Last Day in San Francisco

We did some more sightseeing on Monday. We took the bus over to view the Painted Ladies which is located at Alamo Square. It is a famous row of houses which are usually shown in TV shows that are set in San Francisco including "Full House" and "Charmed". The houses were pretty, but not quite as exciting as we had hoped. I'm glad we went to see them, though, because afterwards we stumbled upon city hall and the civic center as we walked back towards downtown.


The Painted Ladies. Unfortunately the sun was behind them so they are a bit shadowed.

Here we are in front of the Painted Ladies.

I took a photo of this house because I thought it was cool. I love the architecture in San Francisco.

The front of City Hall.

This view is from the back side. Isn't it marvelous?

Rozanne in front of an old fashioned, but working mail box.

This building housed the symphony.

Candid shot.

Inside city hall. It was quite ornate and incredibly beautiful!

I loved the princess stairs.

I liked this fountain.

This was the opera house.

Scott in front of city hall.

The Asian Museum.

Scott in front of that giant statue.

The front of the statue with city hall in the back ground.

Afterwards we met up with Eric and had lunch at the Burger Bar. It's located on the 6th floor of Macy's.

The view from the restaurant.

It was sad to say goodbye to Eric & Rozanne. We had such a great time and were glad we got to spend some time with them. We caught the BART back to the airport and made it home with little fuss (thank goodness!). We were happy to see the girls and sleep in our own bed. I think the best part of travelling is coming home to those you love! Thank you again, Gamma, for coming to watch the girls so we could make this trip!

San Francisco, Day 2

Sunday was a busy day. We managed to visit both Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown.


We were impressed with the view from our room. You can just make out the cable car tracks going up the hill (Powell St). Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to ride it.

Another view from our hotel room window. I really enjoyed staying downtown. We didn't rent a car (one night of parking was an additional $47) and ended up either walking or using public transportation, which was not too bad except for a few scary people.

Scott on the 12th floor elevator lobby.

Eric had to go in early to his conference, so we met up with Rozanne for breakfast. This is the hotel lobby.

We had breakfast at Lori's Diner. The food was pretty good.

Every diner needs an Edsel to complete their decor :)

We took this trolley to Fisherman's Wharf. It's $2 (cash) to ride. The concierge at the hotel was really nice, and she gave us good tips for using public transportation.

We went to Pier 39 when we were here in April. This giant macaroni is a new addition. Scott groaned when he saw it because he knows how much I love giant art, and that he would have to be in the picture, too!

Something else that was new. It had tons of cool things.

I thought about buying this crab hat, but Scott thought I was already crabby enough without it ;)

Scott with the lobster. We spent quite a while shopping and got the girls a lot of souvenirs.

Rozanne with Alcatraz in the background.

We saw the sea lions.

Poor Scott complained that he had to pose for all the pictures since the girls were not with us. He was a good sport, though.

Of course we had to stop at the Boudin Bakery! They have the best sourdough bread.

We got to watch him make this alligator out of bread dough.

Then we had lunch there. Rozanne got a sourdough bowl with clam chowder. Yum!

We didn't realize that there was a museum upstairs at the bakery last time we were there. Luckily Scott found it, so we paid our $3 and went on a self-guided tour. It was neat to learn about the history of Boudin. Here are some examples of their breads.

In the olden days the bakery would deliver bread to your door and literally hang the loaves on nails in your door. Can you imaging having fresh baked bread delivered to your door every morning? That would be so awesome!

Delivery wagon.

More bread-I hadn't seen the fish before.

You can see the giant mixers they use. There are Rozanne & Scott behind the windows. They have used the same "mother dough" for over 150 years!

We all took a quiz to find out what kind of bread we most resembled. Here is Scott taking his quiz.

Rozanne doing her quiz.

This was Scott's result.

This was Rozanne's.

And mine...funny thing is it's my favorite type of bread :) What do you think, are they accurate?

We walked down to check out a submarine & ship. We didn't actually tour them as it was a bit pricey.

Here I am as Rosie the Riveter.

Rozanne

Scott in front of the Jeremiah O'Brien

Further down the wharf we found a little courtyard area with an ice cream shop.

All the different treats available.

It was a very beautiful & secluded spot. We enjoyed some sun and live music.

Had to take a picture of these beautiful flower filled arches.

On the way back to the hotel we passed Union Square which has 4 hearts at its entrances. Here is one of them.

We also passed Neiman Marcus which had this beautiful rotunda entrance.

The glass ceiling. It was so amazing.

Later we met up with Eric and headed to Chinatown. We couldn't find the "gates" on our last trip, so were glad we finally found it! It was only about 3 blocks from our hotel.

Scott at the gate.

Eric and a golfing frog.

I think Eric took this photo. The lanterns were very festive.

We passed by a ton of jewelry stores.

Scott & Eric taking a break from window shopping. We managed to get Gabby a few scarves.

We were hungry and so decided to eat in Chinatown. Here is a picture of the restaurant...it's right on the corner.

Here we are under their awning.

This church was right across the street from the restaurant.

It was so beautiful-these pictures don't do it justice.

After Chinatown we walked around a bit then ended the night with banana splits at Lori's Diner. It was a busy but really fun day. By the way, those banana splits were YUMMY!