We woke up Tuesday morning

We woke up Tuesday morning in our borrowed Noe Valley Victorian home with a hankering for a duck sandwich, so we skipped down the steps past the happy workmen who are restoring our in-laws' house and walked a mile down 24th Street to the BART station in the Mission. We walk down hills now and take the MUNI buses uphill. It's no different than skiing.

We were a little disoriented when we got to the train and we ended up going the wrong way, to Glen Park rather than to the Embarcadero. No big deal, we got off at Glen Park, jumped aboard another train and sped down to the Embarcadero for the Tuesday Farmers Market in and around the beautifully renovated Ferry Building.

Three or four years ago, we had a great duck sandwich at the Ferry Building, and we aimed to recreate the experience.
First, we walked from one end of the market to the other, both inside and out. No duck sandwich. Lots of cheese, lots of wine, lots of heirloom tomatoes, lots of $50 ballpoint pens, but no duck sandwich.

"Is there a place here that sells duck sandwiches," we asked a man selling all kinds of honey.
"A duck sandwich?" he said, and then actually waited for us to assure him that, yes, that's what we said: a duck sandwich. "I haven't heard of anyplace like that," he said.

We tried the lady who made a living selling nothing but giant sunflowers. "A few years ago, there was a place where I got a duck sandwich. Do you know if that's still here?" we asked.
What is it with the flabbergasted responses? Yes, a duck sandwich. Bread-duck-bread. A duck sandwich.

"No," said Sunflower. "I don't think so."
Our quest quashed, we decided to just do regular farmers marketing. We hadn't brought anything with us in which to carry our purchases, so we swung by the market's kiosk to buy a Ferry Building bag, a little canvas tote like you'd get at the grocery store, maybe a smidgeon nicer than that. We're thinking $3; $5 tops.

K, that'll be $17,chirped the bag lady. We're the kind of idiot who won't recoil in horror at something like that. It takes us three and a half days to make $17, but we've gotta act like a big shot who goes around making ludicrous purchases for sport.