Michael and I spent a wonderful six days going to, staying in and traveling back from San Francisco, CA. Michael booked the train on Amtrak. A few weeks ago he got a letter from Amtrak saying that his "points" were about to expire. It seemed like a good time to take a train trip, especially as he got quadruple points for doing so. And I love San Francisco.
It took two days to get there and two to come back. That left us an evening and two full days to enjoy the sights. I think we made the most of it.
We took the California Zephyr from Denver to the last stop at Emeryville, just north of Oakland CA, right at the foot of the Bay Bridge. I had taken about half of the trip in May 2008 as part of a rail/bus tour of the National Parks of the West. The train travels through some of the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen. I had traveled before as far as Grand Junction, Colorado. I now got to see the rest of it. It was dark through most of Utah and half of Nevada on the way out so I missed most of the desert, Great Salt Lake and Salt Lake City.
I awoke to more desert. Reno appeared after breakfast and eventually a climb through the Sierra Nevada range brought us into California. There was a great diversity of scenery from mountains and canyons to flat lands, more mountains and finally hills giving way to river estuary and San Francisco Bay. Amtrak was uncharacteristically on-time until south of Sacramento. There, track work delayed us slightly. I think we were about five minutes late getting in to the station. We were in our hotel room on Union Square in San Francisco in under an hour.
We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in the Broadway-Columbus Ave area. This is a mixed neighborhood just north of Chinatown and south of North Beach which, Michael tells me, used to have a lot of topless bars. Anchor Steam Beer sure tastes better in the city in which it is brewed! The food was wonderful.
Next morning we bought three day transportation passes that allow unlimited use of bus, street car, light rail and cable car. In two days we managed to ride everything. We took the cable car from its beginning right outside our hotel to its end at Fisherman's Wharf and walked around. Whether it was early morning or time of year, there were virtually no tourists around. We rode another cable car line back to Pacific Street and walked downhill into Chinatown. I have lots of pictures of people buying strange foods in the local markets. As soon as the New Asia restaurant opened Michael introduced me to Dim Sum. Really good, even if I had trouble eating slippery things with chop sticks.
Later we took the ferry from the Ferry Building to Sausalito and back. We passed by Alcatraz once in either direction. Really close on the way back. The weather was sunny but cool, wonderful for sightseeing. Next we took the light rail from Market Street near the Ferry Building to Ocean Beach on the Pacific coast. It was warm enough to walk the mile plus to the famous Cliff House restaurant where we had some dynamite Bloody Marys made with calm juice. A hike up the hill and a bus trip completed our journey back to our hotel.
That evening we went to Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf for sea food. We took a restored historic trolley from Market Street near the hotel to the Embarcadero and all the way out to Fisherman's Wharf, the last stop. There is a marvelous picture of me with a giant bowl of Cioppino. Michael had halibut caught that morning by the restaurant's own fishing boat. It couldn't have been a better meal. Afterward we visited Ghirardelli Square and then took the cable car back to our hotel. In all we went by the cable car barn and museum twice but did not have time to visit it. Oh well, next trip.
The following day, Thursday, we did the museums. We took the number 2 bus to Lincoln Park, again at the end of the line. It was a long climb up a steep hill to the Legion of Honor Museum. The building is historic, the setting is gorgeous but the exhibits were only so-so. Fortunately we got a senior discount and an additional discount for using public transit to get there. The admission was also good for the same day at the de Young museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco's premier art museum.
A bus ride and an electric bus ride got us to the park and a short walk got us to this museum. The Tutankhamen exhibit is there so the place was swarming with school children. We looked at some of the regular exhibits which we enjoyed thoroughly then had lunch at the museum restaurant. I never expected a gourmet lunch in a museum. I had a salad with smoked trout, a wonderful sauce, three kinds of heirloom beets and other munchies. Michael had a chicken curry that he raved about for days. A quick tour of the new contemporary art and it was back to the hotel by the number 5 electric bus.
More later...
