San Francisco

This town has so much to offer tourists! One can simply drive around a bit and get the full San Fran experience just by traversing the roads. Steeeeeeeeep! It amazes me that anything was built on these hills...and all so crammed in together. It felt more like a concrete jungle to me than NY City. The architecture is beautiful, with all the old Victorian style buildings.

We did so much in the one and a half days we were there. Let me see if I can remember it all.

We began by driving UP to the Twin Peaks observatory. Getting up to this point was quite a trip, but a great start to the day since you can see all of San Francisco from this hill. Gave us a nice lay of the land, and beautiful views of the two bridges and downtown. From there we headed to Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, known for its culture of creativity and diversity. It reminded me of the Adams Morgan neighborhood in DC. We then drove through Golden Gate Park. There are some museums and gardens in there that we didn't go to, the park was big, and not as well kept as Balboa (SD) or Central (NY). Headed over to Alamo Square where Sadie got to get out and have a nice walk while we looked at the Painted Ladies, a row of Victorian houses with the downtown skyline in the background. Typical San Fran view. Checked out the CliffHouse...which is just that. A house built on a cliff over the ocean, that houses a restaurant. Drove through the Presidio, which is where you can get a good view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Found some famous houses, the Full House house, Mrs. Doubtfire house, and the Octagon house. Headed up...and down, Lombard Street. Going down the "Crookedest Street" is definitely a can't miss in this town. It did not disappoint.

All of this tooling around is done in the most awesome terrain. Going sharply up, then most abruptly down...crazy cool. I've lived in some mountainous places, and I've never seen the likes of this place.

Continued down Lombard to the Coit Tower. Cool pix of this monument to the firefighters who fought the 1906 earthquake fires. It's said to be in the shape of a fire hose nozzle. Next was Chinatown. Saw the gate and the main drag. Cool pix, but the crowded streets were stressing out my sweet country hubby, so we got the heck out of there quick. Hopped on the freeway to see AT&T Baseball Park, then a bit further out of town to M5 Industries. For you Mythbusters fans, this is where the show is shot. Unfortunately they were on location and not at the shop, but there was a producer outside who was super nice and gave us a tee shirt and a signed picture of Tori, Grant and Carrie. Sweet! Being in this industrial part of the city put us in a rough stretch of town for sure. Ran by the Candlestick Stadium real quickly then headed back to the city.

We still had plenty of time in the day, so we decided to go ahead and cross the Golden Gate Bridge to view it from the other side. On the Marin side we drove through the park up to the observation area. It was a breathtaking view of the bridge with the city skyline in the background. Finally decided to head back to the hotel to have dinner. We put Sadie in the room then headed across the street to Tommy's Joynt, a restaurant that has been on the TV show Diners, Dives, and Drive-ins. Super yummy food, and a cool atmosphere to boot. It looked like an antique store inside with all the San Fran memorabilia.

Phew! Long day...saw a lot...ready for bed.