Day 31 - San Francisco

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Posted from: Petaluma, CA

Miles driven: 91

Total trip miles: 5,266

Total National Parks visited: 14

While planning this trip we decided that we couldn't spend this many weeks in California and not see San Francisco. Besides, it is a good location for me to work, so we have planned 3 days here. One day in the city and two days for work. 

Today is our day in the city. We had a lazy morning and left the campground around 10:00am to drive the few short miles to the Golden Gate Bridge. We were entering the city via the bridge, so we went online and paid the toll (that must be paid in advance or within 48 hours after crossing). 

It was worth every penny when we heard the oohs and ahhhhs from the back seat. 

We exited after we crossed in hopes of finding a parking space so we could walk around. After a few minutes of thinking it was hopeless, we found a great spot. 

We walked toward the Pacific side first and looked out over the ocean. It was a crystal clear day.

Then we walked down the hill and under the highway to walk around and across the bridge.

We pointed to Alcatraz and Cameron gave me his sad face when I told him he could live there. 

There were tunnels all over that used to be used to protect the bay. Now they protect kids from a sudden onset of boredom and distract them from the fact that it is almost lunch time. 

The flag was at half staff in mourning for the Dallas police officers who were killed on Thursday. 

On the bridge!

Matt wore his orange shorts in honor of the occasion. 

San Fracisco skyline and the National Park pier.

We decided we were hungry, so we left and headed into the city. 

The kids thought this tunnel was cool with the big fans.

We drove towards Fishermans Wharf and quickly realized that the parking garages we had planned to park in wouldn't work for the height of our truck. Yikes! I hadn't thought of that. Thankfully we found a small flat lot that had a single spot open. Not surprisingly, there were many other higher profile vehicles in the lot with us. 

We walked towards the Maritime National  Historical Park. This is an unusual park in that it is in a large city and entirely on a pier. They have a few ships and boats docked there that visitors can board and explore. Our annual pass allowed us to board the ships for free. 

This ship was our favorite. 

Look close and you will see Matt, Grace and Caleb waving from the left side of the  ferry. 

We took a picture of this lighthouse light for Grandma Akers. Caleb was now hungry for dinner so he could not muster up a smile. (He eats way more than his size would indicate.)

We found an Italian restaurant called Cioppino's in Fishermans Wharf with a patio. The others in our group went to the restroom and left Cameron and I staring at each other across a long table. We thought it looked funny so we took pictures of each other. 

Matt and I had crab...as is advertised on our bibs. Though mine looks like it says "crap" in this picture. Perfect.

The best thing about this restaurant was the food. It was amazing. But the second best thing was the "car show" that continuously drove by. We had perfect seats to watch. The boys finally just turned their chairs around and watched.

We did the ultimate touristy thing and walked up to Lombard Street to watch the cars drive down. This is the most curvy road in the world (or something like that). It was full of cars trying to drive down it. Driving down did not look like fun at all. All I could think was that these poor people who live there must deal with this every day. And it occupied two police officers directing traffic. It was all a bit much for one curvy block.

Oh wait! We did the other ultimate touristy thing in San Fran. Grace and I bought sweatshirts. Not. Kidding. I'm still shaking my head.

The kids could not get over the steep streets. In the far background of this picture is the Oakland Bay Bridge. 

We continued our walk and ended up and Ghirardelli Square. (I have no idea how that happened...)

This used to be where they made their chocolate, but now it is a little shopping and restaurant area. You can still buy their ice cream and chocolate here. We walked into a few little shops and then found this newly opened "urban winery". This means that they make the wine in the city. It was a beautiful spot so Matt and the kids went to get ice cream. They brought it down to the winery and enjoyed ice cream while I enjoyed a flight of wine. 

And finally our day in San Francisco was over. We drove back over the bridge at sunset. 

A leisurely and fun day spent.