After breakfast, we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. The bridge was packed with cars and people, but it was cool to be able to drive across. Luckily, we were later in the morning going over, there was little fog, and we could actually see the bridge! Sausalito was such a great little town. It was very low key, but nice. We enjoyed walking along the water, in the shops, and looking across the bay at San Francisco. The weather was much warmer and the skies were sunny and blue there. I still can't get over how cold it is in San Fran - and the weather man keeps saying it's a heat wave! Ha. He obviously hasn't been to South Carolina lately, because 62, no humidity, and wind is NOT a heat wave.
Before we returned our rental car, we drove through Pacific Heights and to Alamo Sqaure. Pacific Heights was gorgeous! We actually just accidentally drove through there, but were very glad we did. Driving these hills (aka, black diamond ski slopes) is very interesting. You get to the top of the hill and can't see over the front of the car to tell how far down you are about to go! Alamo Square was our next stop. That's where I am in the picture above with the houses. One of the houses in the backgroud was the Full House, house. Never could figure out which one. All I could do was sing the Full House theme song and was even tempted to run across the park with a picnic basket. Haha.
We also made our way down Lombard Street and to the REI store before turning in the car. I was driving on Lombard and was so nervous to go down! It was really pretty though, and we both enjoyed going down. Graham really wanted to go to REI, and it was close to our drop off spot, so we walked through the store, and after much hunting, finally found where to turn in our car.
No more car = walk. AHHH. I was more prepared this time and had on tennis shoes. (Thanks, Cindy, for your offer on the SAS senior shoes, but I made it!) However, these black diamond level ski slopes they have for hills, aint no joke! Here we are walking up Mason Street to our hotel...
We taxied our way down to the Wharf and walked around for a while. It was very entertaining but packed! There were tons of street entertainers. My favorite was one crazy homeless man sitting on the sidewalk with a large branch of greenery in front of him. He was very well hidden behind this branch and as people walked by he would jump out and scare them. I probably wound't have found it so amusing if he had jumped out at us, but it was funny. We eventually made our way to an Irish Coffee place called Buena Vista. My dad recommended it, and we ended up loving it! We split lunch and had a few drinks. It was nice to sit inside and people watch. As we were about to leave, a man and his son came in and asked if they could sit with us because seating was pretty limited. The guy was great! He lived in the city and gave us some tips on things to do, etc. He also bought us each an Irish Coffee! I don't love coffee, and this was so good! Graham and I both really enjoyed it and couldn't believe he treated us. Very nice!
After lunch, we decided we'd walk to China town. On our way though, we thought it would be better to continue our happy hour at the hotel. After many failed attempts at getting a taxi, we ended up walking back to the hotel. For happy hour, we went to the Tonga bar at the hotel. It is set up like a rainforest and even has indoor thunderstorms, complete with thunder, lightening and rain. Very different - one of our taxi drivers compared it to a ride at Disney World.
First full day in San Fran was great! Next up...Napa.
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