My West Coast Experience

San Francisco, City by the Bay

Oh you've got me

San Francisco

Take me to the water

(Thanks to The Village People)

Sorry for the delay of this post, I have already taken another business trip since and am happy that my next trip will be with my husband to see friends for several days. It also doesn't involve an airport. Anyway, I was in northern California for three days the week before last. I took advantage of the three hour time difference and flew direct to SFO early in the morning and rented my first rental car. It is quite nice that you can also order a GPS too - saves alot of hassle before you leave home.

I headed north on Rt. 101 towards Pier 39 because I knew that the few "must see" spots on my list were all within walking distance of this area. Since I could hear them from the parking garage, I started off by gawking and laughing at the sea lions for awhile. Some of them were huge and being bullies to the smaller guys. did you know that male sea lions have "bumps" on their heads?

For lunch I walked about ten minutes to Fisherman's Wharf and chose the restaurant with the most people inside and outside. I figured it was a good gauge of the food quality (or taste at least). There are bars outside for people to stand and eat on-the-go, although I don't know how you can eat stuffed shrimp salad sandwiches sandwiched in crunchy sourdough bread on-the-go...

Next adventure was a ride on a cable car up the steep (didn't realize how steep they really were) streets towards Lombard Street. I hung off the side of the car like they used to do in Full House while trying to take pictures. Within two minutes I almost got smashed by a truck, but I recovered quickly and continued to hang out. The ride to Lombard on the Hyde-Powell line was shorter than I hoped so I went to the next stop and then walked back up the hills to Lombard Street. Did you know that all of the flowers in and out of the crookedest street (I think I counted seven curves) are hydrangeas? I think they may be the lacecap variety because they are small and dainty, not as large as the variety in my yard.

The best part of my day was the part I planned in advance: a catamaran cruise on the Bay. Yes, it was chilly as the pictures suggest, but did I have another option? Nope. For a very reasonable $25 I took a 90 minute cruise past Alcatraz and towards (even under) the Golden Gate Bridge. There were less than two dozen people on board and a nice Swedish family offered to take photos of me. I wish brad was there to enjoy the scenery and be part of the memory I created that day. The bridge wasn't as red as I thought, which may sound strange, but maybe the paint has aged or maybe it is enhanced on television? Both scenarios seem likely to me.