Denise's San Fran Vacation- Day 3

Today was ZOO DAY!

Getting there was fairly easy. San Francisco Municipal Transit (MUNI) has a real-time website for trip planning. The site locks up occasionally but it’s still pretty good with lots of options. You can decide that you want to travel at 8:41am in 3 days, using only buses, with no more than a ½ mile walk between stops and voila you get a step by step set of instructions for 3-5 options varying in departure time, travel time and walking distance between stops. Our only snag was when we got off at the NW corner of Geary & 33rd and we were catching our next bus at the NW corner of Geary @ 33rd… but it turns out it wasn’t the same stop. There was another just around the corner where we couldn’t see it and we missed our connection and had to wait for 20 minutes. But once we got there it was smooth sailing!

Most of their buildings were being renovated (Lion House, Tropical House, Pachyderm building) but all the exterior exhibits were open. They have a good selection of primates, a family of giraffes, babies all over the place (including a baby gorilla) and a great kids‘ section. In the Children’s Zoo they have a discovery center, insect building, and all sorts of interactive stuff. In the main part of the zoo, Penguin Island reminds me so much of the movie Madagascar that I was waiting for a threesome to try a jailbreak.

All around the zoo they have employees with different creatures to show off like a 44 year old turtle, or a couple of small reptiles, and even a spot to pet rabbits. And another thing that was really neat was that when you get to the zoo, before you even go inside, you got to enjoy one of the biggest exhibits. Their African Savanna houses several different animals together, including the giraffes, zebra, ostrich (did you know there were brown ostrich? I thought they were all black and white!), kudus and oryx.

We thought we’d be at the zoo for a couple hours and then go to our next attraction, but we ended up there all day and we were sooo tired we just wanted to head “home”. Grabbed some pizza on the way (Village Pizzeria – yum!) and walked the last few blocks, downhill thankfully.

We are now officially half-way to becoming experts in the SF transportation system. In the past 3 days we’ve taken a cab, a bus, a slinky bus, an electric bus, an electric slinky bus, a tram, a cable car, an underground train and an above-ground train. At $2-$5 per ride cash, the $18 unlimited pass has been a lifesaver.

And while we’re talking transport, I should mention something about yesterday’s Alcatraz visit. The ferry ride out to the island was so easy I couldn’t believe it. I took my Gravol, but I’m sure I didn’t need it… and this is a girl who gets ill THINKING of riding a boat.

Well, fog’s been rolling in all evening and now we’re almost completely enveloped… time to call it a night.

Denise's San Fran Vacation - Day 2

Day 2
Well. I’ve never been to Chicago so San Francisco will officially be my “windy city”. There are some pretty good gusts through here and it got really cool in the evening. We had our jackets with us all day because I heeded the warnings about layering, but unfortunately you can’t plan against the wind and Darrin lost his favourite hat… last seen drifting between cars at the intersection of Hyde and California!

Started the day at *ugh* 5:55am with a *gulp* $18 breakfast buffet. Even the Continental was $14. Unfortunately none of the five hot items -were great so tomorrow we’re going to try to find food when we go out. But just because the meal wasn’t great doesn’t mean this isn’t a great place. The free wireless internet means I can write this blog; and we are sooooo looking forward to a rest in the Japanese soaker tub tonight. The HILLS!

You just have no idea how out of shape you really are until you try to climb one steep hill and have to stop twice. We didn’t want to wait the hour to catch the cable car that runs by the Lombard switchback (the “crookedest street”) so we decided to walk over. After all, it was only a few blocks on the map. Never again. We went up this one block with a German couple; they didn’t speak English or us German but the laughs, and puffing and panting said everything - we were all suffering! But it really was kinda fun to watch the cars come single file down the street, with the tourists outnumbering them about 20 to 1.

Went to Alcatraz on the 9am tour and there was about 300 people in line! But once you’re on the island the crowds aren’t bad at all, and the audio tour through the cell block was excellent. They’re also in the process of restoring some of the outbuildings so it’ll just continue to get even better. The fog was interesting though. San Fran was clear, sunny and hot and The Rock was shrouded in fog the whole morning. And they weren’t kidding when they named it the Island of the Birds – wow what a lot of gulls!

