The $6 Cure.

San Francisco wasn't without its charms and in comparison to NYC, was quite hippy. First of all, I love tea, not as much as I love coffee, but I'm ok with ordering tea. However, tea houses that refuse to serve any coffee, even a simple house blend, is just . . . asking to be ridiculed. After all, most coffeehouses serve tea, even if it is Lipton, from a bag . . . bought in the 80s.

But I digress. The first stop was San Jose to visit Sarah Winchester's Mystery House. Aside from the fact that Sarah Winchester was a petite woman of about 4'10", the entire house was surrounded with terrible karma. A severe case of bad juju. There were windows on the floor, doors that opened to walls and cabinets that ranged from 1/4" inch thick to the size of a room- all under one roof. The story goes that after a visit with a psychic, she had to spend her life building as penance for the lives taken by the winchester rifle. What was left was a house with tiny doorways, stairs that were no more than 1/2" inch tall to accommodate her arthritis and lots of idiosyncrasies.

Apparently not having enough of bad ghostly vibes, I continued onward to visit Alcatraz, complete with audio tour guide. Surprisingly the tour was quite interesting complemented with a variety of soundtracks and if you followed the instructions carefully, you'd be able to get to each checkpoint without having to pause the guide. I, on the other hand, had to do a lot of back tracking and searching half the time. The view of San Francisco Bay was amazing as the weather was sunny and clear. The only better view of the city was at Treasure Island. Just avoid the military checkpoint and all will be ok.

It wasn't until later, after a rush stop at ImagiKnits where I found two amazing skeins of JaggerSpun in a beautiful Sage color was I going to be introduced to the $6 elixir. The store was closed but as the owner was hosting a class in a few minutes, allowed me to look around quickly and buy some yarn that I truly fell in love with while doing a scarf project.

Purchases in hand, we headed to Samovar Tea Lounge where this amazing $6 post-yoga adaptogenic drink promised to refresh me, revive my tired spirits, quench my thirst, clarify my skin, enhance my beauty, increase sexual prowess AND adapt itself to my body's needs. At $6, I'd of been happy if it did at least 1 out of the list. It had a light citrusy taste and while I didn't feel like I had reached another cosmic level, maybe I was expecting too much for $6. Still if you're looking for answers to some random questions in life, I suggest this tea. Compared to the rates of psychiatrists, excluding Lucy van Pelt, this is a much easier pill to swallow.