Recently in San Francisco 2006 Category

Our last day in San Francisco! Dan joined us for breakfast at Sears Fine Food. They make the Sears' World Famous 18 Swedish Pancakes. I, of course, ordered the pancakes. Jenn went a-wall and had french toast instead. Both were excellent!

After we finished up packing at the apartment, Jenn and I went down to the Union Square area too look for art galleries. Jenn finds Macy's instead. She was eyeing a purse for several months and finally saw it on sale earlier in the week. Today it was marked down a little more even. And the sales chick gave Jenn a tip about going upstairs to get an out-of-towner 11% off coupon! She was really excited.

We finally found several galleries along Geary. A few peeks and I started realizing I like sculptures much more than paintings. Probably because of their 3D flavor. In any case we saw one thing that caught our eye. A small lead crystal sculpture that was beautifully carved. Very nice to look at, but caused a touch of heartburn to think about buying. Lunch was a little more exciting with leftover dungeness crab!

Dan has a good idea and we pile in the car with all our stuff and go out to drive the 49-mile scenic drive. We took a detour first and drove down Lombard Street, the Crookedest Street in the World. It's crooked alright! We even took some video while driving down it!

The scenic drive was great since it took us through Pacific Heights, the Marina, Presidio and past the Legion of Honor. All the areas we weren't able to explore during the week. Jenn really liked Seacliff. They had some houses that one could actually die for. Beautiful places.

Out past the Cliff House and the beach. We even passed the zoo. Got to preview a lot of things we can see the next time we're out here! We didn't have time for the entire 49 miles, of course, and headed off to the airport :(


Bye, bye San Francisco!

Welcome home Colorado!

Friday! We go back home tomorrow. For our last full day we scheduled a boat ride on the bay at 3pm. Until then we wanted to try and see the Japenese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. We hopped on a bus after breakfast and stopped short at Japantown. It was on the way.

We got there before opening time, so we walked by the shops to see what we might want to look closer at. Not a whole lot to see. Lots of places had similar things that Kamei on Clement Street had, so it was easy to pass by.

Jenn took some time to look at more kimonos and haoris at Shige Kimono. Several things look nice and she took her time browsing. After a little while I got curious and started to ask the shop owner some questions. Things like "What is this called?", "Where is this normally worn?", and such. The owner explains that a haori is a jacket and is worn outside as a jacket would be worn. A kimono is also meant to be worn outside and is essentially a dress. After a couple of questions he turns his attention to Jenn and tries to explain the different pieces worn with a kimono.

He then asks if she would like to see how. Completely out of character, Jenn says sure! So, Jenn stands there in this little tiny shop while a Japanese kimono maker dresses Jenn in a kimono! Maybe for some this is no big deal. For Jenn this is the best thing ever! It was so awesome. We would never be able to explain how cool this was. I was able to video the entire process with our camera, so if anyone is so inclined, feel free to come over and see it yourself. Did I mention how cool this was?! Jenn did find a great haori she bought. This beat anything we saw in Chinatown.

We hopped back on the bus to get to Golden Gate Park. We got to see Haight & Ashbury wizz by and got off at the end of Haight Street. We footed it a couple blocks over to the Conservatory of Flowers. A beautiful green house with five main rooms. I think I was surprised how small it really was. And humid! We were just commenting the past day or two how humid it was out here compared to Colorado. Then we entered the conservatory. Wow!

Lots of plants. The center room was the biggest and had the tallest plants and trees. The west wing held butterflys. That was kind of fun. I think the Butterfly Pavilion in Broomfield is much more exciting, though. The east wing had a few large pools of water, all full of plants. They made one wall out of plexiglass, so you could see into one of the pools. Pretty neat. Several orchids hung around, also. This, of course, didn't impress Jenn at all, since her dad used to grow orchids in the basement.

After the conservatory we head over to the de Young Museum another couple blocks away. It's only a few more hours before our cruise so we decide to skip the museum and head to the Japanese Tea Garden next door.

We were getting hungry and found that they have a little hut where you can sit and have tea and cookies for a couple bucks. You sit down and a girl in kimono serves you green tea with a few cookies. It's really quite nice because you sit in the middle of the garden and get to take your time and look. After our tea we stroll through the garden. It is spectacular. Everywhere you turn is another beautiful scene.

Our voyage starts at 3pm, and it's just before 2pm. We go to the bus stop and hang around a few minutes. Jenn starts getting antsy and is about to call for a cab when the bus shows up. 2:15. We cruise a few blocks and hop off to get on a different bus line that will take us all the way back to Grant. The first bus cruised along quite nicely, while we find this bus stops almost every block. 2:20. We're still good. I start reassuring Jenn that we'll be fine. After an agonizing 35 minutes we get off at Grant.

