San Francisco 2014. Day 2.

We made an amazing discovery. Not on this day, but towards the end of our vacation. The reason I'm mentioning it here is because we had breakfast at a bakery that makes sour dough bread. What could be more perfect?? San Francisco...sour dough bread. I'll tell you what. San Francisco...French bread. Our discovery was we did not like the taste of sour dough! Many years ago I attempted, over and over again, to master sour dough. I knew it relied on naturally occurring bacteria and yeast found in the air. I eventually came to the conclusion that my air did not contain the right bacteria and yeast, and gave up the sour dough endeavour. I had convinced myself that if I had sour dough from San Francisco, I would love it. After tasting the bread at this bakery, I knew I was doing my sour dough right. And I just did not like sour dough bread.



Here, the second picture down on the right, is Lombard street. The curvy street. You really can't see the curves for the greenery. But it's there...about 2/3's up the street. The street doesn't end at the greenery. That is the beginning of the curves.



Here comes more pictures of the Columbus Tower. Remember I said it was my favorite building? Well, riding the bus towards it, Drew said be sure and get some pictures of that building. Knowing full well that the day before I did, I still took pictures like I never saw it before. So, here is a little tidbit...word has is Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay for The Godfather here.







Back to the Golden Gate Bridge. I could not stay off that bridge it seems!



But this time we went further past the bridge to Sausalito...a San Francisco Bay Area city in Marin County. It was a quaint little town with cute shops, a beautiful dock and nice places to dine.













This next is a study in fashion. We noticed a flooding of oddly patterned yoga pants. Is it the new thing? All of these pictures were taken in a span of about 20 minutes while waiting on the top of the bus for the night tour.



And the night tour begins...



One of the only cemeteries in San Francisco. It is a military burial ground. The other cemeteries were moved to a location outside of town...to make more room for the living!









The next pictures are the last part of the night tour. The city skyline as seen from across the Bay. The beautiful bridge is the Bay Bridge.

San Francisco 2014. Day 1.

If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you're going to San Francisco
You're gonna meet some gentle people there

And yes. I did. One little flower which soon fell out. But, I finally did it! The vacation was amazing. I have a gazillion pictures. (No surprise to anyone that knows me.) I will post by day. And this is Day 1.

My timing was completely off while I was there. I just couldn't get into the swing of west coast time, but on the other hand, I wasn't in central time either. I made up my own time and went to my own biorhythm.

So. Day 1. We got up. What time? I have no clue. But the sun was barely up and so were we.

This was our hotel. Beautiful inside and out. It was originally a Del Monte cannery. Think old worn brick, massive wooden beams. Across the street was Fisherman's Wharf. It was convenient to everything. Places to eat. Transportation. Perhaps a bit touristy by the wharf, but there were still interesting, historical things to see. You just had to dig. And the Blue Mermaid was the restaurant attached to the hotel. I had an attraction to it's sign.



The walk then began. We started down the street, making our way to the bus, which we purchased a ticket. It was a 48 hour ticket. We were married to that damn bus. Kind of a love hate relationship. I loved that we got to see so much of the city, but I hated to be on a schedule. It was a double decker bus, and we traveled on the upper deck. So most pictures from the next 2 days are from the top of a moving bus. (My disclaimer.)





Breakfast our first morning. It was organic. Everything in San Francisco is organic. And earthy.















This may have been our favorite building in the city. Columbus Tower, also known as the Sentinel Building.















The bus went through many unique neighborhoods. And finally brought us to Haight/Ashbury. Much to my delight! But, once again...all from the top of that darn bus.







I was mildly surprised by the green spaces through out the city. The houses and building were on top of each other...no yards. To compensate for that, there were many lush green parks. All were being enjoyed by tourists and locals.



The bus made a turn around a corner and the angels sang! It was the Golden Gate Bridge!! I had feared I would not be able to see it. (As it turns out, I was on that bridge more than I care to remember. And I took pictures each and every time.)









This was a particularly beautiful view taken from the bridge going back into San Francisco. The fog faded into the Pacific Ocean.









This one is for Drew and Nikki. He loved that car. The scooter is just like Nikki's. And I held my breath through each and every tunnel. So all is well with the world due to my lung capacity.



Our first glimpse of Chinatown. This is the gate marking this neighborhood. The bridge in this section is the Bay Bridge.



There were many, many piers. And each one had a number.



And this brings us back to our hotel at sunset. I told you I loved the Blue Mermaid sign.