CITY OF HILLS SAN FRANCISCO
THE SCOTT MCKENZIE SONG PLAYS OVER AND OVER IN MY HEAD – “IF YOURE GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO, BE SURE TO WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR”
Packed and ready to take on the 8 hour flight to Dubai, with a 3 hour stopover in Dubai to stretch the legs and have a quick shower, you are ready to take on the next 15 hours to San Francisco. Emirates Airline, one of the best airlines, made the long and exhausting flight as enjoyable as possible.
Once you arrive in San Francisco, arrivals and customs are a rather painless experience. Grab your bags and head to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station. $10 from the airport to the city a great and inexpensive way to travel. Once you have checked into your hotel don’t waste too much time – after all it is mid-afternoon – p ut on your walking shoes and hit the town. If your hotel is not too far from Fisherman’s Wharf then take on the hilly streets and walk instead of taking a taxi, Uber or Lyft. This way you get your head around where you are and you can take some great pictures. Watch how the trams pass you by – another way of getting from point A to B but is very popular with tourists and not the cheapest option.
Fisherman’s Wharf, on the northern waterfront, is one of the city’s busiest tourist areas. Souvenir shops and stalls selling crab and clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls appear at every turn, as do postcard views of the bay, Golden Gate and Alcatraz.
At Ghirardelli Square, boutiques and eateries reside in the famed former chocolate factory. Stop at Applebee’s to quench your thirst and have a Dollarita, and yes as the name suggests $1 for a strawberry flavoured Margarita. Everything else is within walking distance from you, including Madam Tussauds, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, just to name a few.
We decided on taking the short walk from Fisherman’s Wharf to PIER 39, a shopping centre and popular tourist attraction built on a pier, where you will find shops, restaurants, a video arcade, street performances, the Aquarium of the Bay, virtual 3D rides, and views of California sea lions.
We had dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company as we loved the dining experience from one of our previous trips to the States. The waiting time was something like 45 minutes – a popular place indeed, and once seated at your table, you immediately notice the sign on the table with “Run Forrest Run” which means you are fine, or “Stop Forrest Stop” if you need something.
We started with a Coronarita, a unique mix of Margarita and Corona Lager that is creatively presented, which tells you Margarita’s are very popular here – not that it bothers me as I love a good Margarita and they know how to make them properly. You also get to keep the glass they serve it in, a nice souvenir to take home. Take your time looking at the substantial menu to see what you feel like. We started was a delicious Shrimp Mac and Cheese, followed by the Shrimpers Heaven – hand breaded coconut shrimp, chilli shrimp, fried shrimp, and Japanese style tempura shrimp with fries, and of course great dipping sauces like tangy Asian, Cajun marmalade, and zesty cocktail – an absolute winner if you like shrimp. When the dessert menu came along, “Run Forrest Run”, after all the shrimp we threw in the towel and gave it a miss. They have a small but yummy selection including Alabama Brownies, Mama’s Bread Pudding, Key Lime Pie and Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae. Maybe next time. You can use the free Wi-Fi while you wait for your bill to download the Lyft App, we found that the Lyft prices were slightly cheaper, even though the Lyft and Uber drivers can be the same person. We took a Lyft ride back to the hotel as the walk back on a full stomach is a bit of a long one.
Now get a good night’s rest as your first full day in San Francisco is going to be a busy one!
Day 2: Don’t sleep in too late. We stayed at the Warwick Hotel on Geary Street which has a great location. Breakfast was included and the menu was something else – in a very good way. After breakfast we took a 5 minute walk to the Hop-on Hop-off bus stop at Union Square South. Tip: Get your tickets online the day before and you might just save a few dollar and get free tickets to Madam Tussauds. There are various packages available and we opted for the 2 day package which includes a night tour. While you wait for the bus, pop into the Apple store not too far up the road, even if it is just to look at the architecture. Taking the Hop-on Hop-off bus is by far the best way to see the city and to hear all about the history along with the best places to visit. You can experience all seasons in one day in San Francisco so take your jacket with you for the ride as we experienced cold and misty conditions during the day, just as Mark Twain once said “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”.
Use the bus as your personal taxi, it is the best way to get around and I would suggest that you get on the bus and do the full ride without getting off. This way you can get your bearings and see what places are of interest to you, then just get off there on the second round. There are 3 routes: Red Route, Green Route and the Night Drive, today we were on the Red Route and our first stop was at the Painted Ladies…
The famous Painted Ladies of San Francisco are a row of colourful Victorian houses located at 710–720 Steiner Street, across from Alamo Square Park and only a short uphill walk from the Hop-on Hop-off bus stop. Walk around here or just relax in the beautiful park for a few minutes till the next bus. Our next stop was Haight Ashbury, although this neighbourhood has been around for a while, it became well known during the 1960’s when it was home to the hippie movement. However, The Haight as it is sometimes referred to was also the home to revolutionary movements, spiritual groups and famous musicians (like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin), making it a hotbed of creativity. You will find an array of funky shops around every corner here, with the biggest tie dye shop you will ever come across. From hats to pants to underwear. By now it was time for a bite to eat so we popped into Escape from New York Pizza were you can get yourself a humongous slice of pizza and rest the feet while you wait for a while before jumping on the bus again.