Okay, I start realizing that we are still a long way from Pier 39, where our boat was waiting. A cab right now would be great! We see tons of cabs, but their all full! So, we start running down Grant towards Fisherman's Warf. 2:55. We're at Grant and Mason, Jenn dropped her phone twice and has fire in her eyes. If she could strike me down with a bolt of lightning, she would. Haven't seen another cab. Alright, I'll call Adventure Cat. Luckily I have their number in my cell. I tell the lady we're at Grant and Mason and don't think we're going to make it. The lady agrees. The big deal is they don't offer refunds for cancelling 5 minutes before departure. Can't blame them for that! Then the lady suggests she could move us to the 6:30pm Sunset cruise. It's more expensive, but at this point it sounds like the best idea ever! I tell her it sounds great, go ahead and charge me. She tells me to go to Pier 39 and have a couple drinks. Another good idea! Suddenly Jenn and I are sitting on the stoop at Grant and Mason with nothing to do. Run, run, run, stop! We haven't had lunch yet, either. Jenn's getting cranky. Who can blame her...she's mad since I didn't call a cab in the beginning.

Well now we have all sorts of time. We decide to go to In-and-Out Burger in Fisherman's Warf to eat and settle down a bit. We get a couple burgers and Jenn talks to her dad for a while. This is actually working out well. We were going to take our cruise then walk around Fisherman's Warf at night. Now we can have lunch, walk around a little, and shop a little. Jenn gets to buy a bunch of clothes as a consolation, so she's starting to be much happier. We also get to make reservations at Neptune's Palace on Pier 39 for when we get back. While walking around Jenn noticed how much different it was on Fisherman's Warf compared to Golden Gate Park. The weather was different, more people, a very different place.

Time for our cruise. This is going to be good. After a brief explanation to the captain how we're the dumbasses that missed the 3 o'clock and we did pay the extra fee for the 6:30, we get on board. Adventure Cat offers cruises on two catamarans. They take you past Alcatraz, then towards the Pacific, under the Golden Gate, and back to harbor. Shortly after leaving the harbor they shut off the engines, hoist the sail, and off we go! This is great! The Sunset Cruise offers light snacks and a couple drinks while you relax in the very large cabin. The Adventure Cat 2 has a permanent cabin capable of hosting 48 people. With table and chairs, you can get pretty comfortable. After a short bit relaxing, we come up to Alcatraz island, and I head outside and take some pictures. Jenn was smart and bought a sweatshirt just before the trip. Adventure Cat has extra jackets, though, just in case you're like me. After swinging around the island, Jenn comes up and joins me. With no engines, and being able to stand at the railing only a few feet off the water, this really is the way to see the bay! I am really liking this! Added bonus, since this is a catamaran, there is cargo netting between the hulls with the water wisking by just below. It takes a little time to trust the netting, but it is really cool after that.

The Golden Gate is a little ways in the distance, so we start taking a few pictures. I realize that I'd almost want to take two trips. One for taking pictures, then a second just to enjoy myself. We get a couple poses up at the bow of one of the hulls with the Golden Gate in the background. I ended up looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Jenn's hair is frazzled, so you'll have to come over to see those, too.


The Golden Gate Bridge just keeps getting closer and closer. And bigger and bigger. We finally start to go underneath it. It is enormous! Going under it really puts it into perspective. This is the best way to really see the Golden Gate, in my opinion. With how high the deck is. And how far apart the towers are. You really get the full impact of what a structure this bridge is. It was truly amazing. We took picture after picture. The fog wasn't too bad, either! Absolutely awesome! I am truly beside myself during this trip. This was the best part of the whole week for me. After going under the bridge we turn around and go under again. We then headed back toward Pier 39.

Sailing along past the city was great, too! You get to see all of Fisherman's Warf, Telegraph Hill, and the Ferry Building. Just splendid. No engines, traffic, or such. Just you, the wind, and the sea (and 47 other friends). Did I mention how awesome this is! No, really, it was awesome. Fantastic! Okay, maybe the beer was starting to kick in :) It really was awesome. Can't mention enough how cool it was.


Alright, I'll move on...

Back at dock, we get to see more sea lions. A few have joined us on our dock. Dan is waiting at the end of the dock and we head up to Neptune's Palace for dinner. I have a swordfish steak and Jenn has some clam chowder. You could almost offer a slice of the clam chowder to someone. It was thick! Really good!

