Goodbye San Francisco, Hello Las Vegas!

This will be my last post on San Francisco, then we head off into the next segment of our trip, Las Vegas! After that, maybe I will finally be able to post about my trip to Alaska.

We got up relatively early this Saturday morning so that we could ride the cable cars without dealing with crowds. The Tuscan Inn is only one block away from one of the cable car terminals, making it very convenient for us. There were only a few other people waiting, so we got our pick of spots on the cable car. I chose the front left, as those seats are what I felt offered the greatest views.

This was a pretty quick trip since we just went up to the cable car terminus at Powell and Hyde, jumped off, watched them turn the cable car, then hopped on another cable car, but this time, the Beach and Hyde route. I liked this route for the return because it included higher hills and even more beautiful views. It was especially beautiful going down the hill headed toward the Fisherman's Wharf area.

Because our flight to Las Vegas didn't leave until 3:45 p.m., we had quite a bit of time to kill before we had to be at the airport. Once we got off the cable car, we walked around the waterfront, first watching a bunch of crazy people who apparently entered some kind of swimming contest. The water must have been freezing!!! Crazy. We went for one last stroll near the wharf, and walked by the sourdough factory...yum!!! It smelled so good!

Of course, after smelling the sour dough, I realized that it was breakfast time. We were just walking around the neighborhood and came across an IHOP that was only a block from the hotel. I know all of you in Hawaii are wondering what the big deal is about IHOP when we have two locations on Oahu now, but IHOP is still one of those special places to eat whenever I travel to California or Las Vegas! It was a little crowded, so we ended up eating at the counter, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good the service was! They were all amazingly attentive and the manager seemed concerned when we didn't have our food, even though we hadn't even waited that long. I would definitely return to that IHOP!

The only other thing on my to do list for San Francisco was to visit the Golden Gate Bridge. There is a lookout with spectacular views of the bridge. Before I continue with how beautiful it was, I have to share my camera's near-death experience. Because of my stupidity in having the camera in my lap in the car, but without securing the strap around my wrist or neck, I stood up to get out of the car, and my camera, my only 4 month old, $700 camera, fell to the ground. After releasing a few expletives and almost crying over what I thought was the death of my camera, it miraculously healed itself after pressing the shutter button once. I was finally able to relax after my camera recovered.

Anyhow, the lookout was extremely crowded, but I suppose that is to be expected, particularly on a Saturday morning. The landscaping at the lookout was almost as beautiful as the bridge itself. Sausalito and Alcatraz were both visible, and we could also see Fort Mason down below. There was also a neat little gift shop selling a variety of Golden Gate Bridge memorabilia.

After enjoying the views here, we still had some time to kill. When researching this trip, I read that the views were beautiful on the Pacific Ocean side of San Francisco. There are a couple of restaurants there, but after our huge breakfast at IHOP, we weren't that hungry. As we were driving away from the bridge and finding our way to the Pacific Coast, we came across a great find, the Legion of Honor.

The Legion of Honor offers spectacular views of San Francisco. Both the cityscape and the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz were visible from here. We decided not to enter the building since there was an admission fee and we didn't think we had enough time to look around inside. However, the exterior of the building, grounds, and surrounding scenery were enough to keep us and our cameras busy for a good period of time. There was a moving, but disturbing, tribute to the holocaust that we pondered before moving on.

We continued our scenic drive along the Pacific Coast, then drove through Golden Gate Park before making our way back to the airport. We were still a bit early, but it's a good thing because we missed the airport off-ramp! However, it wasn't too bad of a back-track. Another thing that takes a while, but is extremely convenient, is the AirTrain. The AirTrain is a monorail that connects airport terminals with parking structures, a consolidated rental car facility, and some other airport structures. I found that I prefer this to catching a shuttle to the rental car facility, since it's easy to wheel luggage or a luggage cart on and off the train. No need to lug heavy bags onto a shuttle bus!

Once at the terminal, we still had some time to kill, even considering some slow downs going through the security line. I found a place that made sandwiches to order that was actually quite good! The portions were very large too. Although I ordered two sandwiches, we only ate one because it was so large, and it came with fries, making it even more filling.

