San Fran Recap

There is no question, I absolutely adore San Francisco. We have non-stop fun when we go there. We always stay in North Beach, which tends to influence our activity choices. Next time, I want to stay in a completely different part of the city, to experience different things.

Friday we did the touristy Alcatraz Island trip. You take a ferry to the island, then you are free to roam. Inside the cellblock they give you headphones for a self-guided walking tour. It's a nice way to do it, everyone spreads out and you can stop & start whenever it suits you. I have avoided this my whole life, but when I got there I kinda enjoyed it.

Dawn & Jeremy showed us the Musee Mechanique, a vintage penny arcade, right on the wharf, which I didn't even know was there. Some pretty bizarre stuff, the execution games in particular. Who thought that up?

Then there was the BIG fireworks on the bay for the Fourth of July. After much debate, we decided to pay the $40 each to take a private boat out on the water. About 40 people on our boat. The captain took us on a lovely little cruise at sunset as we waited for the big event. Suddenly, loud POP, poppity-pop, the sky bloomed in multi-color wonder -- red, green, blue -- but absolutely no fireworks! The fog ceiling was too low. Everyone started laughing so hard, we didn't even care. The captain said on the loud speaker, "This reminds me of when I was a child, growing up in San Francisco. My mom would give us LSD and let us stand on bubble wrap!" Eventually some of the fireworks were visible through breaks in the fog, but we had a fine time all round.

I can't even begin to tell you of the joys of the Saturday morning market at the Ferry Building. It is one of the most famous farmers' markets in the whole US, a well deserved reputation. We were limited by no refrigeration and carrying capacity, but we managed to buy almond brittle with dark chocolate coating, English peas, spicy pickles (for Jeremy), creamy butter and lemon quark (some sort of spreadable cheese) from Spring Hill, as well as taste every delicious thing possible.

The point of the trip was the Giants vs the Dodgers (Giants won). A very generous friend gave Jeremy & Dawn four club level tickets, so we had great seats.

Sunday morning breakfast in one of those little Italian cafes in North Beach. Brad had a pizza thing with bacon and scrambled eggs. (Great idea -- hint, hint). And then, our last adventure, a cable car ride, because Brad & I haven't been in over 30 years and Jeremy & Dawn couldn't remember ever doing it. We waited so we could be the first ones in front, hanging off the sides, just like the movies. Hellava deal at $5.