San Francisco, California May 2019

Getting from the Airport

We arrived at OAK and used BART to get to Powell Street.

After exiting OAK airport you will see the large BART structure ahead of you. The transfer to Coliseum station is free and from there you choose your route. We paid 10.95 from Coliseum to Powell Street. Double-check the schedule using the BART app. We returned on a Sunday and found the service was reduced and we had to transfer.

Transit

You can buy a Clipper Card from Walgreens. The card is an all-in-one transit card for the Bay area. We bought a 3-day pass for $29 (plus $3 for the reloadable card). Considering that one ride of a Cablecar costs $7, the Clipper card is good value if you plan on riding on a Cablecar, Vintage trolley, or Muni (bus).

Mayflower Hotel

We liked the location and ambience of the Mayflower Hotel. The hotel is not new and has 2 elevators with old fashioned gates. Part of the charm. We stayed in a 1 bedroom suite which came with a trundle bed so all 3 adults had a good place to sleep. When we went out of the day we stopped at the desk for candies to fuel our walk. There is a market next door. Check out was 1pm. You have to book by phoning them directly.

The hotel is family-owned EST 1929. Breakfast is included.

Mayflower Hotel

The Painted Ladies

We walked from Haight Ashbury to Divisidaro to get Alamo Park to see the Victorian houses back-dropped by downtown skyscrapers, providing quite a contrast. As throughout SFO, the hills can be challenging. The grassy hillside overlooking the houses is a place to sit and look at the view of the city. The people-watching can be interesting and when you are tired of looking at people, the park also has a dog gathering area.

Children's play area in Golden Gate Park

What a fun area for the kids. I have never seen a slide quite like the one here. Kids took pieces of cardboard to the top and slid down the cement slide. The Bubble Pirate was in the area at the time we were there and I saw my first bubble dragon. Can you see the dragon?

The Hidden Garden Steps

We took the Muni (bus) to Judah stop, got off at 16th. We walked to 17th and turned right to get to the 17th Ave Steps. It's quite a hike up but you need to climb and then go right to see the next set of steps.

Fortune Cookie Factory

We found it! This hole-in-the-wall shop is tucked in a small alley at 56 Ross Alley. It's super small and you may have to line up to get inside. Once inside you take a few steps to see the assembly line and then double back to the cashier. It's a quick stop. I bought a bag of regular and tea flavoured fortune cookies so everyone at home could try one. Signage asks you to pay .50 if you want to take pictures inside.

The shop has been family-owned and making homemade cookies for 55 years.

Vintage Streetcars

San Francisco's Municipal Railway has assembled one of the most diverse collections of vintage streetcars, trolleys, and trams in transit service anywhere. Up to 20 of these vintage vehicles carry passengers along Market Street and The Embarcadero every day. https://www.streetcar.org/streetcars/

Once inside, look for a plaque with the year and history of the car you are riding in.

Alcatraz

Book ahead to be sure to get a seat on the ferry and your ticket on to the island.

 I learned so much on this tour. I never knew that it had been occupied by American Indians from Nov 20,1969 - Jun 11,1971 and you can see evidence all around the island. 

The gardens and birds were amazing. 

We got off the boat, listened to the introduction and then saw a film before we started to explore. The audio tour was amazing. It walked you from place to place inside the prison and you heard stories told by some prisoners. Everyone has a headphone so the place is quiet. The gift shop was very interesting. I'd love to go back and explore the gardens.

Great gift shop. 

Beautiful flowers are everywhere

Look for evidence of the occupation.

California sea lions at the pier

Head to Pier 39 to watch the sea lions sleep and interact with each other. https://www.pier39.com/merchant/sea-lions/

I will be back to visit you again, San Francisco!

A weekend in San Francisco

My sister has rented an apartment for a month in San Francisco. She is working on her Masters and loves this city so has decided to explore and study.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to let her show me why she loves SFO so much. I flew down on Friday Oct 31, 2014 and flew home on Sunday November 2. It was a quick trip but it was fun.

Halloween night should be an interesting time for people watching. M took me to the Castro district (gay area) as it was very close to her apartment. So many costumes, so much to see. We ended up sitting in a Vietnamese restaurant watching the buses go by with every adult on board in costume. We were the only ones in SFO out of costume.

During my only full day there, we took trollies, walked, shopped, and ate. This weekend was a special trolly weekend and all of the old ones ran through the streets for this weekend only.

Fisherman's Wharf

That's Alcatraz in the background

As seen from the Fairmont Hotel

Three days in San Francisco

Do not put nail polish on while you are in an airplane! It smells and is highly flammable. Bad passenger, bad!

My sister, niece and I shared an AirBnB apartment in the Castro/Haight area for our 3 day stay in San Francisco.

Had to see the Painted Ladies. We climbed the hill during the day on Valentine's Day and found an communal art project propped against a tree, so we contributed.

Buy some cheese toast here

Took a free tour of the Ferry Building and then walked around the markets both inside and out. Loved the Zeppole doughnuts and butter caramel dip.

They melt the cheese and then scrape it onto the bread.

The three of us shared this plate.

We ate our way around San Francisco.

The largest Chinatown outside of Asia. I would like to have found the fortune cookie factory but couldn't. Next time I will make better plans to find the place.

We picked up ingredients for dinner at the market and took it back to the apartment.

We found our dessert at the Cheesecake Factory on the 8th floor of Macy's. The place was packed so we opted for take-out.

We walked up the hill overlooking the Painted Ladies and watched a fire develop below.

Had to go see what the fire was all about.

We made a pit stop at this church on our way to the Mosaic Steps. 

We found them!

And we walked them

Second set of steps

After the third set of steps we made it to the top.

Visited and walked on the Golden Gate Bridge

View of the ocean