An April Getaway to the City by the Bay

Only a few days after the visit of my parents, Susan and I were off to San Francisco to meet up with Susan’s sister, her mom, and her youngest niece.  Her sister was in the Bay area for a conference the following week and that was all the impetus we needed to plan a weekend getaway to meet them and check out San Fran together.

Early Friday morning, Susan and I left for Salt Lake and flew to San Francisco, arriving just before 10am.  Once Susan’s family arrived about an hour and a half later, we had the rental car ready to go and made our way downtown to the Fisherman’s Wharf area to our hotel.  We arrived at the Holiday Inn to realize that we were actually in separate hotels (Holiday Inn and HI Express…oops).  Luckily they were right next door to one another so no big deal.  Once that was sorted, Susan and I had a pier to get to for a ferry departure to Alcatraz.

Wasting no time, we caught the 1pm ferry to Alcatraz Island and completed the audio tour.  Otherwise, we mainly wandered the island enjoying the view and the weather and not partaking in any of the other major exhibits before catching the ferry back to SF proper.

Alcatraz island from the ferry   &   Sign at Alcatraz

A cell at Alcatraz   &   Al Capone’s niece signing her book

In front of our ferry

With the early morning buzz of activity, it was time for Susan to relax and catch up with her family.  I took the opportunity to get in a quick afternoon run where I headed west along the wharf area, past Fort Mason and into the Marina District.  There was a food truck gathering at Fort Mason and the parks were packed with people out enjoying perfect Friday afternoon weather. 

Cleaned up and back at the hotel, it was off to dinner at Leopold’s in the Russian Hill area.  This Austrian/German restaurant was excellent and had a great atmosphere (think of a more subdued and authentic Hofbrahaus experience).  The three ladies enjoyed snitzel and I had the pan-fried trout which was much better than the version I had in Brno over the summer…mainly since they filleted it properly and wrapped it in bacon.  Our drive home took us near the top of Lombard St. so we took the opportunity to wind our way down and back to the hotel for the night.

Saturday brought a leisurely morning and breakfast at the hotel before driving to Chinatown for a City Guides walking tour.  The tour started at Portsmouth Square Plaza, which was heavily trafficked by the local population who gathered there for the playground, reading newspapers, Tai Chi classes, and tile and card games among other activities.  As the guide began the tour, we started to wonder if we’d make it through the whole thing.  He spoke quietly and was hard to hear over the background noise and also tended to ramble at times.  Luckily, we didn’t ditch the tour before leaving the park since it picked up once we got on the move.  Highlights of the tour were the back-alleys, the architecture, the fortune cookie factory, and the small markets.  About 2 hours after we started, the tour ended near Old St. Mary’s church and we returned to the car with some shopping en route.

 
Some highlights of the tour

Group shot after the tour

Locals at the square

Back near the wharf area, it was lunchtime so we split up and got ourselves fed.  Susan and I opted for The Codmother, a food cart with an outdoor seating area.  The fish and chips for Susan and the fish tacos and garlic fries for me were both excellent, and the lady I assumed to be the Codmother herself was quite a character and seemed to love her job.

Post-lunch it was time for a break before heading out in the evening for a drive northwest and over the Golden Gate Bridge.  We continued north and into Muir Woods National Monument to walk amongst the Redwoods.  Little Eva was put to sleep by the drive, so Susan’s mom stayed with her in the car while the rest of us wandered a portion of the scenic trail (and got free admission via my Annual Parks Pass!). 

  
Driving across the bridge   &   Tree pose with the trees

Hugging a Redwood

As we made our way back toward the city for the evening, we pulled off at the Marin Headlands and took in the south-facing views of the Golden Gate Bridge with the city skyline as a backdrop…very impressive views.

Saturday night, we dined in Ghirardelli Square at the Pub.  The food was good, pretty much standard pub fare, but after dinner we indulged in Ghirardelli ice cream which was the highlight.  With full bellies we returned to the hotel for the night.

Sunday morning I got up early for a run where I made my way first out to Pier 39 to say good morning to the sea lions and then continued south along the shoreline, under the Bay Bridge, and down to AT&T Park before retracing my route back to the hotel.  After cleaning up and grabbing a snack, it was time to check out.  Miraculously, we fit the luggage and baby gear into the Camry a 2nd time before heading over to Hyde St to catch a trolley, which we rode to its terminus on Market St then waited in line to ride it back.  On the return route we got premier seating in the open-air front area.

Back at the car we were westward bound to dine at the Cliff House Bistro.  While waiting for our table Susan and I wandered a little on the Land’s End trails before succumbing to the chilly wind and heading back for shelter.  Brunch/lunch was excellent with highlights for me being the eggs San Francisco and the popovers.

Leaving the Cliff House brought us to about the end of our time in the bay area.  We needed to drop off Susan’s family at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay where her sister had some afternoon conference obligations, so we took a scenic route down the coast and hung-out a little bit while they got settled at the hotel.  Then Susan and I departed for the airport so we could hurry up and wait for our delayed flight home.  Finally, at around 12:45am Mountain Time, we pulled back into our apartment in Logan.

Next weekend I have the Salt Lake Marathon looming and we’re only a couple weeks away from a visit back to the Midwest.