Trip to California Day 2

Hello my fellow readers,

This is my second day in San Francisco. I am anxious to tell you everything about it, however I would like to share what places I wanted to visit/see in SF as compare what I actually did.

When I am planning my trips (any of them) I do very extensive research and trying to plan as much as possible and I can assure you I want to see as much as humanly possible and sometime impossible. So I was planning to be in SF for 2 days and a few hours in the morning of the third day and I wanted to see standard attractions and more. As you could guess from my earlier posts I like photography and I had to make sure that in addition to tourist traps I will be able to steal some awesome pictures from less known places.

I thought although SF is a city I will be able easily to cover most of it along the coast on the bicycle and I have to admit that was way too ambitious. So the plan was as follows:
1. After I rented bike I planed to have lunch at In-N-Out Burger
2. Ride across Golden Gate Bridge and Take pictures
3. Spend some time in Sausalito and take pictures of SF
4. Take ferry back to SF, eat dinner
5. Take night tour of Alcatraz and take pictures of the sunset
6. Wake up around 5am the next day
7. Ride the bike to Pier 7 and take pictures of Pyramid Building at sunrise
8. Go to see sea lions Pier 39
9. Have breakfast and rent a car
10. Climb Coit tower and see SF from the top
11. Buy groceries for camping
12. Drive out to Lands End and see Sutro Baths
13. Have lunch/dinner on the Baker beach (take more photos of GGB) and possibly see sunset
14. Drive up Twin Picks and take pictures of SF at night with or without fog
15. Wake up early and walk two blocks to famous section of Lombard Street and take pictures before crowd coming up
16. have breakfast, pack and drive to Yosemite
Option: visit Alamo square and Painted Ladies

So on day one I rented the bike, went to eat in In-N-Out Burger and then rode across Golden Gate Bridge. However it took longer than expected to cross the bridge and I spent no time in Sausalito with exception of waiting for a ferry. I had corn dog for a dinner before ferry to Alcatraz. I was way to tired to finish the entire walk around the prison. The only energy I had left was to take a few pictures of sunset (see my post Trip to California Day 1).

My very busy schedule for day 2 was fulfilled only partially.

Due to possible fog/haze forecast and me being tired from the day before I decided not to ride the bike to Pier 7. Instead I went to rent a car at 7am from Enterprise (Beach St). The Enterprise is not far from Pier 39, which is home for sea lions. If you never saw sea lions up close they are really a spectacle. They are loud and they smell bad, but they are so cute. Come early in the morning while sun just touching the pier and there are very few people out there and enjoy. If you are planning to take pictures be prepared to use long lens and tripod. I used 800mm mirror lens

Then I went to have breakfast at the little local breakfast place (Unfortunately I don't remember the name, but it is next to the Enterprise). I had a great breakfast: eggs Benedict perfectly cooked with grilled tomatoes and very good coffee.

After breakfast I went to buy groceries for camping. After the groceries the bike was returned (it was a relieve not to be on a saddle, trust me) and I drove to the Alamo square to see Painted Ladies:

I continued to Lands End and Sutro Baths, but got lost and came to Baker Beach instead. The view of Golden Gate Bridge is equally stunning from that point:

I returned to hotel and walked to In-N-Out Burger (yes again because it is relatively quick and relatively cheap) via famous section of Lombard Street:

After lunch I continued on foot to retrieve a few Geocaches (If you are not familiar with term Geocaching read about it in my next post). One Geocache was hidden near Fort Maison, however I did not find it. The second one was located in the area of The Wave Organ, so I decided to walk all the way there. On the way I saw that:

On the way from the Wave Organ, I noticed building that I was not planning to visit - The Palace of Fine Arts Theatre. I was surprised by the building unusual structure and decided to check it out:

I was a few miles away from the hotel, it was getting late and I had to eat something. I ended at Patxi's Chicago Pizza on Fillmore St. It is nice place and waiters know their trade, however service is very slow (may be because everything is made to order and it takes time to bake deep dish pizza, which I was not impressed with). After I finished with food I managed to go a few more blocks to the hotel. If my memory correct I did 13 miles that day. All I had to do now is to pack and go to sleep or go to sleep and pack in the morning. I will let you know in my next post. The things I missed were Pier 7, Coit Tower, Lands End & Sutro Baths and Twin Picks. These places will be my priority next time I am in San Francisco.

