Day Seventy - Good Old Fashion Trip Report

Okay, so I guess I will actually write a trip report.  I had not planned to do so.  But with the encouragement of just one person, you guys are going to be forced to read every detail about my trip.

We arrived at our hotel, the Hotel Carlton a little before noon on Wednesday.  I had expected that they would not have our room ready yet.  But much to our surprise, we checked right in and went on up.  It was an old boutique hotel located on Sutter St.  The gentleman who checked us in reminded me and Jenny of the man who worked at the front desk of the hotel we stayed at in Barcelona.  His name was Victor.  Since we didn't get this guys name, we decided to just call him Faux Victor.  He was very funny, nice and helpful.  Jenny asked where we could go to see the cable cars turn around and he gave us directions for getting to the cable car turn around at Market and Powell.

So, once we unpacked we headed in that direction.  We had eaten breakfast at the airport in Dallas about 6 hours earlier.  So we were starving.  We stopped on our way to Market and Powell and got a slice of pizza and figured out what we wanted to accomplish on Wednesday while we ate.  Not knowing the difference between a cable car and a trolley, I read that a trolley ride was $2 and you got a free transfer with the $2 fare.  So, we went to the cable car turn around, got in line and got on the cable car.  A cable car ride is $6 and there is no free transfer.  Also, we wanted the Powell - Hyde St. cable car.  We got on the Powell - Mason St cable car instead.  So instead of going past Lombard St. at the top of the hill, we passed Lombard St. at the bottom of the hill and did not stop or really even slow down.  The crooked part of Lombard St. was several blocks up the hill.

A Cable Car on the turning platform.

The cool thing is that I got to stand and hang on to the left side in the very front of our cable car.  So, I had a great view and was able to get a few good pictures.  Poor Jenny had to sit in the seat behind where I was standing.  So it wasn't as great for her.  After the car stopped we got to take a few pictures of each other hanging off the side in the same location that I stood during the ride.  Our original plan had been to get off the cable car at Lombard St. and walk down it.  Now the only option was to walk back to Lombard St.  Which was a few blocks back in the direction we just came from and then walk a few blocks up the hill just to get to the bottom of the crooked part.  Forget about getting to the top of it.

I took this picture as we were in motion going down Powell St.

Jenny on the Cable Car

Me on the Cable Car

So, we hiked to Lombard St. and then up, up, up..... I ran 10 miles once.  That resulted in a stress fracture, a sprained MCL and several months of rehab with a sports doctor.  This climb up Lombard St. hurt worse than the 10 mile run that ended my running days.  There was nothing pleasant about the walk.  The only reason that we didn't quit half a block into it was that I couldn't face being in that much pain and not having anything to show for it!  The picture below really doesn't show fully how big the climb was.  If you could see blood in the street and dead people lying every few feet next to puppies that they had just kicked then you might be able to comprehend how painful this was.

A look at the hill we climbed to get to the bottom of the crooked part of Lombard St.

The stupid crooked street that nearly crippled me.

The only thing that makes this story something that I can repeat without breaking into hysterics is that there were two people in San Francisco last week dumber than me.  They are in the photo below.  They had rented a house at the top of the crooked part of the street.  Their driver dropped them off at the bottom of the crooked part and then drove off leaving them to walk with all of their luggage up the steps to the top of the hill.  I wish that in this picture you could see the smile on my face.  But believe me, it was there.

The only people in San Francisco dumber than us.

After we finished taking pictures of Lombard St. we walked back down the hill.  Walking down the hill was only slightly less painful than walking up it.  Once you have cramps in both calves, even walking down hill hurts.  So, we turned right on Columbus and headed to North Beach for a little stroll through Little Italy on our way to Chinatown.

After a couple of questionable turns we found Chinatown and walked around there for the next few hours.  One of the highlights of the day was finding the fortune cookie factory where we bought a bag full of mixed chocolate and normal flavored fortune cookies.  We also went to a jewelry shop where we each got a piece of jade jewelry.  I got earrings and Jenny got a really cute pendant with Chinese writing on it.  Sadly, we had to take notes so that she would know what it says when someone asked her.  Our brains were sort of mush by then.

After leaving Chinatown we headed back to the hotel which hosted a nightly wine reception.  This was the only night that we were able to get back to the hotel in time for the wine reception.  But we really enjoyed it.  We met an elderly couple from New Zealand who were very interesting and I really enjoyed the conversation.

After wine, we planned to go to a Dim Sum restaurant in the financial district.  I don't know if I am just stupid or what.  Apparently, Dim Sum is Chinese for "lunch" and only served at lunch time and the rest of the world is aware of this.  Or maybe this restaurant is the only Dim Sum restaurant in San Francisco that closes at 3 p.m. everyday.  But the restaurant was closed when we arrived around 7:30 p.m.  Their business hours on the door were 11:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.  I just went back and looked at their website again.  I swear I see nothing about their business hours.  It would have been nice to eat there, but I guess it just wasn't in the cards.

By this point it was 6 hours and several miles of walking since our last meal.  I could have eaten anything!  Walking back toward Union Square we finally settled on a place called Sears Fine Foods for dinner.  I had fish and chips that were good, but not great.  Jenny had a chicken pot pie that looked much better than my meal.  After dinner we hailed the first taxi that drove by.  The $6 that we spent on cab fare may have been the best $6 we spent all week.

Tomorrow, I will tell you about our walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.  Jenny may have to confirm, but I think I was less whiny walking across the GGB than I was on most of the other days.  Let this be a lesson to all of you.  Never go on vacation with someone who has weak calves.