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Published: December 12th 2010
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San Francisco…what a beautiful city! Everywhere you look you can see something iconic and so obviously San Franciscan, like the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz out in the bay, the steeply-hilled streets, the apartments with big bay windows and fire escapes and cable cars. It’s all so cool!
We had a late start on our first day in San Fran due to having to wait for our suitcases to arrive via courier. They arrived at about 11am, and then we walked down to the pier where we would catch a ferry across to Alcatraz. The walk involved climbing many of San Francisco’s infamous hills - my GOD, some of them were SO steep! It was very tiring! We walked past the “world’s most crookedest road” in Lombard Street and got some good photos. It was really cool to see something which I’ve seen in so many photos. (Lombard St was awesome, although the walking up & then down the hill on the other side was tough, it’s so very steep! - Craig)
We got some great views on the ferry going across to Alcatraz, although they could have been better. That common San Fran fog was coming across the water
and obscuring our view a bit.
Alcatraz was really interesting. We had audio guides which lead us around the cellblock, and we walked around the grounds. We learnt all about the infamous prisoners (like Al Capone) and some of the escape attempts by the prisoners. In the gift shop there was a former prisoner who had written a book about his life in Alcatraz, and so I bought the book and got him to sign it. I look forward to reading it.
After Alcatraz we walked along Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 and got some lunch, and then wandered in and out of the shops. There was quite a bit to look at down there.
That night we checked out a famous San Franciscan show that has been playing for more than thirty years called Beach Blanket Babylon. This show is very difficult to describe. Their website describes it as a zany musical spoof of pop culture with extravagant costumes and outrageously huge hats. That description just doesn’t do it justice. It was fantastic! It was so funny, and the cast changed their costumes almost every minute and they were so well done. Even Craig, who hates
musicals, loved the show - that’s saying something! We were really lucky to get tickets too, I didn’t realise how popular it was and just rang up on the day to try and get tickets to that night’s show. They happened to have a cancellation and had a couple of tickets available, which was such good luck considering that the show is sold out well past New Years! (The show was really fantastic & simply nuts, hence we can’t really explain it. You’ll just have to head to San Fran & see the show for yourselves. - Craig)
The next day started with a walk to the Ghiradelli chocolate factory for some free samples - yum! Ghiradelli chocolate is famous throughout America, and it all started right here in San Fran. We got a big bag of eighty 10g squares of varied chocolates for just $25, although I’m not sure how much of that we’ll be bringing home at the rate we’re eating it hahah. (Oooohhh yeah, the choccy’s are good! - Craig)
We then jumped on one of the famous San Fran cable cars. While not exactly a smooth ride, what an experience! I knew of the
San Fran cable cars before coming here, but I didn’t know too much about them. I didn’t realise that they are the only cable cars in operation in the world - I feel so lucky to have been on them! I also didn’t realise exactly how they worked, and was fascinated to read all about the clamps attaching themselves to the cables running underground in order for the cars to move. We went to the cable car museum and saw the big engines & winding wheels that get the cables moving under the ground for the cars to grab onto.
Lunch and a stroll through Chinatown was next. We visited a famous fortune cookie factory called the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie factory, where we got to see fortune cookies being made. We were given samples that were just made and still hot - yum! We also bought a bag to munch on for the rest of our trip.
We spent the afternoon shopping in the downtown district, although unfortunately we didn’t see too much that we liked.
The next morning Craig went off to the rental car company to hire us a car to drive down to
LA. He came back with….a Mustang convertible! He’s been wanting to hire one for the whole trip, and what better place to hire one than for a drive along the scenic west coast. (The Mustang is brilliant, so glad that I’ve finally got to drive one. It’s a real American experience to hire a convertible Mustang while in the states & is the perfect car to drive down to LA along the coast in. Love it! - Craig)
Before he picked me up from the hotel, he went on a baseball stadium tour of AT&T stadium.
(The ballpark here in San Fran, home of the Giants, was one park I was really looking forward to seeing. From seeing it on TV, it seemed to have a great feel to the park. Once there however, it was a little so so & wasn’t as good as many of the other stadiums that I have been too. It seemed like they had skimped on certain things throughout the park, whereas most other stadiums have spared no expense. Anyway I still enjoyed the tour & it was a good experience to see the stadium. It turns out that season ticket holders
were able to take photos with the 2010 World Series trophy today (which they won last month) so there were thousands of people there. I could have joined the line to get a photo with the trophy, but the line was simply way too big. - Craig)
After his baseball stadium tour, Craig picked me up and we drove to San Jose. We drove down the crookedest street in the world, which was really cool. We had walked to the street and taken photos a couple of days before, but I really wanted to drive down it too. We also drove over the Golden Gate bridge, but unfortunately that persistent San Fran fog was around and we really couldn’t see much. It was a real shame. (Hopefully we’ll get better weather on the drive to LA, the fog was cool the first day but not the whole time we were in San Fran. - Craig)
We’re currently in San Jose, waiting to go to the ice hockey tonight. The Blackhawks (Craig’s favourite team) are playing San Jose, so fingers crossed that they win otherwise I’ll have a very unhappy man on my hands! (Indeed I will be upset,
if we do lose! - Craig)
Tomorrow we’re driving down along the coast to San Luis Obispo where we’ll spend the night, with the next day being spent driving to LA. After a night in LA, we’ll fly to Chicago so Craig can see some more games played by his beloved Blackhawks.
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Holly Ites
SF is On My List
Thank you for your great description of your trip to San Francisco. I definitely want to go there but, as a lone traveler, haven't gotten up the courage to tackle such a large city by myself. But, your blog makes me think I may have to screw up some courage soon. Check out my blogs on New York and Charleston if you get a chance.