We flew Southwest Airlines to Las Vegas, and it was an enjoyable experience. The only thing I don't like is that there are no assigned seats, but they do have seating areas (Priority, A, B, and C), so it's a little more orderly than when they used to have cattle calls where people would be waiting in a line at the gate for over an hour to be the first on the plane. The crew is hilarious too..."in the rare event that this flight turns into a cruise on the way to Las Vegas, inflatable flotation devices will deploy..."

We arrived safely in Las Vegas around 5:15 p.m. Saturday afternoon, the day of the UH-UNLV game. This turned out to be a GREAT time to arrive in Las Vegas, as there were no crowds at the airport!

Ending here for now, will continue the Vegas Adventure in a new post.

San Francisco, Part II

Again, I must apologize for the long delay since my last posting. Those of you who know what my work entails know why I haven't had time to update my blog lately! I have broken the cardinal sin of blogging...not providing regular updates. They say people lose interest once a blog goes out of date, and I'm sure that's true with my blog too! Oh well. Thanks for the two of you who have hung in there with me!

Anyhow, so back to where I was...

After checking in to the hotel, we set back out, MUNI passes in hand. Except I didn't have a plan, a rarity for me. I had already accomplished one goal of seeing the Palace of Fine Arts. My other goal was to ride the cable cars, but we weren't going to wait 45 minutes to hop on one. We decided on the F-Market Street Cars, which are kind of retro and reminded me of the movie, Heart and Souls, starring Robert Downey, Jr. We decided to head to the Westfield Shopping Center, although we weren't really in the shopping mood, so we didn't stay there long. We ended up walking to Union Square, which I didn't think I've ever been to before.

Again, no plan, so much of the time was spent roaming! Across Union Square was the Disney Store, so we paid an obligatory visit, although we did not buy anything (personally, I think the Disney Store has gone in a strange direction in recent years, and I have little interest in it anymore). We stumbled across Chinatown and took a few pictures there. Then we walked. And walked. And walked some more. Next thing we knew, we were at the Ferry Terminal. I kinda wished we had gone in there, since we were there. I've read that there are a number of shops and restaurants there. But, I didn't have a plan, so we ended up hopping back on a street car back toward the Fisherman's Wharf area.

We spent most of the early evening at Pier 39, mostly looking at seals and admiring the beautiful sunset. We had dinner at Neptune's Palace, the same place we ate dinner during our last visit to San Francisco many years ago. We started with Caesar salad and calamari appetizer w/ really yummy accompanying sauces. Our entrees were a hazelnut crusted seabass with gnocchi, and the seared swordfish. Although it was okay and some people rave about it, the seabass wasn't really my cup of tea. I think it was too sweet. I was also disappointed in the gnocchi which seemed undercooked. That entree was really the only thing I didn't care for though. Everything else was terrific, including a mocha cake we got for dessert! The views were very nice, and service was good. The only thing that's kind of unusual about this place is that they have a $1 per person minimum wage surcharge. Apparently, restaurants are able to pass this on to their customers. It would have been nice if they told us about it, or had something explaining it, rather than it just appearing on our bill. I've read a lot of complaints on Yelp.com about it too -- most people think they should just factor this into their prices, rather than having it show up as a separate charge on the check.

After dinner, we stopped by the Hard Rock Cafe in Pier 39. We are amateur pin collectors and make it a point to stop at any Hard Rock Cafe that is easily accessible. Our experience here was a little annoying. The girls at the counter decided it was more important to flirt with the guy in front of us, instead of one of them trying to help us while the other described some great clubs to go to in the area. Then, when we asked about their signature pin, the answer was, "well, they're all signature pins." Unless things have changed, there are only one or two true signature pins to each Hard Rock Cafe location. So we left it up to ourselves to decide which ones might qualify as signature pins.

After this, we walked even more and this time went to Ghiradelli Square. There wasn't a whole lot to see there, at least not by the time we got there, but it was still a nice visit. After that, we decided to check out the cable car line at the Beach and Taylor stop. There was no line! We were the first ones there. We had to wait quite a while before the next car left, and a number of people had joined us, but it was worth the wait. We got off at the turnaround on the other end near Union Square, and decided to check out the Virgin Records Megastore we had seen when we rode the street car earlier. We were very disappointed when the Megastore in Vegas closed, so this was a nice surprise. I think we must've been there for over an hour! It was a big store, and it was worth our while to go there.

