Monday, April 10, 2017

The City By The Bay

I had the misfortune of being trapped in a Southwest network failure this summer which resulted in hours of delays and baggage that was delayed by 2 days.  The upside to this debacle was a discount code for a future flight AND airfare credit so I made sure to put it to good use by going to visit my dear friend Alma for a long weekend in San Francisco!  I was solo for the first 2 days while Alma worked, so I took advantage of that time to check out some of the touristy sights on my SF bucket list.  I couldn't have asked for better weather while I was there so I would definitely recommend early January as a great time to go!  Mornings were chilly but all of my days were filled with sunshine until the day I left.  Below are some of the highlights from my trip!

Disclaimer:  I have New York blood running through my veins and walk at a New York pace.  Even why I try to slow down my slow is other people's fast walk.  So, I covered a LOT of ground in my first 2 days.


Day 1 Adventures
I started day 1 at the butt crack of dawn in search of the infamous cruffin.  Luckily, my hotel was close by so I was at the storefront by 7:30 am......but I missed the memo that cruffins aren't served until 9:00 am.  Womp, womp.  Not wanting to waste any time on my first day (and not in love with the flavor for the day), I settled for a donut and vowed to return the next day for a carrot cake cruffin.  Next stop: cable car ride!  Absolutely, unequivocally a San Fran must do.  If you want a plan of attack, one of my favorite sites for cable car info can be found here.  I started out on the Powell-Mason line and jumped off when I heard the conductor say Lombard Street, another SF bucket list item.  Little did I know that this line is at the bottom, meaning a 4-5 block hike up some seriously steep grades to get to the base of the famous section of Lombard Street.  Calves. On. Fire.  

  
From the base of Lombard, it's a killer flight of stairs to make it up to the top where Lombard meets Hyde.  Once you catch your breath, if it's clear the view is spectacular and totally worth the jello legs!  Bonus-you've made it to Hyde, where you can just jump on the Powell-Hyde cable car to take in some more sights.  

Coit Tower and the Oakland Bay Bridge from the top of Lombard
 From the top of Lombard, it's a quick walk (downhill) or a quick cable car ride down to the Fisherman's Wharf area.  The end of the Powell-Hyde puts you smack dab in the middle of a bunch of tourist attractions.  Chocolate lovers can walk a couple blocks to check out Ghirardelli Square and all of their delicious treats.  Nature lovers and history buffs can check out the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park and Fort Mason.  Straight ahead, you've got views of Alcatraz Island and to west, the Golden Gate Bridge.  A few blocks to the east is Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 where you can see my spirit animals, the lazy, loud sea lions!

View of Alcatraz from the Powell-Hyde cable car



Day 2 Adventures
Up early again, but at a slightly more reasonable time I made my way back towards Mr. Holmes to get in line for my cruffin.  Except there was no line.  No shame in my game, I asked the employees about the line and they let me know that I could start it, outside in the chilly air.  Score!  A little cold never hurt anyone, right?  At 9:00 on the dot I was invited in to get the first cronuts of the day.  Some helpful hints if you want to indulge in the cronut madness: 
  • Cronut flavors for the week are released on Instagram only so plan accordingly
  • Limit 2 cronuts per person
  • Cronuts come in a bag and if you want a box you must pay extra.  Worth it in my opinion because the cronuts are pretty delicate.  They are super cute boxes, too.
  • There is no cute way to eat a cronut.  It is a full body experience so be prepared!


Fat and happy I made my way back up the hill to check out Chinatown.  It was still a little sleepy and not many of the shops were open yet so I took the opportunity to snap a couple pics then decided to change plans.  

Chinatown Gateway


With the weather still perfect, I grabbed a Lyft (use code SOMMERLYNN83750 and help a girl earn some credits!) and headed to hike the Land's End trail.  If you have the time, I would highly recommend hiking this trail.  There are spectacular views of the Golden Gate bridge and it's not a difficult hike.  If you want to make it down to the ocean's edge there are stairs involved but it's generally a flat, level hike.  Not purposely, I managed to start in the middle, work my way to one end of the trail, then worked my way back to the middle and on to the opposite end which ends with the Sutro Baths and the Land's End Lookout.  All in all I spent about 4 hours hiking the trail.

Road block....you can climb around it to continue on!

Lookout Point in the top left



After Land's End, I caught another Lyft to check out a staple from every late 70's/80's baby's childhood...the Painted Ladies!  Sing it with me: 

"Everywhere you look, everywhere you go 
There's a heart (There's a heart), a hand to hold onto. 
Everywhere you look, everywhere you go 
There's a place, of Somebody who needs you
 Everywhere you look."

Sadly, the park itself is under construction so I couldn't get a full shot of the ladies with the park.  


My Lyft driver was a super cool college kid who was game for my adventures, so from here we went to find the 16th Ave. tiled steps.  Again with the burning calves, because naturally you need to take pics from the bottom of the flight of stairs.  But so worth it!  Each section has a different theme and the artwork is gorgeous.  



At the top of the steps is a cute little park called Grandview Park which gives you just that...a grand view of San Francisco and the mighty Pacific ocean.


Last stop for the day and by far my my favorite was to take in the sunset at Baker Beach.  I had read during my research that Baker Beach was infamous for being a nude beach but being that it was the first weekend in January and it was COLD I wasn't worried about getting an eyeful.  I. Was. Wrong.  I was temporarily blinded by gnarly old man parts swinging in the cold breeze, but recovered in time to take in the gorgeous sunset reflecting on the Golden Gate Bridge.




Day 3 Adventures
Finally off work, my globetrotting friend Alma was able to join for another fun filled day checking out the sites of the city!  We set out on foot on the East side of the city, working our way through Chinatown up to Coit Tower.  It was a gloomy day so our views weren't the best but it was fun to have a 360 degree view of the city and snap some selfies.

Oakland Bay Bridge

Alcatraz Island



From Coit Tower, we worked our way up to Fisherman's Pier to grab a bite to eat and kill time before finishing out the day with a tour of Alcatraz Island.  If you are wanting to tour the island and the prison then book ahead....tours sell out months in advance.  We opted for the night tour which was a totally creepy but super fun experience!




Gorgeous night sky from Alcatraz


A wonderful end to a wonderful trip!  I'll be back in San Francisco in just a couple weeks for another quick trip and can hopefully catch a few new spots and update the blog.  Until then...














  



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