We arrived on a very late Thursday night. Not a lot to tell about the first night, but we did have to check into two separate hotels. Will and I stayed at the Galleria Park Hotel, while Justin and James stayed at the Ritz-Carlton. More on the hotels later. In the meantime, Friday was our only real day to spend exploring SF. We had a loose plan in place to go see a few points of interest, but wasn’t quite sure how we’d get there. So, up early and off we went.
- The view looking into Chinatown from nearby the Ritz
Heading north from the Ritz led us straight into Chinatown. In a lot of ways it was a lot like Toronto’s, but then again, most Chinatowns around the world all have the same kinda feeling.
- Some street art serving as a reminder of triumphs of 2010
The trek took us into Little Italy, eventually intersecting with Lombard St. We took a look down the street, down at our watches, then down the street again. It wasn’t originally part of the game plan, but hey, why the heck not? There were some steep hills between our two hotels, but this part of the hike put our legs to the test.
- All smiles, despite the 27% grade (~15 degree angle).
- The crookedest street, from the bottom.
- Again, from the top. The scratches on the wall were hilarious.
Thankfully, the next leg of our hike was either all downhill or flat. But what it lacked in steepness it made up for in sheer length. How far did we walk exactly? You can check our route here. All things considered though, it wasn’t bad.
- The Palace of Fine Arts. Yes, where John Mason reunited with Jade Angelou.
We wanted to make our way towards the Golden Gate Bridge, which was the original destination in our plan, but we had a hard time deciding whether or not to take cab up to the lookout point from where we were. So, maybe foolishly, we just kept walked towards the bridge, saying, “oh, I’m sure it’s just another few steps and we’ll be there.” We were wrong. Very wrong. Serendipitously enough though, we were fortunate to walk to the free Presidigo shuttle service, which took us right to the top. Serendipitous, of course, because it would’ve otherwise taken us another half hour or more to walk there, and it decided to start raining.
Things got a little interesting after that. The forecast had called for rain and we were prepared for it (most of us, anyway), but we weren’t exactly sure how to get to our next stop. Walk? No, too far, not enough time. Cab? No, we’re cheapasses. Bus it was then, except we’d just missed one and would have to wait another 15min. It also stopped short of our next destination, which meant more walking in the rain. By the time we got there, we were cold and soaked, but at least good food awaited us. Hot soup on a cold day, nothing quite like it.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl from Boudin Bakery in Fisherman’s Wharf.
With the rain still falling, we headed over to Pier 39 for a ride over to Alcatraz. Indeed, there was plenty of, “Gentlemen, welcome to The Rock!” (a la Sean Connery). We did what any self-respecting guys would do – found as many references and landmarks that were used in the movie. Sadly though, there was actually very little (at least that we could find) that was actually shot in the film. Nevertheless, it was really cool to see and hear about one of the most feared prisons in American history.
By the time we got on the ferry back to mainland, we were all pretty fed up with the rain and wind, so we quickly jumped into a cab back to the Ritz. Fortunately for us though, we had access to the club lounge where they served complimentary (delicious) hors d’oeuvres, red, white and sparkling wine, beer and desserts. Didn’t get any pictures of it all, but all you really need to know is that there was foie gras. And I ate a lot.