By the time we left the Virgin Records Megastore, it was about 10:30 p.m., and time to head back to the hotel since we planned to get up early to ride the cable cars in daylight with few crowds! The cable car ride back to the hotel was really nice, especially once we started heading downhill and could see all the beautiful lights. It's amazing that a number of people were still riding the cable cars that late at night, including locals, but we were still able to get on the first car that arrived.

To be continued, again...

I left my heart in San Francisco (Part I)

On Friday, Sept. 14, we enjoyed our Sweetie Pies breakfast, checked out of the Napa River Inn, then headed back to San Francisco for one night before flying to Vegas. We decided to go through Sausalito and cross the Golden Gate Bridge into the city. We didn't stop in Sausalito since I wanted to spend most of our time exploring San Francisco, but it was worth driving through the seaside town before heading over the Golden Gate Bridge.

I have always wanted to visit the Palace of Fine Arts after seeing it in so many pictures of San Francisco. We decided to check it out since it was on the way to the hotel. It was really a beautiful place, and there were lots of people either walking around like us, exploring and taking pictures, or locals jogging or relaxing on one of the benches overlooking the water. There is a place called the Exploratorium that is located at the Palace of Fine Arts that AAA and other sources say is worth spending a couple of hours. Again, my timeline did not allow for this, but I was happy just spending time taking photos outdoors.

After our photography expedition at the Palace of Fine Arts, we headed to our hotel, the Best Western Tuscan Inn. Being San Francisco, parking is in demand, and only valet parking was offered here. The valets/bellmen wear cute little outfits similar to those you might see on a gondolier, but not so masculine given their mauve-ish color. At the front desk, I found that our room was not ready yet, which was fine given that I was checking in about 3 hours early. However, I was pleased to hear that I had been upgraded to a one-bedroom suite. Also, the front desk clerk took my cell phone number and offered to call me if my room was ready ahead of the official check-in time...a nice touch! Additionally, the Tuscan Inn offers a discounted parking rate for AAA members ($29 instead of $37), and offers wine and cheese in the afternoon and biscotti and coffee in the morning. We left our luggage with bell services and headed out for a stroll at the Fisherman's Wharf.

The Fisherman's Wharf was a very quick walk from the hotel, perhaps 5 minutes. It was about lunch time, so we were in search of food, while taking in the surroundings of the vendors selling fresh seafood. While I had researched restaurants before this trip and knew which ones were popular or offered good food, I did not make reservations, nor did I have a strong desire to eat at any particular restaurant. We found one right on the water called the Franciscan. Ironically, this is a sister restaurant to the Crab Pot at Pier 39, which I considered and read great things about (known for their garlic crab). The greatest thing about the Franciscan is the magnificent water views. The restaurant is designed in a way that allows a good view from every seat, as the restaurant is tiered. The service was good, and the food, while not spectacular, was good, and I would return again to enjoy the view. We started with the clam chowder and a butter lettuce salad, and had entrees of a half order of garlic crab (more than enough for one person), and a prime rib french dip sandwich. One of the most spectacular sights we took in while having lunch was seeing pelicans and other birds flying by in formation.

After lunch, we continued our stroll in the Fisherman's Wharf area. Some of the area was reminiscent of the touristy areas of Waikiki or an older Las Vegas, with t-shirts and other items for sale. We walked past the Argonaut Hotel, a place I would like to stay if my budget allowed for it. We noticed that here too, the valets where cute outfits befitting the nautical theme of the hotel. Again, maybe not so masculine, but cute nonetheless.

Sometime during this stroll, I received a phone call from the hotel notifying me that my room was now ready. At this point, we were near the cable car turnaround at Beach and Hyde Streets, so we went to pick up 3-day MUNI passes good for a number of transportation options, and watched the cable cars and the people waiting in a line with an estimated wait of 30 to 45 minutes. After this, we headed back to the Tuscan Inn to get settled in our room before heading back out into the city.

To be continued...

I'm a baadddd blogger...

Okay, so I've been a bad blogger. So much for my grand plan to update my blog daily while I was traveling!

I'm back at home from my travels to Northern California, Vegas, and Alaska, and do not have any plans to travel until next summer (at the earliest), so now I plan to catch up on the blogging I did not do earlier! My apologies to those of you who have actually been checking my blog on a regular basis hoping for updates (all one or two of you).