. Apparently I wasn't the only one who wanted to see this show because Jenny Reck was hogging it. Hey! Back off! Let me get a peak!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With only a few short hours until our flights, we still had time to do something but we had to stay near the hotel.  We went back to the bay area looking for a final glimpse of The Golden Gate Bridge and instead found a couple of World War II ships. First up was the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a Liberty class ship and saw action in Europe on D-Day and in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of only 2 remaining fully functional Liberty ships (of the 2,710 built) and serves as a museum as it has been unaltered since the war. They actually still said this vessel around the bay and to Seattle and San Diego. The other ship is a submarine, the USS Pampanito, which was also used in World War II. This is also open as a museum for people to visit and was used for the 1995 Kelsey Grammer comedy Down Periscope. It would have been cool to tour either of these, but instead me and Jenny Reck brown-bagged our beers and checked them out from dry land.

 

There's the Unknown (for Adults only), the Opium Den (for Adults only) and this creepy Gypsy (who should be for Adults only). All of these were fascinating in their own way. There's something about the simplicity of these mechanical arcade games that spoke to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These boxers in a ring were the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots before that was ever a thing. But for some reason, it was so much more entertaining fighting with men instead of robots. It made it more real. Men fighting is a matter of life or death. Robots fighting is for sport because they are expendable. The stakes were definitely higher with this old timey fighting game. We shouldn't take it lightly.

 

 

 

 

 

Home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got one last look at the Bay and the island of Alcatraz before heading back to the hotel. I'm pretty sure that I mentioned this already, but I wish that we would have been able to go out there again like we did back in 2005. I've seen and toured a lot of historical stuff in my early years, but I feel like I didn't appreciate it as much as I would now. If I ever get back to San Francisco I'll make sure to go there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a guy on roller skates zipping through the arcade with one of those change machines on his belt. He exchanged dollars for quarters and appeared to be the king of the mountain and the provider of the mechanical feast. One should be so lucky. I hope I get there someday. Because of him I had plenty of quarters to stick into the machines and it allowed me and Jenny Reck to dance around while this player piano performed "Springtime in the Rockies". And this would be the most entertainment I ever received for the smallest expenditure. This was quite a bang for my buck. Or bang for my 1/4th of a buck as it was. This place was amazing. In every single way possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I grabbed a loaf of sourdough bread from one of the local vendors. Even though it didn't have clam chowder in it (like the other day), it was still delicious. I love bread more than I love some of my best friends. I could never be gluten free.

 

 

 

I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but photo booths became me and Jenny Reck's thing. At this old timey arcade, they had all sorts of photo booths including this black and white one that made us look like we were trapped in time. And in a photograph.