April 2015 | Issue 6.2 | OutBoise.com
NEWS | OutBoise Magazine | 11
fish symbol on most merchandise as well. As vast
as it seems to go on, if you keep walking you will
be through the entire Asian District in 45 minutes.
It may seem hard to believe, but you have to
remember that the streets of San Francisco are not
the same size as Boise.
I came to this realization myself the first several
times I visited the city as walked everywhere. I
would look at the city map and think to myself
“Oh Lordy, this place is 35 blocks away.” As it turns
out, I was at my walking destination within 30 to 40
minutes. Since San Francisco was built on 44 hills, I
can see why everyone in the city as great legs!
Of course, I made my pilgrimage to the Castro
the first time I went. I remember going thinking that
since I was coming here I could truly claim some
kind of gay birthright and pay homage to those
who came before me and rejoice in my bragging
rights. But when I go there, I looked up and down
the street that the iconic Castro Theatre was on I
thought…”this is it?”
However, I digress. Pier 44 is just separated by
a few blocks from Asian district. I hope that isn’t
being offensive, but I feel calling it by the name
that the locals do would be falling into stereotyping. I’m not about that and never will be. I know I
wouldn’t want to hear Tucson being called “Mexicantown or Lil Mexico”. See what I mean now.
As I step off my soapbox now, this area of town
is beautiful and beaming with colors, aromas and
people. You will no problem figuring out where
you are when you get into this district. Every third
or fourth shop is a market store, that seems to sell
the same imported stuff that the last shop did,
which was three or four store that you just passed.
This will be a continual trend as you’re walking
down the streets.
The color Red is will be on everything you see
in this area, and you will often find a dragon or
The Castro area is very small, that was the first
shocker. Also so were the sporadic park areas
across the city and how crowded they were with
all sorts of people. Good luck, finding a place to sit
or layout. I haven’t forgotten my seating point by
the way. There was a time when you could, and
would, see various naked people on the corner of
Market and Castro just basking in the sun, drinking
coffee or tea of their choice.
Yes, there was a time when nudity was allowed
within the city. However, the city placed a ban
on that last year. I should add that it wasn’t just in
the Castro that nudity was allowed, it happened
in other areas as well. Now you will see why I kept
saying, check your seat before sitting down. Yes,
there is now a ban on the nudity. However, many
people still consider it optional. You have been
warned.