| March
break 2009 |
San Francisco,
California
|
Ann planned the
trip and during the 2009 March Break we flew down to San Francisco, California
- home of Rice-a-Roni, cable
cars, the Golden Gate bridge
and Fisherman's Wharf. We
definitely had fun on the trip enjoying all the tourist spots both along
the coast and in the heart of the City.
Some quick thoughts
- San Francisco was chilly, the ocean water is cold, most of the land is
hilly, fog rolls in pretty fast and it was foggy in parts of every day.
Fresh seafood is the dish of choice and the dungeness
crab is king. America seems more expensive than Canada - especially
factoring in the 30% difference in currency. The combination of California
coast lines, several cultural centres within San Francisco, iconic landmarks
and abundance of transportation make this City a great place to play.
We stayed in a
fantastic refurbished factory hotel called the Argonaut
Hotel on Fisherman's Wharf - right beside the terminal point of the
Hyde Street Cable Cars (which we rode plenty of times over the week) and
at the far north end of the piers - the seals sleep at the most popular
of the piers; Pier 39.
Cable cars come
down steep slopes as they head in and out of the downtown Financial core
of the City. We venture north across the Golden Gate Bridge heading towards
Muir Forest, home of some
of California's last groves of Redwoods and along the way we pass a beautiful
scene as early morning mist starts to dissipate in a bay along the coast.
I highly recommend
San Francisco for your vacation destination and would suggest the following.
1) Stay down near
Fisherman's Wharf - the famous Cable Car's and Streetcars provide quick
access to the downtown core, China Town, and tours, both water and by bus.
Fresh seafood restaurants and sidewalk vendors selling crabs and the famous
piers which have a number of entertainments including the aquarium and
Pier 39. You can also see the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz
Island (book ahead of time).
2) Rent these
wildly fun Go Cars
which are little scooters dressed up as a three wheel micro mini car. The
cars are easy to drive, sip gas and have a GPS guided tour which keeps
you from getting lost and you feel free to explore and make as many stops
as you have energy. We played on both beaches beside the Golden Gate Bridge
and explored the Presidio and much
of the City. We also drove down Lombard
Street - the City's crookedest street. You get familiar and comfortable
with the different parts of the City and it helps you decide where to come
back for more fun later.
3) Get a 3 day
or 7 day MUNI pass which
is the Municipal Transportation System which allows unlimited access
to cable Cars, streetcars, subways and buses. We rode all of these to explore
San Francisco. Keep a map of the City and the Subway handy.
4) Take the tour
to Alcatraz Island and do the audio guided tour of the former Maximum Security
Prison.
5) Take the bus
(route 57) to the top of the summits of Twin
Peaks high above the City.
6) Rent
a car for a day and take the trip across the Golden Gate Bridge. You
can also check out the redwood trees of Muir Forest which is just a short
trip north of San Francisco. We also did the drive to Carmel-by-the-Sea
which is about 2 to 3 hours south of the City (we didn't see Clint E).
We took the coastal route down and stopped at a few beaches and wharfs
- including the commercial fishing wharf at Monterey
City where we watched pelicans, seagulls and seals eating squid as
it was unloaded from a fishing boat.
We used Expedia
to book our trip and many of our planned activities (like the Go Cars and
tours of the City, the Bay and Alcatraz and travel to and from the airport)
and we had no problems. I was very happy with their service and will continue
to use Expedia in the future. The travel agent that we were planning on
using never even got back to us - so we decided to use the online travel
planning website.
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