Day 9 through 11: The Streets of San Francisco

Day 9 of our trip found us (after another amazing breakfast...hmmm.....I do talk about food too much, don't I? :) on our way to San Francisco where we would spend the last 3 days of our trip. We were a little sad to leave Napa...the wonderful Inn on First; the scenery; the restaurants; the wineries! But we were excited to visit San Francisco again; for Jim and I, it had been about 25 years since we have been here last.

On our way to the city, we took a slight detour to Muir Woods...home of the giant redwoods. It was another roller coaster ride up and around mountains to get there, and the park was extremely crowded, but the trees were beautiful and majestic.

Soon after leaving Muir Woods (which is north of the city) we caught the first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge.

We drove up to and then over it...sooooo fun.

Our innkeeper at the Inn on First had told us about a Vista Point just after the bridge where we could stop, have our picnic lunch and take pictures....I was all over it, of course.
It was a photographer's dream spot, even if I did have to climb up an iron ladder to get to it!

After finishing up our lunch (leftovers from the bread, cheese and salami the day before) we headed into the city to find our hotel.
And let me say that there was something that we bought before our trip that made this vacation 100x more enjoyable...a GARMON. They are unbelievable. We nicknamed ours "Chloe" because she was a little demanding, a 'no-nonsense' kind of girl. If you watch the show "24" you will know what I mean :O)

Once we arrived at the Marriott Downtown, we relaxed, took naps and Jim got to watch sports on a flatscreen HD TV. He has been very good about not watching hardly anything (mostly because our B+B's didn't have TV's..lol) but he did enjoy this.

For dinner we walked about 6 blocks to this wonderful restaurant which our innkeepers had recommended...they both had lived in the city before buying the Inn on First. It was wonderful...upscale southern comfort food. Jamie had also told us to make sure we get this for dessert...a chocolate/butterscotch pots de creme....heavenly.

The next morning we drove out to see Jim's cousin (also named Jim) who lives just outside of the city. Jim took us out to brunch to celebrate our anniversary...it was great to catch up on everything..and then he took us on a tour of his hometown.
Thank you, Jim!

A little more driving around the city that day....

We just HAD to drive down Lombard Street..the crookedest (is that right?) street in the city, state, world?..lots of people just line up along the street taking pictures of cars headed down. It is ever so fun in a convertible, let me tell you.

Just a fun picture of our reflection when we stopped at a red light...

We had reservations later that evening for the nighttime cruise to Alcatraz, so we headed down to the pier.

One pretty view of the city as we pulled out of the dock...

Our destination...the spooky ALCATRAZ ISLAND PRISON....

The sun was setting just as we approached the island....bear with me as I show you 4 of my favorite shots of the sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge...

It was COLD on the upper deck...but we put up with it for the sake of good photo-ops!

It looks very creepy as you approach the dock....

This building is where the prison guards and their families lived while on the island.

Interestingly enough, one of the first things you see are left over signs from the 19 month American Indian occupation of Alcatraz island during 1969-1971 as well as signs from the active prison days.

The prison....

Inside we got our first look at the shower area, and picked up a FANTASTIC audio tour, narrated by actual guards and prisoners from Alcatraz.

Typical prison cell....

View of San Francisco from one of the decks off Alcatraz.

We got back to the city and drove to the Fairmont Hotel....had a snack at the Tonga Room...a touristy attraction, but cute. (it has an actual rainstorm with wind and thunder every 20 minutes)

Breakfast the next day was at Sears...Jim's cousin Jim recommended it..it's been around for years...popular with locals and tourists. Famous for it's tiny Swedish pancakes...which I got and which were quite good.

Next up...rides on the cable cars!

Jim hung on the outside and since I was too chicken to that AND take pictures..I handed my camera to him!

Some scenes around Ghiradelli Square...

Then we climbed back onto the cable cars and rode back to Union Square.

The famous "Painted Ladies"...thanks, Gayle, for reminding us to go see these!

Our last night was pizza here....delicious, fire roasted, reminscent of Pepe's in New Haven. The waitress talked us into their signature dessert...choc cake with olive oil and salt. Sounds terrible, but it was unbelievably good.

Day 12 found us climbing on an airplane...a very full one...for the ride back to Chicago and then on to Hartford....it's a long way from the West Coast to the East Coast...but oh so worth it.

An unforgettable vacation....