Also checked out Pier 45 today with the USS Pampanito submarine and SS Jeremiah O’Brien Liberty class merchant ship. I suppose not for everyone, but come on, who wouldn’t think it’s cool to get inside a real submarine?! We also checked out the Musee Mechanique. To be honest I wasn’t expecting much but it turned out to be a lot of fun. It’s free to enter, but all machines are $0.25 or $0.50 to play. It’s basically a big antique arcade with a new selection in the back. There was Ms. Pacman, arm strength tests, psychic swamis, mechanical pianos, old “peep show” machines with the provocative lady in the bathing suit, and classic photo booths. The “British Execution” boxes and "Opium Den" give you an idea of what a different era some of these came from. It was a blast to plug in your own quarters or watch what happens on someone else’s game. Our favourite was a car race for a quarter where you each had to crank a wheel to make your car go. Darrin “let” me win (yeah right)!

Another fun thing is Boudin’s, “The” San Francisco sourdough bakers. They have a large window on the street beside the café and museum gift shop where you can watch, and even talk to, the bakers. They turn out some really neat breads, but the biggest hit was the 3 1/2 foot alligator. The baker was telling us that when they make the 6 footer it takes FORTY ponds of sourdough!!! Pick up a loaf, or even some small turtles and you’ve got breakfast for the next morning.

We found the BEST place for lunch. Just a block up from Jefferson (that runs along some of the piers) was a place called Beach Street Grill at Beach and Taylor. Wow. Big meals, great prices, lots of tables and not loud and ridiculously overcrowded like the places right along the wharf. All day breakfast, burgers, sandwiches, salads, seafood… so many choices. Service was great too. And the number of things they make right there in their kitchen is crazy; even their own mayo!

Took our cable car ride today too. We didn’t hang on the outside (way too nervous to try), but we still sat in the exposed seats in the back and had a few local monkeys in front of us. Conductor had to remind one guy not to hang out so far or an oncoming cable car might take him out! Yikes!

Hopefully we didn’t climb too many San Francisco mountains because we have the zoo tomorrow. Maybe they have trams and they can just drive us around and point out all the animals. :)

Denise's San Francisco Vacation

Well, here we are! Day 1 has come and gone and we still haven't seen the Golden Gate Bridge… or even figured out what we're going to cram into the next three days! The usuals of course, like the bridges, cable car tour, zoo, and naturally The Rock. But there's so much more and we’ll barely scratch the surface.

Trip here was excellent, no problems at all (how often do you get to say that about a trip?!) Air Canada flight to Calgary was on time and I really enjoyed the scenery. Got to see the badlands, downtown, the tower and even a hint of some mountains (I think, pretty cloudy). I’ve never been through that airport before and I liked that when you’re connecting to a flight to the US you can pick up your luggage right in the customs area before you head through security. Although, for the first time ever we didn’t need to sit around waiting for the carousel to start spinning – I’m a chronic overpacker but I managed to convince myself that we could live out of two small carryon bags for the week…. check back with me Friday to see how I feel about this plan.

Flight from Calgary to San Francisco was 10 minutes early, and a window seat meant lots of great scenery like more badlands, farmland, mountains, hills and a look at the bridge on approach – all around a good day.

$40 cab ride from SFO to the hotel was a bit hard to choke down, but I’m sure there’s cheaper ways we just haven’t figured out yet; maybe the BART system.

Japantown is great. Shops and restaurants everywhere (the smells while you’re walking down the street make you hungry even if you’ve just had dinner!) We had Benihana’s (teppanyaki restaurant, like Ichiban) and then went for a walk to check out all the wonderful Victorian homes around here, and there’s even a little backlane with a stretch of pre-Victorians that are apparently 150 years old.

We’re really liking our room at Hotel Kabuki. We have a Corner King with a wraparound balcony and two sets of doors so we get two different views and a great cross breeze. Normally San Francisco has nice, average temperatures, but of course we landed in the middle of a heat wave so the cool air moving through the room is great, and we don’t have to turn on the ac. It’s a great hotel, just renovated in 2007. It used to be a chain hotel and some of the rooms still have the Sleep Number beds. And this WHOLE place is smoke-free so nice, fresh rooms. We have a traditional Japanese bathroom too, with a shower outside the tub for cleaning and then the tub is just for relaxing, nice and deep to lose yourself after a long day of hiking these hills.