I don’t know if it was the wine, the week catching up with us, or the comfy bed, but we managed to sleep till 8:30 west coast time (going back east is going to be hard =). It actually worked out quite well, because we were behind the rush hour traffic. We were told to drive into the city, which I think was bad advice, because parking fees were through the roof. The garage we were told to park at also was in a not-so-great park of town that we had the pleasure of walking through to get to the more tourist-y attractions. First stop – Lombard Street. JD’s knee was bothering him pretty bad, so the hills were quite a challenge, especially going down them. We walked down Lombard street and out to the water by Ghiradelli Square.
The ice cream sundaes looked AWESOME there, but we hadn’t had a real meal yet and thought better of it. We encountered a beggar who had a non-stop banter of rhymes about why you should give him your green. He made me laugh, so I had to give him a dollar.
We then carried on past the cannery and Fisherman’s Wharf. Tourists galore, which was a welcome change from the lack thereof we encountered upon entering the city. We stopped and had a bowl of clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl and then enjoyed a British tumbling troupe performing on the street.
My favorite stop of the day was actually a designated National Park that consisted of four 150-year old sailing vessels on display. You could actually walk through them and learn about the important roles they played in San Fran’s Maritime economy. We then walked down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions sunbathing. We then trekked our way up to Coit Tower and through some beautiful gardens on the way back down to the ethnic neighborhoods. First Italian, then Thai, then finally Chinatown. We had a bit of a hard time picking out a restaurant, because of lack of English speakers or English menus. We finally settled on a noodle shop that was ok, but not great. Oh well, it was a neat experience.
We headed back to the hotel, but first stopped to pick up a 6-pack of some local brews bc our hotel room has a fridge and the beer selection out here is so exciting and different. Cheers!
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