San Francisco, California - Day 19

the sea lions

We have to get ready to go down to see Alcatraz when we get up. Uncle Mark made lemon bread – yum – for breakfast. I did no research about getting around in San Francisco since I was going to have someone to tell us what was best? Even better, they get on the train with us because they have a party to go to at that end of town. We get off at Pier 39 with directions on how to get back home. After picking up our tickets for the tour (I had to purchase them several days in advance because the tour is VERY popular), we have some time so we head over to see the sea lions. They are very funny and very stinky!!! We go through a couple of the shops at the pier but soon have to head over for the boat trip. It is very foggy and cool today (normal summer weather in San Fran) and it is very cool on the top of the boat. But, we get a great view of the city and the island as we approach it. We arrived on alumni day and we get to talk to a former inmate as well as a couple former guards. The whole island was very interesting. It has a lot of history before it became a prison and seeing the prison itself was neat. We finally head back to the docks and set off to find In N Out Burger which was highly recommended. We have a late lunch and then go to find the cable cars for part of the ride back to Uncle Mark and Uncle Jon’s house. Unfortunately, the wait is an hour so we take the regular old train instead. Once back to the house, we quickly regroup, hop into the car (yay, someone else gets to drive!!!) and head out for a tour of the city. First we go up to the Twin Peaks but the fog has moved in so we really don’t get to see much of the city – but it has to be a spectacular view on a clear day. We ride down Ashbury street for hippie central and take a drive through Golden Gate Park (you could easily spend days exploring this park!!!). We go for a walk out onto the bridge which was amazing. We go up and down Lombard Street – it is very special in both directions!!! We head back to the house and park the car and then walk to get dinner. It only took about 30 minutes and walking in all directions before we find something everyone can be happy with – burritos (gee, that was what Uncle Jon wanted all along……….). When we get back to the house, we play Mexican Train for a while and then head for bed. It was a long day!!!