Last night in Red Woods & 2 days in San Francisco
Trip Start
Jul 17, 2008
1
17
24
Trip End
Aug 17, 2008
San Francisco,
California,
United States
Monday, July 28, 2008
We departed MacKerricher State Park at 7am and we arrived in San Francisco by 11:30. Our GPS friend, "Lorie" got us here perfectly. Thanks Phil and Jen. This device has been a lifesaver for us. The drive went very smooth and it was most awesome coming in to the city over the Golden Gate Bridge. Our hotel wasn't ready so we parked (very carefully!) in a very limited parking lot. We proceeded to walk two miles to the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked over the bridge-very exciting. It was a clear, sunny day and of course very, very windy! Albert almost lost his hat. The bridge is 1 ¼ mile in length so by 2pm we had walked close to 5 miles. This is a real walking city. We checked into our hotel and checked out bus routes to Market Street
Albert in jail cell
. We were able to take one bus. The transit system here is so efficient and really easy to figure out. We had the world's most courteous bus driver and this is no joke. If there is a bus driver of the year award this guy should get it. We lucked in having him again on our second day as well. Market Street is a happening place-lots of big stores- Forever 21, The Gap, Macy's, Niketown, Saks etc. We then walked to Chinatown and had a great dinner at a small restaurant. We returned to the hotel around 8pm. The nights are very cool here. Many people are wearing toques and gloves. Sleeping in a real bed and watching some TV felt really good. This morning we got up by 6:30 to prepare for our departure to Alcatrez. We took the bus to the Pier and arrived by 9am. We departed on the cruise for a 10 minute ride to Alcatrez National Park. The trip over provided an interesting view of the city including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge (which is actually a two-level bridge).
Alcatrez served as an army fortress and military prison and eventually a maximum-security federal penitentiary until 1963. Now the island in the center of San Francisco Bay is a national parkland with beautiful gardens, bird colonies and amazing views of the city. We picked up the audio tour and after viewing a Discovery Channel film about the
history of Alcatrez we took the self-guided in depth tour
Alcatraz
. This was a really worthwhiletour. We spent two hours there and returned to tour Fisherman's Wharf. We had lunch at
the Sea Lion Café which was really neat because it overlooked the Sea Lions playing on
the wharf. There must be at least 50 Sea Lions that live in this protected
environment. After lunch, we took a cable car ride. Cable cars are used now mainly by
tourists but at one time it was the primary transit system. It was cool because we were
able to ride hanging onto the side of the trolley. It was a little scary going down the hills though. We spent a bit more time Market Street and then we walked up to Nob Hill
where the Fairmont Hotel is located. The hotel is about 5 blocks from Market Street
walking up at least a 30% grade for the whole duration (a great calf workout). The view
from up there is incredible-probably the best next to the view from Alcatrez. Lucky for us
they were serving refreshing Cucumber Ice Water in the lobby and they have some real
comfy couches and chairs and a washroom to die for!
Alcatraz tour
! After this much needed break wetook the bus back to our neighbourhood. The girls found a place to get their nails
done. For 20.00 Erin got a pedicure and a manicure (first for her) and Jenn got a pedicure and eyebrow wax. We picked up a salad at a neighbourhood grocery store and headed back to the hotel for a much needed break! This is a beautiful city with no shortage of sites to see. We want to come back here again. We're off to Santa Cruz tomorrow to set up camp for 3 nts. The drive should be about 2 hours. Talk to you later.
