When John and I moved to London in 2015, we talked about the places that remained on our bucket list for the US. We both felt like we’d traveled to most places we wanted to see, but each had a few that remained. I hadn’t yet been to Chicago or San Francisco, and he wanted to see Boston and Philadelphia. We made Philly happen before we left, thanks to some work perks of mine, but the others remained.
Today, over a year later, we landed in San Francisco with a week to spare and great expectations. Day 1 wasn’t the best, as it rained heavily most of the day and we had no AC nor airflow in the hotel we chose, but the hotel was really kitchy with each room specially designed by a local artist, and we had the “peacock room”. Looks great, and it overlooks an inner atrium with some funky, colorful wall art & a face that stares in your room! O.O The hotel is a 2 star hotel called Hotel Des Arts, just across the street from the famous Chinatown gate. The staff was friendly, and when we let them know about the lack of airflow in the room, they brought us two fans which made our night. Before that it was, honestly, unbearable, which is why we’ve decided to only stay one night. Sunday we move to a 4 star hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf with a bay view for about $40 more per night – it has A/C!
For day 1, after checking in at 10am (we had a room already!) and dropping off our stuff, we were craving San Francisco’s famous clam chowder in a bread bowl, and Pier 39 had a lot of options for us for chowder and sightseeing, so we took off that direction. Uber is our main source of transportation in most cities, but we’re always on the lookout for the right method of transport for what we want to do. We already know on this trip we’ll take the cable cars, and we’ll rent a car later in the week to take south along the coast and then to Yosemite, so we’re open.
We saw a place online called Chowder’s which looked inexpensive, and we were interested in the outdoor seating, but since it was raining off and on, we opted for the classier Fog Harbor Fish House at the entrance to Pier 39. Their prices tended to be around $25-30 each for lunch, with a few items like the seafood tower for as high as $68, but they have an excellent, amazing chowder for $10 with the bread bowl! They offer excellent views of the bay including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the resident sea lions at the end of the pier and the ever-exciting tourists milling about.
The rain began to subside as we finished our hearty lunches, and we ventured outside with no agenda in mind. We wandered along the pier, heading towards the end to see the sea lions who were causing a raucous with the tourists. As the rain subsided, the fog began to lift and I finally got my first glimpse of the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge. Views of Alcatraz were more clear now, and we could also see boats moving around the water & further lands beyond. Still no sun and still very cloudy, but that’s an excellent time for souvenir shopping! I picked up a shirt and a few other gifts for friends back home, and there was time for some creative photos in the shops as well. The sea lions at the end of the pier were a highlight, and I’ll include some of the photos and videos from watching them. They’re very loud! Fights and families and lots of huddled up time while they napped on the floating platforms. We began to freeze in the cold, moist air, and stayed as long as we could before we couldn’t stay any longer.
Walking back along the pier, we weren’t as cold anymore, so we grabbed Dreyer’s ice cream – a scoop of espresso chocolate chip and another of regular chocolate chip – and enjoyed the saxophonist who’d set up shop at the entrance of the pier. The skies took a turn for the worst, dumping more rain than previously, and we joined the mass of tourists in heading out and making our way home after a successful afternoon of doing whatever the hell we wanted. It was great, and we enjoyed the day.
