San Fran Part 2

Alright.. here we go again. I am dedicated to finishing my postings about our trip before the end of June! Goodness.. I am slow.

On our 2^nd day in San Fran, we had a detailed list of all the places we wanted to see with Google Map (public transit option) directions to each place. We were determined to see all that we wanted to see without walking the extensive amount that we had the day before.

1st stop: The painted ladies… or at least that’s where we were supposed to stop. The night before I had googled the painted ladies and got an address. I was dumb and didn’t double check it. We ended up in hippyville… there were tons of weird shops and people. It was definitely more of a residential area than the other places we had been.. so it was strange getting on the bus, holding a map, shoulder-sashed camera, and looking completely lost. After lots of wondering around, asking peeps for directions, and catching a bus – we finally made it to Alamo square. After passing multiple people out walking their dogs and one random guy stretching on a brick wall, we finally saw the painted ladies. They are really awesome. I really liked the cityscape in the background.

2^nd stop: Union Square. We didn’t do anything real exciting in Union Square. Just saw some of the sights. We sat on a bench for awhile and listened to some live Indian music while we watched people. That’s one of our favorite hobbies. We saw a gigantic Macy’s and a fun heart statue while we were there. And of course we watched the trolley for a little while.

3^rd stop: Ghiradelli Square. Via China town. We didn’t get out and wander through China town, but we did get to see a few of the sights through the bus windows. Enough for me. Once we arrived at Ghiradelli Square we headed straight in for the World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae, despite the fact that we hadn’t had lunch yet. It was delicious. I wanted another one! Aaron was going to get some of their coffee and me some hot chocolate.. but the line had grown long out the door so we decided it was best to move on.

Next we wandered down the street to the cable car turnaround. We hung out there for a while watching the cable cars, the interesting people, and snacking on a hot dog from a street vendor. After that little rest, we began the hike up Hyde street towards Lomard Street. Oh. My. Goodness. It was a very long and very steep hill. But it was worth it. We arrived at the top of the crooked part of Lombard street and enjoyed the sights as we caught our breath. After awhile we headed down the steep stairs to the bottom.

After Lombard street, I consulted my handy dandy San Fran map and we headed towards Coit Tower. Once we realized the ridiculous hill we would need to climb to get there, we then consulted the map to find the bus route that would take us there. Coit Tower was pretty neat.. we wandered around inside and saw the paintings then captured some pictures of the city from a little lookout area.

After Coit Tower we hopped on a bus, completely exhausted, and headed back to our hotel for a little afternoon nap. After our nap and refreshing a little, Aaron and I headed out for our nice dinner date at Sinbads, a steak and seafood restaurant right on the bay. Our window overlooked the bay and the Oakland Bay bridge. We had steak and lobster. Delicious. After eating dinner, we waited until the lights on the bridge came on before heading out to take a few pictures. Then we headed on back to our hotel to pack up and call it an early night. We had to wake at 3:30 in order to grab our 4:05 shuttle for our 6:20 flight to Seattle.