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Day 1

Lombard Street, San Francisco, CA, USA
Chinatown, San Francisco, CA, USA
The Buena Vista Cafe, Hyde Street, San Francisco, CA, USA
Holiday Inn Express & Suites San Francisco Fishermans Wharf, North Point Street, San Francisco, CA, USA

Checked luggage in at Holiday Inn Express on North Point & took off on foot with a street map provided by the concierge. Very easy area to navigate. We paid $7 for one way ride on the Powell-Hyde cable car to Lombard St=the crookedest street in the world. We didn’t realize it was such a short ride—I’d suggest riding it to one of the farther points of interest to fully enjoy the ride & scenery. But we took our time winding our way down the hill on foot; thank goodness for sidewalks! And as it turns out–I had my best meal of the trip in a quaint little pub that was nestled in between store fronts, next to Chinatown. And no—it wasn’t Chinese — it was a flavorful, moist Cuban sandwich with fries!

After filling up, we ventured through Chinatown and wove our way through the produce & fish market lined streets . It felt like we were teleported to the real Asian country with all the sights and sounds of the foreign culture! We headed back to the hotel regrouped, surveyed the map and selected The Buena Vista Pub for their famous Irish Coffee as our night cap . It’s a quaint happening little place, with friendly service, unique atmosphere, & sweet drinks! (Skip the food though—rather bland and unanimously disappointing)

Day 2

Pescatore, Mason Street, San Francisco, CA, USA
Oakland Bay Bridge, San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, San Francisco, CA, USA

Had nice breakfast in hotel. We ate lunch outdoors at Boudins after shopping all morning. Then walked back to the hotel & talked to concierge. We bought a 48hr Big Red Bus hop on hop off pass for $55, which included a night tour of the city on their double decker bus, free admission to Madame Toussants house of wax, and A 7d theater experience! And by purchasing it after five o’clock we got 21/2 days worth of fare!

Ate dinner at the Italian restaurant, The Pescatore, recommended by the concierge but unfortunately, our food was bland and rather disappointing. We got to the bus stop early so we could secure a good seat up top behind the windshield! Warm clothing; including scarves and gloves was greatly appreciated. Peter, our guide for the night, handed out earbuds and provided us with entertaining, informative and humorous tales and facts about the people, places and historic points of San Francisco. The Bay Bridge has a new nightly LED light show that bedazzles firework lovers. To our amazement and good fortune, one of the streets was closed, so we took a bonus detour right beside the water underneath the Golden Gate Bridge—no room for driver error! I highly recommend the night tour in the first day or two of your visit. We ended our night with plenty of bling and beautiful mental snapshots for dream topics.

Day 3

Painted Ladies, Hayes Street, San Francisco, CA, USA
Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, CA, USA
Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, CA, USA
Pier 35, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA, USA

Hopped on BRB & went to see the architectural delight of painted ladies houses, walked up & down the hills, hopped back on bus ride to Haight- Ashbury —enjoyed great shops, marveled at some of the groovy graffiti, and felt very comfortable taking in the historic hippie town. I bought an organic lunchable at whole food market & hopped on the bus again —- realizing the downside of riding the bus was that calculating the amount of time it takes to get back where you started from was way off!

We cut it too close for comfort nearly missing our Alcatraz tour!! We had no time for the Japanese gardens; a definite destination for the next trip to San Francisco! There was no time to go to our hotel to get warmer clothes for the evening ferry ride to the stoney island, so my friend bought a hat and a blanket and sat inside the ferry for the water ride over. The tour was completely sold out! We were given some brief instructions at the entrance and handed a nice set of headphones for a self guided tour. It was really sobering…the narration was very good. Our group made it out of solitary confinement, but I felt the desolation in my soul. When I booked the tour online from home I wasnt sure how I felt about visiting such a place but in a disturbing and grateful way, it was a rather profound experience.

We got back after dark and shopped on pier 35 for some nice charms for mementos of the trip. Ate dinner & had a specialty drink at the blue something restaurant, rode the carousel then walked back to hotel. A very fine day!

Day 4

The Original Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop, North Point Street, San Francisco, CA, USA
Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley, CA, USA
Sausalito, CA, USA

Shopped at a Roses store & bought some very reasonably priced souvenirs for loved ones back home. However, the most unique gifts were purchased from a street vendor who crocheted adorable hats —I bought 5, one for each of my grandkids!

We walked back up to Ghirardelli Square for a sundae before meeting a friend who lived in the area. She volunteered to drive us to Muir Woods and Sausalito. Of all the places we could have eaten our friend informed us that the nature center/ gift store had renowned grilled cheese sandwiches so we split 2 and considered ourselves educated, delighted and dwarfed by the Woods Experience! What a crazy S curve drive coming & going! I spent a little time shopping in Sausalito while visiting with my childhood friend and conceded that the afternoon was spent! As my friend drove away, I knew a nap was next on my immediate agenda. We headed out on foot again, wanting to make the last evening of our excursion meaningful. We ended up at Ghirardelli Square again where an older man with a humorous disposition played a saxophone on the corner. The beach enticed us across the street and we sat on cement bleachers and watched the beautiful pink sunset streak and stretch across the horizon. Numerous people stopped and purposely sat quietly, taking the time to share the remaining daylight moments as the water turned a rosy color and slowly disappeared into a colorless bay. The twinkling lights on the Golden Gate Bridge and shoreline appeared like friendly fireflies, making it a splendid end to the day.

We walked back down North Point St grabbed 3 ham n cheese turnovers from a Starbucks and returned to our room on the 3rd floor , finished packing and fell asleep before Leap Year jumped off the calendar.

And that, my fellow travelers, is how the trip to San Francisco went.

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