Greensboro, NC -- My short time is San Francisco was phenomenal, sans the plane ride home to North Carolina via Atlanta. Here's a short summary of what I saw and did out west:
Wednesday, July 8th -- Landed around 2:30 p.m. local time and took the BART up to our hotel, which was located just west of the financial district downtown. After gathering some information from fellow tourists and hotel staff, we walked up and down the steep hills of Chinatown to the east side of town. "Ice" met up with us and per his co-worker's recommendations (Note: Since Ice was on business travel, his company picked up his tab, no wonder the cheapskate wanted to go there!), we ended up at the swank "Gary Danko's" just south of Fisherman's Wharf. After blowing a large sum of money on carefully prepared meals that were about the size of a quarter, we called it a night after a quick walk through Ghiradelli Square and 22 consecutive hours awake.
Thursday, July 9th -- After a good night's sleep, we awoke to take the bus north towards the Golden Gate Bridge. We foolishly thought that the bus would drop us off closer to the bridge, so a 3-4 mile walk along the bay dumped us at the base of the bridge. Thinking that the friendly trolley bus on wheels would take us up the bridge, we jumped on a tour in mid-session, which took us all the way back to Fisherman's Wharf. Nevertheless, we were able to soak in some hidden facts, saw where Joe DiMaggio got married, where Nancy Pelosi, Danielle Steele, and John Madden lived in the posh Pacific Hills neighborhood. A short walk over to a very the steep hill brought us to Coit Tower. We were able to obtain a 360 degree sight of the city and the bay. To fill up our empty stomachs, we ate at the famous "The Stinking Rose" because their food stinks (pun intended). After lunch, we checked out the famous Russian Hill, aka the most crooked street in America and proceeded to walk to the top of the hilly street. A real, rail riding trolley car greeted us at the top, and we rode the vehicle hanging on the sides back to the hotel for some R&R. The ballyhooed ferry ride to Alcatraz capped the day off... the tours didn't primarily focus on the famous residents themselves; more so, on the prison and life on the island.
Friday, July 10th -- Our last full day in San Francisco. We had the best idea yet -- rent bikes! We were able to see many places, get around easy, and it was cheap! On the bikes, we rode across the Golden Gate Bridge and back -- yes we finally made it across -- we had lunch on the infamous Union Street shopping district, we rode down to Alamo Square park where the famous "painted ladies" row houses reside. It's also where the opening theme song of "Full House" was shot. Speaking of "Full House," we rode past the fabled Tanner abode on Broderick Street. After returning the bikes, and riding the bus through downtown Beijing... err San Fran, it was time to head to the ballpark. AT&T Park easily slips into my top 5 parks visited. However, the night was about the game itself, which was odd considering when you're on the road to see a new park, you don't really pay much attention to the game. On my "To See and To Do List Before I Die," there lies one bullet point: "To see a no hitter live." CHECK!
Saturday, July 11th -- We departed San Francisco for the day, picked up a rental car, and drove up to Napa Valley. The main drag was just as I pictured, large wineries and vineyards, grape trees, and eloquence abound. We toured the St. Clement, Beringer, and Sutter Homes wineries. The winery structures were meticulously crafted; however, one disappointment was the servers themselves. Not a lot of personality and not a lot of wine wisdom. We ditch Napa in the late afternoon and connected to the sweeping Pacific Coast Highway, navigating the winding and curvy streets overlooking the ocean. The scenery was surreal. A picture perfect spot enveloped as we reach the hills overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and the city to the south. A contemporary, authentic Chinese food meal closed out the evening in town.
Sunday, July 12th -- We woke up, we left the hotel and the city, had lunch, and then jumped on a plane. Details of the plane ride will be chronicled in another blog.
The best line that I heard to sum up San Francisco is, "you can't take a bad photo anywhere." The statement is true as evidenced by out 660 shots in less than 5 days. I would highly recommend San Francisco to anyone -- it's packed with sights, plenty to do, it's unfortunately expensive, but the food for the most part, is worth it!