Trip to California Day 1

Hello again,

This is my first day in San Francisco California. This is my first time on the West Coast of the United States. (I have to say that I've been in Vancouver a few years back and I really liked the weather there so I hoped the weather in San Francisco with be similar - low humidity and clear air).

The flight from Newark NJ by Continental was OK. Since it was one of the first flights of the day there was no delay to take off and plane arrived a few minutes earlier. After I finally got the luggage and found way to BART things got a little bit confusing. (I was trying to find out how to get from the airport to the hotel I was staying in San Francisco: From the gate I was supposed to go to the Blue line monorail, then switch to BART, then to take the bus to Lombard Street). As I said the reality was a little bit different: The directions from Blue Line monorail were a little bit confusing - I had to go up a few floors, then down half the floor. The elevators to BART were very narrow. After I finally got to BART I had to get ticket, which in a way was challenging to people coming from New York area - first you have to choose how many tickets, then you have to choose how much you are going to pay per each ticket and then pay for the ticket (the system we used to on East coast is to choose your destination first, then choose number of tickets and then to pay amount is specified on the machine). I have to say though that people working at the airport BART station are familiar with BART tickets limitations and are very friendly and helpful even when there are a lot of people trying to get tickets on Saturday morning.

The BART ride was nice and relatively quick. After I got to the appropriate station I had to walk for 3 blocks to the bus station (If you are from NYC, distances between streets in SF are not as evenly spaced as in NYC). The app for MUNI was really good and helped to let me know when my bus is coming to the bus stop I was at. Ride on the bus took about 25 minutes and the hotel was very short distance from the bus stop.

I was staying at Lombard Motor Inn right off Van Ness Ave. Although prices were high I did not expect the Inn to be of a high quality (I came to SF on Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend). I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel. Please see my review on www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60713-d119640-r224944597-Lombard_Motor_Inn-San_Francisco_California.html

I wanted to ride bicycle over Golden Gate Bridge. So I rented bicycle from the little bike rental on Lombard Street a few blocks from hotel: Bike & View Bicycle Rentals and Tours (for my review of this place go to: ShowUserReviews-g60713-d7022852-r228204071-Bike_View_Bike_Rentals_and_Tours-San_Francisco_California.html ). I have to be honest and say that I was trying to prepare myself for riding bicycles in SF, however nothing can prepare you than experience itself (hills and all). I did walk most of hills :), but downhill ride was a blast. I also underestimated some distances in SF and without bike ride probably would never be able to see them, unless used public transportation.

The things that I've seen in San Francisco on the first day (5/24/14) are:

Fort Mason on the way to In-N-Out Burger that I had for late lunch (dinner per NYC time)

Fort Mason, Chrissy Field on the way to Golden Gate Bridge

Note: on the weekends or holiday you can only ride bicycles on the West side of the Bridge. However if you want to see the Bridge from the vista point overlooking San Francisco, you have to cross the bridge on the East side. Otherwise you will be going down the hill under the bridge and then up the hill again in order to get to that vista point.
Golden Gate Bridge from the other side

A little bit of Sausalito on the way to ferry to get back to SF
Down Town of SF from the ferry

Alcatraz (I was on the last evening tour, however in the spring fog is not too common, so I did not get the creepy feeling, that people were talking about, but the sunset was nice. Keep in mind it is very very windy on the island and temperatures are a few degrees lower than on the main land)

I was exhausted by the end of the day and cut the tour shorter (I left on earlier boat off the island). I have to tell you that the hill to the hotel from the Fort Maison was not too steep and I could probably ride most of it up, but I after such a busy day I walked it all the way to the hotel stopping at small convenient store to get something to to munch on before the bed time. I needed a good rest for the next day.