Tour on the bay...check
Aquarium...check
Old boat tour...check
Cable Car ride...check
Mexican lunch...check
Best sushi ever...check
Phenominal views...check
Sun tan...check
Laughing at the Sea Lion's antics...check
Crab dinner...check
Having a great hotel room with the views of the lights of Oakland and the northern part of San Francisco Bay ...check
Now it's nearly time to check out of here and on to the next part of the pilgrimage.
I have had such a great time here checking everything out. I even went to the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum! Something a little different.
The weather out right now (it's 4 pm) is about 85 F and the sun fairly melts you. I have been doing my sight seeing early in the morning and back "home" mid afternoon before the worst part of the day hits. With no parks around the shade is very hard to find so I figure the morning is the best time to move around. The weather I guess is a little surprising for the locals too. It's so nice that everyone is out doing things.
San Fran has very little in the way of green space. As it's built on a cliff or series of cliffs the buildings and structures are all shoved together much like Prague! Narrow little streets and some crazy hills and cable cars and trams and everything else thrown in makes it a challenge to move around.
The Cable car was fun but trecerous to ride on if you were just "hanging on"! The ride was not smooth by any means and when the driver decided to go, we went! It was a blast though. I was at the back of the Cable Car for part of the ride on the back "patio" they call it. It was great!
I walked back to the hotel (about a 2 hour walk) from the Cable Car end depot as the line up to go back was way too long to hang around in just for a ride back to the waterfront. The walk took me through the financial district and the fancy schmancy shopping district (think Saks 5th Avenue and the like). What a great walk!
I think I've covered quite a bit of San Francisco and totallly enjoyed everything!
Yesterday I was at the Aquarium of the Bay for 2 hours! It was so AWESOME! It's one of the type of aquariums that you walk through. So, so cool! There were two tunnels to go through, one of smaller fish and one of larger fish. The whole experience was fantastic.
The manta ray touch and play pool was really neat! I've never touched a manta ray before. They are so soft and a little slimy. They were so curious too! They kept coming to the sides to have a look at us. It was kind of eerie!
The most relaxing part was watching the moon jelly fish go up and down like an aquatic lava lamp. There was even relaxing music playing too. They should have this at a spa!
Alcatraz!
I didn't mention anything about that.
What a great tour! The boat ride across the bay to the island was great. Super views and a super ride.
Once on the island there are many options. A 20 minute movie is shown to illustrate the history of the island, a steep walk up to the cell block where an audio set is picked up to take you on a very effective tour of the cell block and the life there.
It's narrated by a former inmate and there are lots of sound effects through out the tour. Really something.
After you return the headset you are off to explore the island for the most part. The lighthouse pictured below is one of the most photographed in the world. A light has been here for over 200 years. The ruins are of the Warden's home. The staff lived on the island.
Let me tell you that 6 X 9 is really, really small!
Yikes!
Well, I think every single thing that I had on my "do in San Fran" list is checked off. I've even had original San Francisco Sour Dough bread!
Yum!
Off to the next adventure....
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