San Francisco (Sans Flowers in Hair) - San Francisco, CA
San Francisco, CA
We left Truckee, excited for the big city of San Francisco and ready for some new traveling experiences. We rolled into Quentin’s office in the heart of San Pablo, a slightly sketchy part of town about 20-30 minutes from San Francisco. Quentin assured us the Scamp would be perfectly safe there, and it turned out he was correct. I told him I was definitely outside of my comfort zone but trusted him. We got situated and caught up with Quentin a bit, having not seen him in years. That evening, we headed to his apartment in Oakland for some champagne before heading to one of his local beer gardens. The beer selection was great and the courtyard was covered in murals and lights, and we enjoyed a few beverages before calling it a night and heading back to San Pablo.
The following morning, we went to Catahoula for coffee near the office before heading down to the city for the first time. Quentin was nice enough to give us a ride to Fisherman’s Wharf in his sweet ride (Tesla) and we had a long list of touristy things to accomplish. We began by wandering around the Wharf and several piers. The main pier was lined with seafood restaurants and stands, busloads of tourists, seagulls, and friendly vendors. We only made it so far before I caved and had to have one of the cups overflowing with crab and shrimp. The thing must have weighed at least a pound and was a steal for only $9. Kraib and I took care of that as Husb is not a huge crab fan. It was so fresh and melt in your mouth delicious! After meandering through an antique arcade and along Pier 39 to see the seals and a view of Alcatraz from the mainland, we headed to Ghirardelli Square. (We never got to visit Alcatraz, as the tours fill up months in advance and we weren’t lucky with our attempts to get last-minute tickets.)
Ghirardelli Square was also very touristy, as expected, but given the amounts of their chocolate I eat on a regular basis it seemed like a must do. We enjoyed a huge sundae together (seriously, dream world! My two faves enjoying a sundae with me, haha!), and continued on our tour of San Francisco up to Lombard Street. I am not sure of the facts on Lombard, but it’s one of the curviest, winding streets in the city. Oh, and it’s also incredibly steep like many San Francisco streets. We were happy to be walking it instead of driving it, as the cars of tourists were lined up and waiting for their turn to drive down Lombard. We walked casually, taking in the houses and landscaping. The street was largely filled with hydrangeas in every color and gorgeous blooming roses - two of my favorites. From Lombard, we turned towards Chinatown and along the way stumbled upon a Rogue Brewing tasting room. We decided it was time for a pit stop and enjoyed a beer overlooking a small park, while mostly discussing fantasy football. The tasting room was nothing to write home about but the beers were good and from there we were ready for Chinatown.
I have been to a few “Chinatowns” before, but this was something else. The people, the food, the smells (good and bad), the trinkets. All of them exploding out of every storefront and in your face. We spent a couple of hours gawking at the food and everything else, trying to take it all in. I really enjoyed the experience and was just so completely entertained - it was so different from our two months in Truckee and was exactly what I wanted to see! Erik found a place to grab a baked pork bun and dim sum, and we walked to the closest park we could find. The park was full of a mixture of homeless people, clusters of people playing cards and dice, and a handful of families near the playground. We sat in the middle of them all to enjoy our dim sum, which was not my favorite but from what I understand was very good. We walked back into the heart of Chinatown after our snack and down a putrid smelling alleyway (this place was disgusting. I’m talking hard to breathe.) to a fortune cookie factory. The factory consisted of two machines churning out circular biscuits, which were then formed on old metal molds by two workers. One man was pushing the fortune cookies for sale at everyone, and I caved in and bought the “adult themed” fortune cookies. They were quite racy indeed, with fortunes that I wish I’d saved and brought with me. Unfortunately, these hilarious treasures are sitting back in Quentin’s kitchen. From Chinatown, we walked to 21st Amendment Brewery and enjoyed a happy hour beer. The brewery was pretty cool and modern, and located in the business district. We headed back to San Pablo for the evening on the BART, which we had been warned about. We were told it would be an experience, to be careful, and not to walk home from the BART station. All went very smoothly until about halfway through the ride home when a voice came on the loudspeaker indicating that our destination stop was closed due to police activity. We got off a stop early and picked up an uber from there.
The following day was another action-packed touristing adventure. We started by wandering around Muir Woods National Monument. The place was crawling with people, and it took us about 20 minutes to drive around and find a parking spot. It was worth it. Kraig had never seen redwoods before and we are always up for more, so we enjoyed a casual stroll through the three main redwood groves in the park - Bohemian, Pinchot, and Cathedral. The light was shining through the leaves of the trees making for a really beautiful walk. From there, we drove towards Golden Gate Bridge with a quick stop in Saulsalito for sandwiches at Davy Jones deli. The house boats in Saulsalito were so interesting - I wish we had taken the time to wander around a bit but we were hungry and had lots more to see. Tourists were swarming at the Marin Headlands where the Golden Gate overlook is located, but we found a spot and sat down to enjoy our lunch and the incredibly clear view of the bridge. We were very fortunate to have clear and sunny days with limited fog throughout our stay in San Francisco. It was very windy from the overlook, so we enjoyed the view and walked through the old WWII military base located there before driving across the bridge and into the city.
