San Francisco turned out to be a very fun place for all of us even with the weekend crowds. I had been there before for conferences but didn’t have much time to explore whereas this time, we had the time to work our way through the city.
A visit to the top of Coit Tower gave us an overview of the city and spectacular 360 degree views.
left: Alcatraz can be seen in the bay.
right: This part was a little crowded for me.
We chose to spend most of the day walking although some of the streets with 20 percent grades made me question the wisdom of that decision. Some people hired little “go cars” with a built in “tour” which looked a lot more fun than slogging up the big hills by foot.
I wanted to go to Alcatraz but the Hippygeek was freaked out by the thought of it. I wanted to be able to glare at the Dudes when they became unruly teenagers and say in a threatening tone “remember Alcatraz”. But, I guess I’ll have to come up with another strategy to keep them in line. I also decided it was best not to scar the little one at this tender age. So, we focused on the cable cars instead.
left: watching the cables run at the cable car museum.
right : Studying the “pieces parts” to the cable cars.
left: “Testing out” the cable cars.
We took a walk through Chinatown where we sampled some dumplings, egg rolls and Chinese doughnuts. The Hippygeek and I gave it a “thumbs-up, the Dudes gave it a “thumbs down”.
We worked our way over to the Fisherman’s Wharf area where we had some sourdough bread at Boudin’s and a little dessert at Ghiradelli’s. In other words, we ate our way through the city.
We also stopped in at Pier 45 to view Musee Mecanique, a private collection of over 300 mechanical arcade games some dating back to the 1800’s. We laughed all the way through the museum. It was the most fun we had all day (next to eating ice cream). It was interesting to see what entertained people 100 years ago and still entertains them today.
above: The Dudes were totally creeped out by “Laughing Sal”.
The Hippygeek couldn’t leave San Francisco without taking a stroll down Haight Street so we perused the famed 60’s hangout of Jerry Garcia and many others.
We also couldn’t leave town without the obligatory playground stop so, we went to the Golden Gate Park where there was more fun to be had.
above: “King” of the web.
left and below: The spinny cups were very popular.
In the end, we were sorry we didn’t stay a few more days. There was so much more to see and do. I guess we will have to make another trip back.
“San Francisco has only one drawback – ’tis hard to leave”. Rudyard Kipling
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