San Francisco Part 1

Somehow the past two weeks have completely slipped by me and I realized I have yet to post anything from our San Francisco trip!

We spent five amazing days in San Francisco, Napa, and Sonoma. I have to say this was one of our best trips yet, we had an absolutely amazing time, and the whole time I kept thinking how I could see us living there.

This trip brought many surprises and was very different from the first time I went to San Francisco in July 2010 for a cystic fibrosis social work conference. Based upon that trip I expected the city to be cold, foggy, expensive, and stressful. I was very pleasantly surprised to find out my first experience there was not at all typical!

On the ferry under the Golden Gate Bridge during my first trip to San Francisco back in 2010

When we arrived in San Francisco the first night it took us about 45 minutes to get into the city. I was very impressed by this considering how it takes me the same 35-40 minutes to get home from work on the poorly planned roads and freeways of Albuquerque. We checked into the Argonaut Hotel in Fisherman's Warf, and were able to make the included wine happy hour and even have some goldfish delivered to our room.

 

Our little friends for the week

We then walked down to Scoma's for a very romantic Valentine's Day crab dinner. It's currently Dungeness Crab season, and I had never tasted such fresh and delicious crab. The next morning we headed down to Fisherman's Warf to walk around and saw how blessed we had been with beautiful weather. It was sunny and in the high 60's! We made our way down the crab stands and another fresh crab meal just looked too good to pass up, even if it was for breakfast. For only $20, we enjoyed a crab chowder bread bowl, a crab and sourdough sandwich, an Anchor Brewing Co beer, and a chardonnay (we were on vacation after all!)

Next we took a cable car down to Union Square and walked to Chinatown. This was my first time on a cable car and it was like a mini roller coaster! I loved it! It was amazing to see all the hills and beautiful old stacked houses, and into Union square we passed all the wonderful shopping--Dolce and Gabbana, DeBeers, Chanel, Gucci, Saks, Armani, and more. As we walked into Chinatown I loved the distinct feel of each neighborhood, and how each area has its own personality and vibe to it. After walking through some of the shops and parks, I asked Joel to find us a "real" Chinese restaurant for lunch, something authentic and not like what we would find at home. We stumbled upon the Hong Kong Clay Pot, and although it looked a little shady on the outside, after walking up the stairs to the main floor I realized we had found the authentic Chinese dining experience we were looking for.

As we sat down I realized we were the only non-Chinese there. At the lunch hour the place was packed with local blue-collar Chinese workers, and some families, although almost all of the diners were men. All around us, we heard the chatter of Chinese (Mandarin?) and our waitresses spoke just enough English to get by. We didn't venture too exotic with the duck tongues or frog legs, but the traditional spicy hot and sour soup as excellent. I had the seafood Clay Pot, which was excellent, and Joel went with a chicken chow mien. Little did we know that one entrée was likely enough to feed 3-4 people, and as we looked around most of the locals were sitting at round tables sharing the meal. 

No silverware in sight!

 

The food was delicious, and again some of the freshest ingredients I have ever tasted. We were shocked when the bill arrived, for a large soup, two very large entrees, and unlimited Chinese tea the total was under $25.

The rest of the afternoon we walked several miles down towards the bay and saw some amazing houses, the famous Pier 39, and the sea lions. By then it was time to board the ferry for our night cruise to Alcatraz. Though I have never experienced it personally, I have a strange fascination with prisons and the prison system, especially since working in the jail, so I was especially excited to tour one of the country's most infamous prisons at night. 

We got to tour the cell houses and even got to experience the "deprevation" cell, (well Joel did), but one of the most amazing sites of Alcatraz was actually seeing the sunset behind the bridge and the city just a few miles away. It did make me a little sad to think this was the view the prisoners had, with San Francisco so close but so far away. 

Our tour guides were great as well and very informative. If you have never been and even if you have before I would definitely recommend seeing Alcatraz as part of hour country's darker history. I know it's weird but I did wish they had talked about the suicides a little more. (maybe they don't want to admit them but you know at least one person had to have at least tried while on the Rock.) 

Our second day in the city was a little more laid back. We hit some other major sites like Lombard Street and the beautiful Golden Gate Park.  We drove a lot and went from city to beach and even drove by the VA. The idea that if we lived  there I could walk from the VA to the beach during my lunch was not entirely lost on me.  The ocean was beautiful and some very friendly San Franciscan's offered to take our picture after I made Joel run into the 55 degree water with me. I can't wait to go back!