We finished out our day in the city by wandering around Golden Gate Park, where the boys went discing and I walked around to some gardens and other view points before joining them on the course. For such a large city, I thought the park might be dirty but was impressed with the lack of garbage. It seemed very well maintained and we could have spent a lot more time there exploring different areas. We drove home through Berkeley where we stopped at the much-anticipated Rare Barrel, a brewery specializing in sour beers. This part of the blog would be much lengthier if Husb were writing it, but I'll just sum it up by saying it was a really cool brewery in an industrial building. It was very hip, with clean surfaces and little color. And the beers... they were delicious! Anyone visiting the area with a love for sour beers should make it a must do on their list.
We headed back to Quentin's after enjoying a couple beers where we got ready to head out for the night. Quentin drove us back into the city where we made a stop at a bar in the top of the Marriott overlooking the city lights. We had one drink there near the windows on a relatively clear night, so we could see a lot of the lights. It was a great view, but pricey enough to make it a one drink maximum for us. After that, we went back over to Oakland to meet up with some of Quentin's friends for some dancing and laughing at a couple of their favorite spots.
The following day was Kraiby's last day. His flight didn't leave until the evening but it was looming and I was not happy about it. We did some quick shopping in the morning, but unfortunately spent a ton of time in the car. San Francisco's traffic does not quite compare to Los Angeles, but it's pretty horrible. We were lucky whenever it took us less than an hour to drive about ten miles.
After shopping, we went to the Mission District for some lunch. We stopped in at El Farolito, where there was a consistent line and all of the tables were full. We were starving at this point and were very excited for the delicious smelling burritos and tacos awaiting. I had the pork burrito which was easily two meals, and Kraib and Husb split a burrito and tried the tacos. None of us were disappointed and I definitely would go back for a cheap and tasty meal there. After lunch, time was winding down for Kraiby so we got in a very long line at Tartine Bakery, a recommendation of Quentin's, not realizing quite how popular it was. We picked up some baked goods, including a banana creme tart that Husb and I devoured for breakfast the next day. Once again, worth it! After the bakery we drove to the airport and I reluctantly said goodbye to Kraiby. I made it through with tearing up and not full on crying, much to Kraiby and Husb's relief I'm sure. It had been nine months since we'd been together back in Manhattan, Kansas, and I vowed that it would not be another nine before I saw him again. I miss you Kraib!
After the airport, Husb and I drove back into the city via the scenic coastal route which was slower but gorgeous and with much less traffic. We went to the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps Project. The tiled steps were gorgeous, and we took our time climbing and photographing them. A friendly volunteer told us about a second pair of tiled steps within walking distance, so we walked there and loved them just as much. I have always loved mosaic artwork and these tiled steps are beautiful mosaic tiles, with patterns running up the steps as far as you can see. I was really enjoying the neighborhood, which I believe is called Sunset something or other (terrible note-taking, oops). I was declaring that I could and would love to live in San Francisco by this point in the trip, so we walked around the neighborhood of pricey homes and beautiful gardens daydreaming for a while.
We made a stop at Biergarten on our way home, which is exactly what it sounds like. It was located in a very hipster area of town, and was all outdoors with the exception of old storage containers that had been revamped to hold the beer and food as well as the bathrooms. It was a really fun stop and great to relax at the end of the day (while missing Kraiby). We picked up some disappointing Thai food on the way home and called it a night.
We woke up on our last day in the city with little planned, but much exploring left to do. We went back to the Mission to check out the famous murals which we hadn't planned for the previous day. The murals there are beautiful, often political, and very popular. We took our time meandering down alleys (except when the odor of urine was too strong and we had to speed it up for some oxygen), enjoying the murals. They are another must do, in my opinion, if you are in the area. After the murals, we went to Blue Bottle Coffee, which I had heard was some of the best in the city. We had a cup and checked out the tile factory and store attached to the coffee shop. It was a very cool and once again hip spot, like so many we had seen in the city. It was lunchtime after that and Husb had a hankering for bahn mi which I had not previously been too impressed with. We took to trusty Yelp and headed to a small grocery store nearby with a meat and sandwich counter in the back. We ordered two different sandwiches to split for $5 each, and my opinion of bahn mi changed drastically. The sandwiches were so tasty with fresh bread, meats, cilantro, and other things I was not sure of on them (including head cheese which I didn't know until I finished eating). Seriously delish.
We ventured to Haight/Ashbury as we had not yet been in that neighborhood and of course it is famous on many levels. The hippie vibe is still very much alive and well, and in your face. We chuckled a lot as we walked and we went into some fascinating stores. One in particular was a taxidermy store with all sorts of crazy reptiles and other creepy animals for sale. I had never seen anything like it and was equally parts creeped out and fascinated. We stopped in at a bar named Tornado which had plenty of beers on tap. Husb enjoyed his first Pliny (extremely popular IPA from Russian River) of the trip, and we started the trek home with a stop at Lost and Found in Oakland. It was yet another cool, hip, clean bar with many beers on tap. The whole Bay Area has no shortage of these fresh spaces teeming with hipsters and we didn't have a problem finding ourselves in them time and time again. We made a stop in Richmond for some iffy Mexican food and with that, our time in the city had come to an end. We packed up the next day and headed out.
I loved San Francisco and we could have spent so much more time there wandering, eating, and drinking. I know it's the most expensive city in the country to live in at this point, and was impressed with how easy it was to find cheap and delicious meals. We were used to Truckee prices, so the beers were in some cases reasonable by comparison. It was wonderful to see Quentin again after so long, and I loved being in such a big city after so much time in a small town. And it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyhow, that I am so glad Kraib could join us for a small snippet of our trip and enjoy some camping, eating, and touristy things with us!