From here we skipped the next few stops as we were like children in a candy store, so excited to see the Golden Gate Bridge, a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. On a clear day you get the most amazing pictures of the bridge, Alcatraz and San Francisco. Today was not that day unfortunately.
By now we needed something to warm us up so we decided to take the bus back to Fisherman’s Wharf and grab a quick Starbucks White Hot Chocolate before shaking hands with the rich and famous at Madame Tussauds – you need about an hour to look at the sometimes scarily realistic wax models. We then went on a short night drive to just see the city lit up and from a different angle. After a busy day, a cold beer and a burger experience at our first real American diner, Pinecrest Diner, was on the cards. Just a few hundred meters from our hotel, we finally got a table at which seemed to be the most popular restaurant in San Francisco and with lines like this you would think the prices would be sky high, but we were pleasantly surprised. This also seems to be the place to have breakfast as the next morning we were greeted by queues of hungry people trying to get a table.
Day 3: We are now ready and eager to get to the Golden Gate Bridge hoping to get a clear view, so grab a coffee on the way to the bus as you will need it to warm you from the inside out. Today the cold, the wind and anything else the elements could throw at us, made this day worth it as finally… there it was. The Golden Gate Bridge. Clearest day of all and the monstrosity in red awaited us. We probably took a thousand pictures of every single angle of the bridge and the spectacular view of the city as well as Alcatraz, was something you can only appreciate with the naked eye. Take it all in as once you get home, all the memories and wow moments will come flooding back.
Now take the Green Route, which takes you to the picturesque City of Sausalito, as they say, Summer by the Bay, this is so very true. As you exit the tunnel that leads to Sausalito from San Francisco you instantly feel the temperature rise. You welcome the warm sea breeze with open arms after the freezing gusts of wind from the other side of the mountain. Sausalito is a city in Marin County, California, across the Golden Gate Strait from San Francisco. It’s known for it’s Richardson Bay houseboat enclaves and has tons of shops and restaurants to have a nice relaxing afternoon. Unfortunately, we had to rush as we did not want to miss our ferry to Alcatraz.
Tip: Book your tickets to Alcatraz way in advance as you might be disappointed and not get availability on your chosen dates – this is an extremely popular tourist attraction and numbers of visitors are controlled. At a cost of $79 it is not cheap but worth seeing the famous prison that has featured in several movies and books. Make your way to Pier 33 to catch the ferry that takes you to “The Rock” as it is also known. Be there 30 minutes before as you will queue for a while to get on the ferry. The ferry ride takes about 10 minutes and once on the island you will receive earphones to do the self guided audio tour, which is narrated by previous prison guards and inmates. Your time on Alcatraz could take up to 5 ½ hours but it is dependent on how long you want to stay on the island and what you want to experience. Take your time as you walk through the creepy passages and enter the cells where you can almost feel the presence of some dark and mysterious souls. Know that this was once one of the most horrible places to be stuck for the rest of your life, in most cases. And no there was no escape from Alcatraz, few have tried but have failed, due to the extreme currents and freezing water temperature, it makes it nearly impossible to swim the 1.25 miles back to main land San Francisco.
After another long and exciting day, you can now only think of how you will quench your thirst and fill the massive gap in your stomach, as you make your way back to mainland San Francisco you spot the big sign for Dollaritas – well why not? Pop in and get one for the road. Now it was time to find the most “crooked” street in the world, Lombard Street, which is an east–west street in San Francisco, California that is famous for a steep, one-block section with eight hairpin turns. Stretching from The Presidio east to The Embarcadero, most of the street’s western segment is a major thoroughfare designated as part of U.S. Route 101. I would suggest walking down so you can get some awesome pictures and if you happen to have a rental car then drive down as well, but watch the tight turns. We headed back towards the hotel and decided it was time for a proper Chinese meal. China Town was a few blocks from our hotel, well 10 blocks but hey take the walk as it is another great way to see the city at night. New Sun Hong Kong Restaurant on Broadway Street was calling our names. You are greeted with a pot of tea and a warm smile, be ready to eat and make sure you pick a big table if you want to order the set menu, as the food just comes and comes, you might end up using the windowsill as a table.
It is sad to think this is our last night in San Fran, but excited to know the open road awaits us as we continue our road trip of the West Coast. Let me leave you with… “If you’re not alive, San Francisco will bring you to life” – William Saroyan
Things to do in San Francisco:
Aquarium of the Bay
Golden Gate Bay Cruise
Big Bus San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off
North Beach Walking Pub Tour
Monterey & Carmel
San Francisco City Pass
Napa & Sonoma Wine Country
San Francisco Tour & Alcatraz