In SFO

With the fog of yesterday’s full day of travel and the 3 time zone jump-back, we greeted the California day with eagerness.  My two teenage boys have seemingly embraced the example of Rebecca and I, as their first priority this morning was to hit the hotel gym for some morning weights and ab wokouts.  Rebecca and I also had short workouts, before convening for the massive breakfast buffet offered at the restaurant.  Favorites of the kids included the made-to-order waffles and omelettes.

Our day would soon resemble a scene out of the movie “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”, as conquering a day in San Francisco was the primary agenda item.  Our hotel is located in San Mateo, about a 20 minute drive to SFO airport.  Our first mode of transportation was the hotel shuttle van, which dropped us off at the International terminal in order to board the BART into town.  We took the BART train to the Powell St. Station, also the location of the cable car stop which would lead us up over the hilly city, depositing us at the tourist heavy Embarcadero. I tried unsuccessfully to convince my benevolent wife to stop giving the street panhandlers “donations,” however, I was wasting my breath.  Rachel, Ryan and I got to stand on the outside of the cable car, as we traversed up and then down the streets of San Fran in close proximity to the other cable cars, pedestrians, and other vehicles.  As we crested the peak of the city, it was a great view down to the SF bay, viewing Alcatraz and the wonders of the city by the Bay. 

Jumping off the cable car, we strolled past the multiple piers, following Ryan’s map reading skills, and finding ourselves at Pier 39, which has been overtaken by a huge number of seals who frolic, fight, and bark like siblings as they bask in the sun, providing endless entertainment to the ever numerous and observant tourists.  Ourselves included. 

Rebecca was very interested in doing the Bay Bridge bike ride.  We found one of the many Blazing Saddles shops, and got outfitted for some biking fun.  Rebecca, Dylan and Ryan each got mounted onto a nice hybrid bike, as Rachel and I got ourselves outfitted on a fun tandem.  After Rachel’s initial apprehension of not being in control, she soon warmed up to the pleasantries of being a bike passengers.  We rolled our way down the hill to the bike path/road that borders the bay, enroute to the Bay Bridge.  The day could not be any more beautiful, being bathed in a beautiful, crisp, day of SF sunshine and Pacific breezes. 

Traversing the bay, we were treated to views of the marina, swimming sea lions, large merchant ships, and the Oracle, one of the America’s Cup contenders.  The Oracle was flanked with multiple motor boats, as they practiced for the upcoming race, making breathtaking speed across the windblown waters. 

Our first real stop was to see if the small swell was creating any waves at Ft. Point, directly under the bridge.  Although it was not, Dylan and I observed how that little point could easily create a fun left that wraps around the seawall with the proper swell.  With the hum of traffic overhead, we anxiously looked up to the bridge and contemplated our climb up the access road, onto, then over the bridge and into Sausalito.

The climb up the access road was definitely a workout, especially as I pulled Rachel on the back of my bike, who later admitted that at times she had her feet up on the handlebars, enjoying the ride.  I knew that…………………..

However, it was all worthwhile as the views of the Bay Bridge, and into Marin County were extraordinary, and most exciting landscape and geography for flat land Floridians.  The bridge’s pedestrian and bike path was somewhat congested, and the bike lane was two way traffic, so Ryan almost had a collision with a couple of angry road bikers.  Rebecca unloaded a piece of her mind on them in an outburst of protective, maternalistic rage.  Go Tiger Mom. Lucky for them, they did not stop.

The construction detour took us down stairs, under the bridge, then up stairs on the opposite side of the bridge, however,  after arriving at that side we blasted down a great downhill that lasted most of the way into Sausalito. 

After a short break in the beautiful and pristine waterfront community of Sausalito, we boarded the ferry back to SF, depositing us off at Pier 41.  Returning our bikes, we got onto a trolley after some initial confusion as to the naming of a “cable car” vs. “trolley” and went to the Ferry Building at Pier 1 to visit one of Rebecca’s Zonian friends.  Mr. Rogers confused our whole generation with his trolley. It was realy a cable car in SF vernacular.  The cable runs under the road, not overhead the “trolley”

After some soft serve ice cream at the Ferry building, we got back on the Cable Car F route back to Pier 39 for more sea lion viewing as we waited for Reb’s cousin “Dito” to pick us up.

Dito arrived, and shuttled us around town, regaling us with stories of SF as he had once lived downtown, and taking us to Chinatwon.  With the help of yelp, we found a wonderful Chinese restaurant, that we realized at once had to be good, since the clientele was mostly of Asian ancestory.  We had wonderful, shared meals, as the Lazy Susan made multiple rounds at the center of our table.  Our kids were amazed at the roast duck hanging in the viewing window, as well as the live fish tanks which displayed potential, swimming, sea food dinners to the more adventurous diners.

Following dinner, Dito drove us back to San Mateo, with our kids begging us to allow them to  sleep.  Surely an indication that a full day of activity had come to pass.  Slumber was quickly at hand for all, and Rachel did not even make it into pajamas before slipping into deep sleep.  Rebecca commented that the day could not have been any more perfect.  Agreed.