Trip of Success

San Francisco did not disappoint. In fact, the trip was a welcome respite considering all of the airline travel woes experienced in 2007.

The King George Hotel, which is located in the Union Square area of the city, was fantastic and we got a tremendous deal for our stay. How fitting that yours truly should be staying at a place named the King George, huh? The only complaint was that, for our package, there was a charge for the breakfast buffet, which wasn't anything special considering Lori's Diner was right next door and served a heartier meal for less than what the hotel wanted to charge us for continental fare. We were lucky to be comped one free hotel breakfast for our first day by the night manager. The next three day's breakfast we chose to eat at Lori's instead.

We made great use of the city's public transportation, buying a three day MUNI pass that covered all transport and cable car rides. The public transportation in San Francisco is incredibly easy peasy. For me who gets easily confused with the bus system, we were zipping around almost exclusively on the bus during the entire stay.

Day 1 -
It rained throughout the day, but that didn't stop us from getting up and at 'em. Our first excursion was on the number 71 bus to Haight/Ashbury. Haight Street is pretty normal up until you pass right by Buena Vista Park. Then, you are reminded that you have ventured into the setting for the infamous Summer of Love. Now, Haight is only a memory of the past. It cannot be recreated. So, you walk around, entering cafes and shops that try to recreate this feeling of the lost hippie era. It fully hits you that you can never really go back. We took our place under the infamous Haight/Ashbury sign. To protect them from theft, the signs are bolted to the sign post much higher than all of the other street signs around San Francisco.

My mother wanted to see her hero, Janis Joplin's former home, at 122 Lyon Street. We also trudged up the hill to the former home of the Grateful Dead on 710 Ashbury Street. Another home we just had to ghoulishly pass by was at 636 Cole Street. The former residence of Charles Manson - shudder. Naturally, we did a bit of shopping. I found a cute necklace at the Goodwill store. My mother found a coin purse at a place called Positively Haight. We also stopped by the Blue Moon Cafe. I will never forget the Eggnog Chai I had there. So delicious!

We took the bus back to Market St, transferred over to the F street car, and headed to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. Here, it was mostly walking around and window shopping. Don't buy wine here. It's horribly expensive. Go to the supermarket where it's cheap. I was on to their tactics from the start when I noticed that all the wine sold at Pier 39, you can get cheaper at home. We were lucky enough to see the sea lions sprawled out on the docks, vocal.

Dinner was at the Fog Harbor restaurant. Unfortunately, because of the weather, there were no nice views to be had on this day. We proceeded to walk around and we got ourselves up a very steep hill to Lombard St. which is considered the "crookedest street in San Francisco". It was nighttime, so we didn't get any good photos. Coming down the hill was just as bad as walking up. You had to walk down sideways so as not to build up momentum.

Day 2 -
Such a beautiful, sunny day. We had to be out in front of our hotel at 8:15am to be picked up for a tour of Alcatraz, Muir Woods, and Sausalito. We were disappointed in how the tour company operated. We arrived there at about 8:45 only to be told that we wouldn't be brought to the ferry for Alcatraz until 9:45. Honestly, we could have made our own way to the ferry without having to hang around the tour company's building for so long. We made lemonade out of lemons and decided to walk around the area. I discovered that Lombard St. was only a few blocks away, so it ended up working in our favor. We were finally able to get some good shots, including some video, of the cars driving down the crooked street.

Alcatraz was fucking brilliant. The audio tour was recorded by former guards and prisoners. This added greatly to the experience. I was so amazed at the views the prisoners had from the prison. I learned later that this affected them deeply. It could be frustrating to see the city from such a short distance, see people having fun on their sailboats, and hear party cruises float by with people celebrating and having a great time. It proved to be a constant reminder of not having freedom of movement.

Unfortunately, the tour company we chose didn't allow time to see more of the island. I would definitely love to go back to explore, and learn more about the Native American takeover in 1969. Graffiti is still visible, which serves as a reminder of their occupation. A bonus was that since Alcatraz is owned by the National Parks Service, we were able to get NPS passport stamps in our books.

