San Francisco

This morning we had a very civilized flight time of 11:18 am to San Francisco. When we arrived at the airport at 9 am we checked in quickly with United and breezed through customs!  Honestly, there was nobody in line at US immigration and a number of agents available to check through guests. I guess Easter Saturday is not a busy day to travel!

When we arrived at SFO, we had already decided we would take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to our hotel downtown in the Fisherman's Wharf area.  It is way more affordable than a cab and a fun way to see the city!  We took the BART to the Embarcado station and then tried to figure out how to catch the bus to our hotel. That proved too complex for our little brains so we hailed a cab to navigate the final two miles. Still the cost was about half what a cab would have cost all the way from the airport. 

When we arrived at the Holiday Inn our friends D & L and L's parents were waiting to meet us. L and I have been friends for many years. She married a native San Franciscan and left Canada about 18 years ago. It was so great to see them!  We quickly checked into our room and dropped off our luggage. 

D took us on a driving tour down Marina - where homes face the Bay and cost millions of dollars. Great views of the Bay Area for the drive. We tried to navigate our way onto the Golden Gate Bridge but traffic was too frantic. We opted instead to go visit the Fort underneath the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. We saw the huge cannons used to protect San Francisco - they were put in their 70 years before the bridge. 

We then drove along and stopped to see the stunning Palace of Fine Arts. It was originally constructed for the1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. What stunning architecture!

We then went to Ghiradelli Square where we sampled chocolate and scouted out our dessert plans following supper. L had made reservations at a seafood and beef restaurant called McCormick & Kuleto's. We had a splendid view of the Bay and Alcatraz Island from our dinner table. J had a seafood stew, P had beef steak and I had a salmon dish. Delicious food, stunning view and fabulous company! What a great evening!

While the rest of us enjoyed tea and coffee, P and J left to go buy P his ice cream dessert. We all met up in Ghiradelli Square and posed for pictures in front of a fountain. 

With tickets booked early for Alcatraz, we said good night to our friends and retired to our hotel room!  Glad I packed as many layers as I did - a storm is moving in tonight and it is windy!