After leaving the redwoods we headed for San Francisco.  Mom’s college friend, Eve, who lived in the area recommended leaving Rosie at the Oakland Airport and taking BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) into downtown.  Like the transition from Nevada into my California, the transition from wine country into the city was instantaneous. TRAFFIC!!⬇️



We got Rosie settled in long term parking and headed to the BART station. We got off at Powell Street loaded with 5 days of luggage. I think pink and purple duffle bags as well as backpacks and the look of fear in our eyes gave us away as ‘tourisits’!  A city worker came to our rescue and directed us to a hotel that hailed us a cab. 

Once we were delivered to our doorstep by the cabbie and got inside our studio condo, triple locked the doors, mom exhaled.   Life in the city on foot was much more comfortable now that we were in our neighborhood. We found great restaurants and markets that filled our needs. It was wonderful to rest our heads on solid ground and have the city sounds lull us to sleep. 

Our Temporary House⬇️⬇️





Alcatraz

The next morning we woke early with anticipation of reaching our first major destination. We arrived an entire hour early for our ferry. 

When we stepped onto Alcatraz, the ranger told us that when the prisoners were delivered to ‘The Rock’ they walked on the very ground that WE were on right now, (except they were chained together didn’t even have the privilege of shoes.) That was only the first thing that we learned on our trip to the National park. We took a ranger guided tour called The Road to Alcatraz, that told us how you went about being sent to The Rock. All the tour guide was really telling us is that you had to be a troublemaker to be sent there.  ( He literally said,”To be sent to Alcatraz,  you have to be a troublemaker from another federal prison.)  After that tour, we walked up a ramp that went back and forth and back and forth.  It took us a while, but we made it up and then picked up the award winning audio tour that featured the voices of former guards and inmates. It guided us  throught the cellhouse and the warden offices.  

Unfurnished Cell⬇️



Homemade Bar Spreader⬇️



Fully Furnished Cells⬆️⬇️⬇️⬇️





Warden’s House⬇️

Cool Looking Hole⬇️

We also got to see the hospital wing and the recreation yard.  

Hospital Rooms⬇️⬇️



Recreation Yard⬇️⬇️



It was very well explained and I learned a lot more than I thought I would have considering how much I researched before we arrived.  We briefly looked at the art exhibit that was by the artist Ai Weiwei.  It was the first art installation at a National Park. We hadn’t brought any food onto the island except for a bag of leftover Cheetos (which we gobbled up happily), so we were pretty hungry. We had had a wonderful time on Alcatraz;  but it was time to go. 

Later On 3/2/15

We got off of the ferry and went to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp, a restaurant based off of the movie Forest Gump. We ate ALOT of food to take care of lunch AND dinner.  It had the best view on the Pier of the ocean, seals and boats. We slept well after our busy day. 

The Exploratorium 3/3/15 

After a good night’s sleep, we found a wonderful breakfast at Cafe Golo which was on the corner of Gough Street and Lombard Street.  It became the place we started each day with a chat with the local owners and an amazing breakfast to get us going.  Even sweet potato home fries (Joe!)!!⬇️⬇️





We were living on Lombard Street for 6 days.⬇️

Something that caught my attention was that the city wrote the names of the streets that you were on, so if you’re in San Francisco and you can’t find the street sign, look down!⬇️



John, the owner, directed us to Peir 15 for a day at The Exploratorium. The Exploratorium is a science based museum that is very interactive and fun.  It made me look at everyday things like a bicycle with a whole new perspective. The place was so big that you could have stayed a week and not seen it all! ⬇️⬇️⬇️ 





 A sourdough bread bowl filled with creamy clam chowder balanced off our moods and we headed off to Ghiradelli Square to top of the day with a chocolate sundae! Mmm!⬇️



The Big Bus Day 3/4/15

We leisurely got up the next morning and had leftovers from the day before for breakfast and then went to go get a pastry and talk to our new friends/neighbors at Cafe Golo. They told us that since we had walked 8 miles and climbed 16 flights of stairs on Alcatraz and 7 miles at the Exploratorium, we should rest our legs for the day. We decided to head to the Buena Vista Hotel and get tickets for the Big Bus city tours. 

Views From The Top of The Big Bus⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️





Edit

We bought the 48 hour tickets.  It included an amazing day tour that took us all over the city,  a night tour, trips across the Golden Gate Bridge and to a little town called Sausalito.

The Peir in Sausalito. 



A Fun Picture at Fishermans Warf⬇️



Selfie!⬇️



It was a wonderful way to see the entire city since we did not have a car. The tour guide explained the history of the city and pointed out ‘must-see’s’.  It was great to get a locals’ perspective of the city and hear all the side-stories. We could get on and off at any sto and spend time where we wanted. 

After a day on the bus we took a couple of hours to rest and got ready for our night tour.  When we were waiting for the tour to start Drew reminded us that it was Wed. All day Mom thought it was Thursday and we were leaving the next day. Suddenly, our schedule opened up and we no longer needed to rush through the city. Our tour guide, Doug, guided us around some of the city and the we headed over to Treasure Island on the Bay Bridge and enjoyed the light displays on the way over. The views of San Fran from Treasure Island were beyond words. There was the Golden Gate Bridge all lit up with the cars and all of the buildings with their own way of sticking out. WOW!  

The Lit Up City⬇️⬇️⬇️



After an amazingly amazing view and an overall great experience on The Big Bus we decided to tip, Doug, our guide.  We soon realized that we didn’t have the wallet. I was totally freaking out, but Mom tried very hard to come through perfectly calm.  I later learned she was freaked out, too. We were without any transportation or money so we were walking (more like running) around like we were being chased by vicious wildebeast!  We got back to the studio after what seemed like a gazillion years and immediately found the wallet on the bed.  We settled in for another night full of sleep.

Targets 3/5/15

This being our last full day in the city, we decided to target everything that we hadn’t got the chance to do yet. We had another wonderful breakfast at Cafe Golo, and there we decided our plans for the day. We walked over to Fisherman’s Warf and catch the Big Bus at it’s first stop.  



We did a little souvenir shopping and I found an awesome red bag that had the words SAN FRANCISO painted on it multiple times. In the center of the bag is the Golden Gate Bridge.  We found the Ripley’s Belive it or Not Museum and and saw the tallest man (9 feet) in the world and the famous Lizardman. We also went through the world renowned mirror maze. The Ripley’s Museum was not what I expected, but all in all, it was pretty fun. 





We caught the Big Bus and took it over to China Town. We walked through the streets and it was a feast for the senses. The sites, smells and sounds!  







We saved tastes for North Beach/Little Italy. We walked there and had very good meatballs for lunch, pastries and gelato for dessert.  We walked over to City Lights Bookstore, a famous location for poets and artists of the Beat Generation.



What appeared to be a short walk away turned into quite an uphill hike to the Cable Car Museum. It was fascinating to see but very loud!





We waited for a cable car to come by and had a great time on our ride, except for the fact that we were going in the wrong direction. 



We got back on the Big Bus just in time for rush hour and made our way slowly back home. 

Departure 3/6/15  

We had a great time in the city and gladly crossed everything off our list, but it was time to get back to Rosie. We had a much easier time leaving the city that we had gotten to know so well over the last few days. We took a cab to the BART station, bought tickets, went to the Oakland Airport and found Rosie waiting for us.