We were taken back to the tour company's headquarters to transfer to yet another bus for the Muir Woods and Sausalito leg of the tour. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County. There were some beautiful views heading into Muir Woods, but unfortunately, we were only given about an hour or so to explore the actual park. There was also a stamping station for our books, and the new 2008 Centennial stamp became available.

We walked around, staring up in awe at the majesty that are the Redwoods. Though not as huge as the Sequoias, Redwoods certainly hold their own. Can you believe that most of these have been chopped down and that only a very small percentage exist? This stunned me. What stunned me more was learning that in San Francisco, for a home to properly be considered a Victorian, it has to be made out of...Redwoods! So, in essence, Redwoods still abound, they have just taken the shape of something else aesthetically pleasing.

Our trip back to San Francisco included a stop in the harbor town of Sausalito. This was the most disappointing part of the tour. We didn't arrive until about 5pm, when just about everything in the center of town was closing up, including all of the small eateries. We were given about an hour to eat, so any major restaurant was out of the question. Strolling the main street, we stumbled upon the Fingerhut gallery and went inside to view some of Grace Slick's artwork. She's actually a very good artist. Although it appeared to be heavily based on Alice in Wonderland and White Rabbit scenes, I was impressed with some of her other paintings.

Our time was short but bittersweet in Sausalito. The tour driver, although a bit blabby, gave a lot of interesting and amusing information about the town.

Day 3 -
Another fantastically gorgeous, sun filled day. After seeing the lines over an hour deep for the previous two days, we made sure to get to the cable car stop very early and managed to grab a seat. It was a chilly ride, but we got some great views. The finale was veering down Hyde Street, which I was able to film. Afterwards, we grabbed a bus to Coit Tower and climbed to the top for some of the best views the city has to offer. The WPA murals inside are exquisite. I got some excellent photos of them. Afterwards, we strolled through Union Square Park and got to meet our very own "Birdman", but not of Alcatraz. This gentleman kept exotic birds and would let them out for a breather in the park.

Next, we took the bus to Golden Gate Park and finally got to see and experience thee bridge up close and personal. I decided to walk a bit over it, which was a bad idea. It was so windy and the guard rails aren't that high. I could barely get over to them for pictures because my fear of heights became so pronounced, I couldn't handle it. I got sick to my stomach and couldn't even make it to the middle. Regardless, I did get what felt like millions of pictures of the bridge. No matter how beautiful and iconic the Golden Gate Bridge is, you feel as if you cannot take a proper picture of it.

We walked around the Presidio taking in the views, and NPS passport stamps. However, since it was New Year's Eve day, everything closed up early so we weren't able to get stamped. Not a problem because Muir Woods is part of, and already issues a Golden Gate National Recreation Area stamp, so we were all set in that department. Even if a bit disappointed.

As for shopping, surprisingly, we didn't do much of it. I eyed this cool body shape flattering Tye-dye shirt at Positively Haight, but I wasn't exactly feeling the price tag. I ended up getting a cute, cheap necklace at the Goodwill store on Haight. I purchased the requisite amount of post cards normally collected to mark my travels. Plus, I bought two magnets at Alcatraz, one for my mother and one for myself. No visit to San Francisco is complete without a stop at See's Candies. I just about passed out once I got inside two of their stores, where I stocked up on lolly pops and chocolates.

Since I was with my mother, this was exclusively a "sites only" trip. Not a problem, I had such a blast. I would love to go back and see more arts orientated things such as museums and galleries. For now, I'm happy about what I did get to see.

What I took away from this trip was the importance of scenery. It seems that you can view the harbor from almost any point in the city, and it's precious to each and everyone. No matter where you found yourself in the city proper, a vista of the harbor was to be had. I felt this was an important lesson. From the best to the not-so-nice neighborhoods, almost everyone had a chance to see the same view. The harbor brought a sense of equality among the masses.

For the flight back to JFK, we arrived an hour early! Knock on wood, hopefully 2008 will bring more of that good flying mojo.

Photos of the trip can be viewed here.