Our sixth and last cable car ride back to the apartment and we have only one more night in the city :( I had the best day ever!

It's about 4am and we wake up to complete silence. The city is dead quiet. Then we hear it. A fog horn! Every few minutes. There's also another one going at a different period. That one is lower sounding. Eventually we start hearing some birds chirping and go back to sleep.

When the sun is up we decide to go to Union Square again for more shopping. Jenn wants to see if there is a better pair of jeans when the Levi's store is more tidy. She also wants to exchange one pair of her new Aerosoles for a different pair. I figure this is a good time to be scarce. I'll go back to the Yerba Buena Gardens to take pictures.

We head out and split up at Union Square. I find an art fair going on in the middle of the square. I just barely start browsing when Jenn calls on the cell. Apparently the stores don't open until 10am. She comes across the street and we both browse the fair. A few nice paintings, some really cool wire sculptures, but nothing worth trying to pack for a plane trip.

I head out to Yerba Buena, leaving her to Levi's. Since we ran out of picture space when we were last at Yerba Buena, I thought it would be a good time to go take a few pictures with our new memory card. When Jenn called me from Aerosoles it was time to head back. On my way I stopped in at Beard Papa's and got me a big cream puff for later.

Last on Jenn's list was to get another yogurt from the Ferry Building. We hitch a ride on a trolley and cruise down Market Street. At the Ferry Building we get another yogurt from Cowgirl Creamery and sit out back on the dock. It's really amazing how nice it's been in San Francisco all week. Seventy's and mostly sunny every day. Just perfect. Hasn't rained once. We sat looking over the bay eating our yogurt and cream puff. What a life!


We decided it was a good time to take another trolley and go see Coit Tower. When we got off at Embarcadero and Bay Streets, our cruise ship was waiting! We have yet to take a cruise, and were stunned by the magnitude of the cruise ship towering over the pier buildings. Those things are huge!

Not knowing the area, we found it a little difficult to get up to Coit Tower from the Embarcadero. Coit Tower, you see, sits at the top of Telegraph Hill. Telegraph Hill aint called a hill for nothin'. Looking at it from where we stood, all you can see is cliff. No, really, the North East side is actually a cliff. We walk down a couple streets, this way and that, and end up in a courtyard between two buildings and nothing but rock staring at us. Oh look! Stairs! About a hundred steps later we have a great view of the cruise ship below us. No where near Coit Tower, yet. Over to Grant, and then we get to experience San Francisco's famous hills. Up Grant Avenue to Lombard. A couple of workers are on their way down, while we huff and puff the wrong way -- up. At Lombard we've got a great, albeit distant, view of the famous "crookedest street". As good a reason as any to take a break! Up to Greenwich and we think we're getting there. Up Greenwich to more...yup...stairs! Another hundred stairs and we're at Coit Tower! This would make a great training routine for backpacking. At least it was a nice area. We saw lots of really cool houses.

It's like $6 or something per person to go up Coit, so we just sat in the tower for a while instead. It was such a nice day that we got great views from outside, anyway. We also got to study the murals painted inside the tower. It's a great history lesson. The murals were painted in 1933 when the tower was dedicated. There are lots of bits of information in the murals from the time period, such as stock prices, common industries at the time, and clothing types. We sat on a bench in a quiet room with large glass paned patio doors and ate the last of our Dean & Deluca dessert. Still excellent! We hiked back down the hill and over to Mason for our fourth cable car ride back to California Street.

On our hike up California we took a peek in Grace Cathedral. What a magnificent building! Huge ceilings with ribbed vaults. And the stained glass was awesome. We ended up taking our time and strolling through the whole thing. Jenn took a moment and lit a candle for her grandma. She misses her a lot.

Lunch at the aparment. I finish off Chris & Maureen's risotto. Jenn had some stinky cheese with salad. She loved the cheese so much she bought it again in Colorado and had some tonight.

This afternoon we'll go see Chinatown. I should really take a nap, but don't...

Chinatown is only a few blocks from Dan's apartment. We've been passing it almost every day. We spent our time on the main drag. It was one shop after another. More stuff than you could ever look through. Jenn did find some nifty paper lanterns that hang from christmas tree lights. It's her very own party on a string! Jenn also enjoyed looking through all the different kimonos and haoris. One kimono caught her eye in particular, but was just too expensive. We ended up cutting our hunting short since I didn't take a nap and was cranky.

After a nap at the apartment, Dan, Jenn, and I went to Myconos greek restaurant on Polk Street for dinner. I need more greek food in my life. Jenn's gyro was awesome. I think the only place in Denver to get a gyro is in the Pepsi Center. Not quite the same.