Day Seventy-One - More Trip Report

I am going to continue my trip report today.  But it will be a little choppy since I have already told you about the experience that we had going to Muir Woods and Sonoma.

I don't mind telling you that after all of the strenuous walking we did on Wednesday, I was a little worried about whether or not I would still be able to walk at all on Thursday.  So, the fact that we were to spend most of the day on a bus was very appealing to me.  After we returned from our Muir Woods/Wine Country Tour we were pretty tired.  It was after 7 and I was very hungry.  Our hotel had a restaurant called Saha.  When we walked by, it seemed very festive and busy.  We took a look at the menu and I immediately wanted to try it.  I regularly cook lamb tagines at home and this place had other types of tagine.  So I was completely in.  I don't know how Jenny felt about that but she said she would be able to find something she wanted so, we went in.

I had a seafood tagine that was to die for!  I would have licked the plate if I had felt it would have been acceptable.  I have looked Saha up since returning and it turns out to be a Yemeni restaurant.  I had never heard of Yemeni food before.  I had thought it was Moroccan until I looked it up.  The food seemed similar to me, but I just looked both Yemen and Morocco up and they aren't even close geographically.  Anyway, my point is, if you are ever in San Francisco and looking for a really good restaurant, go to Saha located in the Carlton Hotel.  Trip Advisor ranks it as #37 of 3,238 restaurants in San Francisco.

Friday was a day that both Jenny and I had really been looking forward to.  This was the day we had planned to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.  We started out by walking to Union Square and buying Hop On Hop Off bus tickets.  I don't know if I had mentioned previously, but our hotel was 6 blocks from Union Square.  So that was a doable walk, but it wasn't something that you would want to do, considering the hills, more than a couple of times a day.  Leaving our hotel, the first 2 blocks to Leavenworth was up hill then the rest of the walk to Union Square was all down hill.  That means on the way back to the hotel, you were walking 4 blocks up hill.  If you are from Nacogdoches, this hill was similar to Orton Hill.

So we got to Union Square and boarded a bus which took us to Fisherman's Wharf where we had to change buses to get on one that would take us to the GGB.  We drove past the Presidio which by now we were fully aware had been bought by George Lucas and now houses his movie studios.  We stopped and took multiple pictures of the dome at the Palace of Fine Arts which George Lucas apparently looks out on everyday and inspired the shape of R2D2.

The Palace of Fine Arts

 I never really got a decent picture of the dome since we never left the bus to take pictures and the columns sort of blocked part of the dome, but you get the point.  The bus just paused at the Palace of Fine Arts long enough for a few pictures and then we were on our way to the GGB.  Once we arrived at the south side of the bridge we disembarked and made our way over to the trails and overlook.  The 75th anniversary of the bridge had just been a few weeks earlier so you could still see the design in the flowers.

To the left of the Round House you can see the 75th anniversary design made up in petunias.

Jenny in front of the bridge.

 We walked around for a few minutes taking pictures before we got on the bridge.  There were several different areas to take pictures where you could get a slightly different view.  The closer you got to the bridge the better you could see the insane surfers attempting to ride the 50 degree water just at the edge of the bridge.  Once we were on the bridge every 50 feet or so, there were little standing areas so that you could stand and take pictures without interfering with pedestrian and bicycle traffic.  So, most of the rest of the pictures of our crossing were taken from those.  Although some

The black dots in the water are surfers and paddle boarders in wetsuits.

of them were taken just as we were walking without stopping or from either of the two towers.  Walking up to the bridge was a pretty steep incline so I was really starting to worry since my calves were so sore from the walk up Lombard St. a few days before.  But once we were on the bridge the walk was relatively easy.  The 1.7 miles across he bridge was probably the most pleasant walk of the trip outside of the walk through Muir Woods.  Of course it probably wasn't  all that aerobic since we stopped at least 50 times to take pictures.  But it was still better exercise than just driving over the bridge.  Here are a few more pictures taken at different points along the bridge.

 These pictures of Jenny and I were taken just before we reached the first tower.  The one below was taken just as we approached the first tower.  At this point there were people lying down to take pictures.  I didn't go that far.  But maybe I would have gotten a better picture if I had.  The problem, though, would have been getting back up if I had laid down.....

Marin County Line at the 2nd Tower.

Once we were past the second tower we noticed Sea Lions in the water in an area with a strong current.  I think they must have been feeding.  I would show you pictures, but it really just looks like a black dot in the water.  We got back on the bus at Vista Point after snapping a few pictures there.  I really like the view from there.  This is the only place I was able to get pictures from on my previous trip, but it is really a good vantage point.

Bridge from Vista Point

Once we were back on the bus we went on in to Sausalito and had lunch.  We ate at an Italian restaurant called Angelino's.  The view was great.  We sat on the sidewalk.  My Pizza Margherita was a little less than mediocre.  Jenny really enjoyed her Fusilli al Forno though.  So, I guess I just ordered the wrong thing.  After leaving Angelino's we headed back to the bus stop and picked up a cup of ice cream on the way.

The bus took us back to Fisherman's Wharf.  From there we walked over the Ghirardelli Square and looked around before walking back over to Fisherman's Wharf and eventually to Pier 39.  One of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing the Sea Lions at Pier 39.  I loved them!!!!  I probably have 60 pictures of them, but I am attaching only a few favorites in the margin.  We thought about leaving the Fisherman's Wharf area and going back to the hotel before dinner.  But then we would have had to get back down there and I for one, was not up for another crazy walk.  A cab would have been an option but we ended up just staying down there until dinner time and then heading back toward the hotel.

We had dinner at Scoma's which was amazing!  I had seared Tuna and it was delicious.  I honestly don't know what Jenny had because I was too focused on my meal.  After we left Scoma's we decided to take a cable car to the TOP of Lombard St.  This time Jenny got to stand up.  We got off the cable car at Lombard St. took a few pictures and then walked the rest of the way back to the hotel.  I don't mind telling you that I was pretty bitchy on the way back to the hotel.  We have been back in Dallas since Sunday and my calves still hurt.  Jenny had a really bad cold the entire trip and didn't complain about it like I did about my calves.  I guess I am a whimp.  But they HURT!!!!

Tomorrow, I will tell you all about the baseball game on Saturday.  Have a great day!