Open Your Golden Gate!

"No city invites the heart to come to life as San Francisco does. Arrival in San Francisco is an experience in living" --William Saroyan

Oh, San Francisco!  Such a fun, fun city! And more so with three young adults, full of an adventure-seeking spirit!


Buses and Taxis and Trains, oh my!
Ours was an adventure in public transportation. Leaving the car behind, we boarded Amtrak and had a lovely, relaxing journey up the coast.  We did depend on our good friend Trish to drive us from the Amtrak station to stay with her for the night, and back in the morning to catch the Caltrain, which took us from San Jose to San Francisco. Driving a car in the City by the Bay is an adventure out of my comfort zone, so we were happy to have left it behind, taking a taxi for the cross-town journey from the train station to our hotel, buses while getting around medium distances, and our own good feet for the shorter distances.  And cable cars! Oh, yes, we enjoyed a couple cable car rides, of course.  A visit to San Francisco just isn't complete unless you've ridden a cable car.  Ding, ding!

We were very pleased that the Muni bus drivers were pleasant, friendly, helpful people.  In fact, just about all the people we encountered were friendly and helpful.  I guess they can't help but be that way while living in this magical city.

You get to do a lot of people-watching while on public transportation, and although none of us is a strike-up-a-conversation-with-a-stranger type of person, Emily and I were forced to do so when we were seated with fellow train travelers in the dining car for dinner on Amtrak.  Actually, one of our compantions did the talking for all of us. (More about him in a future post, Tidbits)

Our final taxi ride back to the Caltrain station from our hotel in Fisherman's Wharf was reminiscent of...
(especically 1:58 - 4:40)

WHOOO-HOOO!

Our ride north

 Views from the train on the way up:

  

Our ride downtown

Waiting for the bus in Chinatown

Fog City?  Huh??
Oh, wow, did we ever luck out on the weather!  After weeks of heavy rain, including one of the biggest downpours of the season just a few days earlier, clear skies greeted us, and we enjoyed temperatures in the 70s and 80s. The high temperature on Thursday was 86ºF!  Wow!  We felt so fortunate to be able to bask in the sun all week. How often do you get to say that about San Francisco?

   

The fud was gud.
Dim sum in Chinatown? yep!  Our garlic dose at The Stinking Rose in North Beach? oh, yeah!  Clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls? of course!  Not one but two trips to get huge ice cream sundaes at Ghiradelli Square? how could we not?!  Delighful sushi with our good friends in San Jose? YUMMY!  Back to the gym this week to work off the delicious indulgences? you better believe it!

Enjoying the Bagna Calda at The Stinking Rose

Museum, Do-seum, Musée 
Three museums in three-and-a-half days!  We visited the fun Musée Méchanique, which has a ton of old-timey coin-operated mechanical games and attractions.  We loaded up with quarters and played!

Playing baseball at Musée Méchanique

Trish came into town and met us one day, and we visited the Cartoon Art Museum.  Fun times browsing old and new cartoons and cartoon art. They had a special exhibition of Berkeley Breathed's cartoons and art and one of KAL's political cartoons.  Smart stuff!

We spent the last day playing at the Exploratorium, probably my favorite museum ever.  We hadn't visited in many years.  There are so many hands-on science exhibits.  Fun and learning rolled up into one!

Learning how color affects mood.  We liked the blue best. The red was so jarring and upsetting I couldn't change it fast enough.

These prism glasses make your vision wonky so that you don't shoot basketballs well....until your brain adjusts, and then when you take them off you are wonky again!

No biting
Kevin's wish for the trip was to fish on the municipal pier. He fished. They didn't bite. But no matter!  It was a stunningly beautiful morning, perfect for walking on the pier and enjoying the sunshine.

  

Jest Kidding!
As Erin and I were leaving the Exploratorium, I got a call from Emily.  "Kevin has been arrested!"  "Oh, geez," I thought, "just the thing we need!"  I could barely process the rest of the story, that he bothered a turtle in the pond and a policeman was nearby and nothing would've happened had Kevin not started arguing with the officer!  I ran out toward the exit.... "Where are you now?!"  "APRIL FOOL!"

The conspiratorial turtles!

Ready, Set, Shop!
We shopped a bit in the Union Square area after the cartoon museum.  It is a bit overwhelming, as there are soooo many places to separate you from your money!  We stopped in a few of them and got tired!

The biggest shopping fun was when we went to Chinatown, though.  I had a great idea to give everyone $20 and see how many cool things we could buy in Chinatown.  We judged each other on most cool things and overall coolest thing. Here is what we found.

Shoe's cool finds: skull and snake keychain, silk lantern, solar-powered dancing monkey, makeup bag, kitty cat face plate, Chairman Mao chopsticks.

Kevin's cool finds: bamboo shoot, miniature fisherman sculpture, stink bombs, smoke bombs, airsoft pistol, candle and incense pack, shocking lighter gun

Erin's cool finds: Hello Kitty cup, furry panda magnet, flower and shell mini candles, ocean-scented fan, bamboo chopsticks, variety of small fireworks and stink bombs, bamboo bowl

Emily's cool finds: box of Botan Rice candy, San Francisco mug, sake set

Erin won for most cool things; Emily won for overall coolest thing.  The sake set is da bomb!

I consider myself fortunate to live just a few hundred miles from this gem of a city.  There is so much to do there; we hardly scratched the surface.  It is tempting to plan another visit very soon.  Who will join me?


"San Francisco has only one drawback. ''Tis hard to leave" --Rudyard Kipling