We arrived in San Francisco on Saturday after driving a few hours
from our campground near Napa. We entered the city via the Golden Gate Bridge, which was an exhilarating way to start our week in the Bay Area. But before we crossed the bridge, we went up above for views and photos:
And then across the bridge!
We then took a wrong turn and ended up at Fort Point, where a scene from the movie "Vertigo" was filmed. It offers beautiful views of the bridge:
I remember visiting Fort Point with my family when I was in high school. The day we were there, the fort had a commemorative event with people dressed up in Civil War costumes. (The fort was initially constructed as a defense during the Civil War, even though it was never used for that purpose.)
We drove to the house we rented in San Carlos and went for lunch at a Mexican place not too far away from the house.
Like us, my sister Nadine and her family, who met us in the Bay Area, had an adventure getting there: they missed their flight! Fortunately, they were able to catch one later that day, but they did not arrive until Saturday evening.
The next day, they spent time with Nadine's best friend from medical school, who lives in San Jose, and we went off to the city on an adventure. We walked from Civic Center through the financial district, Chinatown, North Beach, and down to Fishermen's Wharf. The best way to experience a city is on foot!
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| Hamming it up in Chinatown |
We had a lovely Chinese lunch at the Bund Shanghai restaurant, which the kids LOVED.
Onto North Beach and the City Lights bookstore, via Jack Kerouac Alley, where they were about to hold a poetry reading:
We love the City Lights!
We went into the very high-church St. Peter and Paul Church in North Beach, where Mike trained Nicholas on all the various saints in statues and stained glass.
And all the way downhill to Fishermen's Wharf, where we peered in at sourdough bread scultping:
Kieran flattened one of many pennies that week:
And we peered at sea lions:
I do not recommend Fishermen's Wharf on a sunny Sunday afternoon: PACKED with tourists!
Later in the week on our final day in the city, Kieran really wanted to ride on another cable car and I was the only other person interested, so we broke away from the larger group and hopped on the Powell & Mason line. He was desperate to see Lombard Street, but that particular line (unlike the Powell & Hyde) stops several blocks below Lombard Street. For the sake of my son, I hiked up several very steep San Francisco hills so he could experience Lombard Street! His joyous reaction was worth it.
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| At the bottom |
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| In the middle of the street |
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| Touching the street (his idea) |
No Powell & Hyde lines seemed to be coming our way at the top, so we decided to walk all the way down, affording us some amazing views on the way!
It was a memorable moment of our week in the city--just me and my 10-year-old adventurer, walking through the beautiful, hilly city!
Next up: three museums in three days!
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