San Francisco - Day 1

"if you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear flowers in your hair..."


we drove into San Francisco the next morning. we had both never been before and I was way excited to finally go there. of course I would have loved to visit it in the 60's but of course that's not possible :) the 60's song San Francisco by Scott Mckenzie makes the city seem so dreamy and magical during that time. the city now is still beautiful though and I really enjoyed our two days there. 

we went to Fisherman's Wharf and walked around.

we went to Boudin bakery for lunch and ate clam chowder in a bread bowl and then toured the bakery. they are famous for their sourdough bread and after already eating it for lunch, we were able to sample more of their bread on the tour.

we were disappointed there was only one sea lion at Pier 39. it was quite popular though and there were a ton of people there taking pictures of it, hah! 

we wanted to tour Alcatraz island but you have to reserve a spot a few months out to go there! at least in the summer, it may be may less busy in the off season. everywhere we went in San Francisco was ridiculously crowded because we were there in peak tourist time. 

this is the "Painted Ladies" a row of Victorian style houses in pastel colors. we didn't do enough research and mistakenly thought that one of these was the Full House house, while the real house is about a block away. it is a common mistake though as many websites online were saying that the house was here. the Painted Ladies were in the opening credits for the show though, and the family is having a picnic in front of them. they are pretty nonetheless!

we walked to the Bay Bridge.

we ate a seafood dinner at Pier Market which overlooks the water.

we then drove to see the Golden Gate Bridge! we got there in the evening just before it got dark. 

we saw a lot of the city that first day and we were exhausted from all the walking around. we got a hotel for the night that was way more than we wanted to pay for a not so great hotel. it was in a safe area though which was difficult to find in the price range we wanted. a lot of the cheaper hotels had shared bathrooms which we were not really up for. 

I had heard from many people that San Francisco is a lot dirtier than they expected but I didn't really get that impression. there were many, many homeless but we have seen that in every large city we have been in. the homeless were a little more aggressive though, and we saw one jump out in front of some girls walking ahead of us to scare them. other than that I felt like it was a normal large city as far as cleanliness.