07/19/08- Going to San Francisco August 28th for the Labor Day weekend. We have been trying to go here several times before and each time our plans got cancelled. 3rd times a charm.
08/28/08- Our limo arrived at 7pm to take us to the airport. It was a very nice and relaxing way to start our trip. We check in, board, land in San Francisco and find our shuttle to Freemont hotel without any problems what so ever. At check-in we were asked if we wanted to upgrade and sure enough we did, King size bed on the 6th floor over looking the city. And wow, what a view it was. The hotel even spotted us a bottle of Champaign. The hotel was simply amazing to look at and every one there was very friendly. I don't think we could have picked a better place.
08/29/08- We slept in to around 11am. After getting up super early the previous day and getting into SF late we decided to take the first day easy. First on the itinerary was Union Station. We strolled down the street to view the shopping market and observed the hills of the city first hand. We had no idea that the hills are so steep. After taking a short break we decided to venture onto the Palace of Fine Arts. After getting a 3 day Muni bus pass it took us 3 buses to get there. We finally arrived and walked around the colosseum like collinades to the front entrance. $14 dollars per person! What? They were only open for 1 more hour and there is no discount. I wouldn't even spend $14 during the day for that place much less for only 1 hour. So we left to walk the beach area.
The wind blew viciously as we walked around the Marina. It got so bad that our ears felt like they were about to explode. The more we walked the thicker the fog came rolling in. After an hour we found a bus stop and hopped on to go to the Golden Gate Bridge, unfortunately the bus went past the stop and we had to hop off and catch the bus coming back the other way. We waited for over 45 minutes in the cold wind and saw two out of service buses pass by. Finally we hoped on a shuttle that took us straight to the bridge. By the time we finally got there the fog was so thick that you could barely make out the bridge. We hit the souvenir shop to escape the cold and stayed for maybe 10 minutes before realizing this was not a good idea. To make matters worse we still had on our t-shirt and shorts. I mean it was around 100 degrees earlier before the fog set in. I never did get a decent picture of the bridge. Hopefully Sunday will be better. It would be a shame to leave San Francisco and not get the Golden Gate bridge for my collection.
We made it back to the hotel and threw on our jeans and jackets to warm up. We found a nice restaurant around the corner called Nob Hill Cafe. The wait was long (they said 35 minutes but it took an hour) but the food was excellent. Even the salad was awesome.
08/30/08- Day #2. We woke up around 8am to get ready for Alcatraz Island. We walked around Fisherman's Wharf for a bit before hitting our 10:30am tour. The fog was still there in the morning but it seemed to be slowly fading away. We spent the next 2 1/2 hours walking the grounds of the old prison at Alcatraz. It was just one big run down place after another. It was quite interesting to see modern ruins for a change. The jail cells were small and compact together. I can't see how anyone could even survive living in a place like this.
After Alcatraz we toured the rest of the Wharf mainly around Pier 39. The place was crowded as you can imagine a Saturday being. We strolled around a bit before going over to Lumbard street (the so-called crookidest street in the world). By this time our legs were very tired of all the hills and walking. We took in a dinner at the Wharf and headed back to the hotel for the night.
08/31/08- Day #3. Our last full day here. We began with our second attempt at the Golden Gate bridge. This time the weather couldn't have been more perfect. While taking pictures I jumped up on a ledge that stretched to about 10 feet off the ground as other visitors looked on in amazement. I have no fear when I have a camera in my hand. Soon enough there were 4 other guys that had to jump up there after me. Sharece just looked at me and said, "look what you started" with a smile. She even took a picture of me up there.
We continued on to Golden Gate Park and started at the Japanese Tea Gardens. It wasn't much, but we got in for free anyway. We walked the park a bit more before returning back to the hotel for a breather. Finally we ended our day by touring China town. We picked up a few souvenirs, ate Dim Sum then settled in for the night. It is true what they say about Chinese food and we were still hungry. We called in for a dessert from room service and was floored when we saw $25 for a very small portion. We quickly called back down to take back the order and credit our card and they obliged. We then called in an order from Nob Hill Cafe and picked up a chocolate cheesecake. We were tempted to stay and eat there again but didn't want to wait another hour for a table. We turned in early for our early flight.
09/01/08- Woke up at 5am for our 7:20am flight back to LAX. We had a shuttle take us back to the airport and upon check-in we were told we could give up our seats for a free ticket anywhere in the future due to over booking. After we agreed the lady told us we would be on a list if they need us. What? Why not just tell us that in the first place. Anyhow, they never called our name and we flew home as scheduled. Arrived back in LA around 8:40am with our Town car waiting for us to take us back home. Overall it was a very good trip and a much needed one at that. What surprised us most about San Francisco was how clean it looked. The only graffiti I saw was on the outskirts of the city.
Now it is time to plan our next one for 2009. I am hoping to go to Istanbul Turkey and parts of Egypt. Maybe we can squeeze Cancun Mexico in there somewhere as well.
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