We had a few days at the end of summer to squeeze in yet another trip. Since June, we’d visited Coastal Maine, Louisville, and St. Louis. Hubby and I had not seen much of our middle child since our oldest son had gotten married in May. A family trip was a sure way to spend some time with him before the fall semester at Ole Miss began!
Family and friends gave mixed reviews of San Francisco, so hubby planned our time there with great care.
The first thing we noticed when we arrived is the cooler temps and ferocious winds. It was heaven compared to the sultry heat of August in central Mississippi.
We stopped by a local grocery store for breakfast items and noted the armed guard at the door and the little gates at the self-check exit that demanded the scanning of a receipt to open. Hmmm. Food for thought!
Then we made our way UP to an Airbnb in the Noe Valley. The view was spectacular!
That night, we ventured to the nearby Mission district and indulged in our favorite cuisine at The Old Jerusalem restaurant.
On our first full day in San Francisco, we parked in the Pier 39 parking garage—known as the safest and least expensive option for parking in the area. We reserved our ticket online a few days out for a discount, arrived early, and set out to explore (and get coffee) before our scheduled meeting with our tour guide Paul.
Paul was so much fun! He is an actor with his own touring business, and he took us to Lucasfilm, where he’d once worked. He warned us that he might get mistaken for Mr. George Lucas, and he did. He also hugged some necks while we meandered the Star Wars paraphernalia in the lobby.
Paul showed us the sights, stopping occasionally for us to get quick pics, but he stayed close to his vehicle. We saw several cars with side and back windows completely bashed in, and witnessed a police car arriving on the scene of one such incident, surrounded by a family who’d stored their luggage in their trunk at a touristy spot.
Later that night, our son showed us a YouTube video by Mark Rober of how and why the organized crime rings target certain vehicles in San Francisco. (I’m a huge fan of Mark Rober and his engineering feats!)
Anyway, we spent four hours on the tour and saw LOTS of SF!
Afterwards, Paul dropped us off at Tony’s, an award-winning pizzeria. We got there just before hundreds of other people and got an outside table. The pizza was really good, but I think our favorite item on the menu was the squash blossoms. YUM!
After stuffing ourselves, we meandered through the streets and alleyways of Chinatown as we made our way back to the car at Pier 39.
On Paul’s advice, we skipped the shopping at Pier 39 and headed instead to the seaside views of the pier, where some sea lions were lounging. He said that typically there are tons of them there, but it was mating season, and only the old guys had decided to hang around and not go anywhere special. They were really cute as they adjusted and readjusted their positions so that the big flipper could gently and delicately scratch their stately ears. Precious and entertaining!
After walking 13,000 steps (according to my iPhone) and sitting in a van touring for three hours, we decided that we needed to retreat to the condo and enjoy the nighttime views.
I’ll share the rest of the trip with you next week. God bless!
