SF - Day Two

Today, our second day in San Francisco, was a very special day. So enjoyable in so many ways.

We started off the day with a delicious Sunday buffet breakfast here in the atrium of the hotel. With no plans, we decided to hop the hotel shuttle to the airport where on a whim, we were either going to try and rent a car and go exploring, or take the train into the City. I overheard some guys on the shuttle say that most of the car rental agencies were closed on Sundays, and it was then that I decided it would be fun to just try the BART system, and rail our way into San Francisco for the day. We grabbed a bunch of BART brochures to figure out where we needed to go and how much it would cost. I thought it would be fun to tour Alcatraz, so we got on the BART line headed in that direction. The train was clean, and comfortable, though loud. We got off at the Montgomery Street station and picked a direction, which we eventually discovered was taking us away from our goal of getting to Alcatraz. With a friendly San Franciscan's help, we corrected our course, and meandered towards the Embarcadaro, stopping by a Starbucks for some caffeination. There is no shortage of places to get coffee in this city with a Starbucks or some other coffee depot on virtually every corner.

Once along the water, we took some pictures, walked around the various piers, shops, etc. We watched the sea lions bark and grunt while jousting for position on the docks, and we walked out a long pier to watch some Asian fisherman cast out there huge fishing lines in the hopes we'd see them catch something. We got some more good pics of the Oakland bridge, and the City skyline. We tried to get tickets aboard a boat cruise to Alcatraz, but learned from another couple trying to get tickets, that tickets to tour Alcatraz were sold out through Thursday and that you needed to buy them online. Rather than give up, we walked on anyway, since Fisherman's Wharf and the Cannery were up that way. Rather than spend $24/pp for a one hour Bay cruise around Alcatraz on a great big cruiser, we lucked out with a $10/pp 45-minute trip aboard the "Bass Tub", a smaller, cozier fishing boat where we had a wonderfully personal, enjoyable, and rather wet ride around the Bay. It was ALOT of fun! Chris, the skipper, gave us a blanket to stay warm and dry, and the captain, a very pleasant and personable read-headed woman with an Irish accent, provided a thoroughly entertaining, enlightening, and comedic commentary about the sites we would see during the ride.

Once back on dry land, we continued our walk towards Fisherman's Wharf, and then on to Ghirardelli Square where we browsed shops and galleries, some housing original works by Dali, Picasso, and Rembrandt. I approached an Information Desk, and got some advice for a tastey seafood dinner at Alioto's Fish Company restaurant. Dinner, was amazing. The view from our table in Alioto's was spectacular, overlooking the wharf, the food was delicious, and the service was excellent. Vee had salmon, and I had a fish sampler platter, we shared a crab cake for an appetizer, and for dessert we had delicious "Illy" coffee, tiriamisu and a dessert sampler that included fresh strawberries, a canoli, a creme brulee and a raspberry gelati. Super-tastey!!! After dinner, we walked all the way back to Union Square in hopes of catching a play at one of the theaters in the area, but we couldn't find the theaters. It was beginning to get colder, and later, so we hopped BART back to the airport, and then the shuttle to the hotel.

Today, we got to see so much of the city, so many interesting people, so much activity. There seems to be a lot of homeless people here, as well as alot of gypsy-like folks who appear to make a living by entertaining folks on the streets, dancing, singing, playing instruments, rapping, magic tricks, comedy routines, etc. A few of the more memorable folks included one shabby looking man begging for money while holding a sign that read "Why lie, it's for beer", and we saw another guy who claimed to be "world famous" for being a "bush man" where he literally held two hands-full of large bushes in his hands, hiding next to a railing, and then would pop his head through the bushes and scream "BOOH" just as a person or group of people would walk by, scaring the living be-jeezus out of them EVERY time...a real crowd pleaser, and people were more than happy to reward him financially for his craft. In San Francisco, being caucasion, I am definitely a minority, with most folks being of Asian or Latin descent, or a tourist from Spain, Italy, Germany, or elsewhere. The water in the Bay was a green-blue that was totally unexpected, as was the number of sailboats out today, despite what I would consider to be choppy conditions. A beautiful day. A bit chilly for me in my t-shirt though; at least I wore my jeans. A wonderful city. So much more to do and see; what a GREAT way to start the week.