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Wednesday 17th August
We were all awake at 4am this morning (12 noon back home!) but managed to doze for a bit before getting sorted ready for a day exploring San Francisco. First port of call was somewhere for breakfast. We opted for Joanie’s Happy Days Diner (just a play on the name – nothing like the diner from Happy Days!). Callum and Jon both went for breakfast buritos and I had the waffle with mixed berries. All really good and ready to go and explore.
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First up was a ride on the cable cars – the turning circle for one of the Powell & Hyde lines was close by so went there. Arrived just in time to see the operators manually turn one of the carriages around. No queues so we bought a SF Muni Day Pass and rode the cable cars up to Union Square. The cable cars went up the really steep hills and the grip mans skills in clasping onto the cables, letting go to cross the junctions and then holding the car on the hills when needed.
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The plan was to jump back on at Market Street, but the queues were already quite long. Instead, we decided to make our way on foot to the Cable Car Museum – to show Callum how the Cable Car system works. We walked along Market Street, then veered off left towards China Town in search of the Fortune Cookie Factory.
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Jon noticed an interesting wholesalers shop dealing in fish, frogs and terrapins(!) … that couldn’t leave the shop alive! The Fortune Cookie Factory was down a little alley between Jackson and Washington Street and found it pretty easily. The owner was on the door inviting people in – and we were offered a fortune cookie cracker (unshaped fortune cookie) to try. Fresh and crispy unlike the ones you get from the local Chinese. A machine was in action making the biscuit cracker. The two ladies then took a message and placed it inside the hot cracker before folding and shaping the cookie and leaving it to cool and harden. A 50 cent charge for taking photos was well worth it and we came away with a bag of chocolate flavour fortune cookies. Great for Callum and us all to see how they were made (allegedly, fortune cookies originated in San Francisco).
From China Town, we headed back up towards the Cable Car Museum. Not quite sure how we did it, but avoided walking up the steep hills to get back there. The system is over 150 years old and absolutely amazing. They’d tried to get rid of it a couple of times, but it’s a huge tourist attraction (as are the trams!). There are four lines and the gallery overlooks the four sets of flywheels pulling the cables around.
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We tried to catch a cable car back to the top of Lombard Street and had to wait a while as all the cars were full. Eventually, there was room for the three of us on one and Callum and I got to ride on the outside, on one of the seats. We got off at the top of Lombard Street, the windiest street in San Francisco. We watched the cars tentatively set off on their journey down the lane. We walked down the stairs at the side to the bottom to get the iconic photo looking up. The floral displays were passed their best but it’s still an impressive sight.
All this walking was thirsty work. We headed towards the Cannery and stopped at Jacks Bar for a drink. Jon had a glass of the Anchor Californian Amber lager, I had a glass of the Lost Coast Great White (citrus flavour) and Callum some very lemony lemonade. The bar was right next door to the hotel we would be stopping at once we finish our cruise.
Afterwards we had a wander around the National Parks Museum and learnt a little more about the early days of San Francisco. A lot of the city around the coast is actually reclaimed land. Callum then announced he was hungry so we found a place called “The Pub” for lunch. Some sliders – mini burgers. The beef burger one was particularly good. The others were chicken and pulled pork. We had promised Callum ice-cream and the ice cream to try in San Francisco is Ghirardellis. A single scoop of their signature chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone. So glad we made Callum have a single scoop as it was HUGE – the equivalent of three UK scoops for about $6 (£4).
Whilst Callum was working his way through the ice cream, we headed across the road to the Maritime Museum. A working museum preserving the old ship making traditions. Some old ships were alongside but we decided not to pay to go on board. Callum had a go at riveting (hard work!) and they had a few educational activities you could try along the pier.
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Callum admitted defeat on the ice cream front so Jon helped out.
Coit Tower was next on our places to visit. It’s a memorial built on the top of Telegraph Hill with great views of the city. We weren’t going to climb the hill but worked out that the 39 bus would take us to the top. Challenge was to find out where the stops were as these weren’t marked on the map. We walked around the route until we eventually found a Route 39 stop sign.
The road up Telegraph Hill was narrow – not helped by all the cars parked all the way up. The queue to climb the Tower was lengthy – about an hour wait. The staircase was now closed to the public which is a shame as we remembered some murals painted in the stair case. The views from the top were still good although with the fog lying around the bay, it was hazy (and we could only see the legs of the Golden Gate Bridge.
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We walked back down the hill and headed to Pier 39 for a drink at the Wipeout Bar – a surfing bar before heading back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner.
We were meeting up with Ron – a chap that Jon used to work with and now lives in Sausilito. His recommendation for dinner was M.Y.China in Westfield Shopping Center on Market Street. The queues for the cable car were long so we opted for the bus. All was going well until the bus suddenly terminated his route (no one sure why!) and we had to walk the rest of the way.
M.Y.China is one of the more fine dining option on the 4th Floor – Under the Dome which was rather impressive. The Head Chef is the US equivalent of Ken Hom. Decor was fab and so was the food. We had a selection of starters – Mu Shu Pork in Lettuce, another pork dish and some beef in hoisin sauce wrapped in pastry. Callum was starting to fade with tiredness but kept himself awake with a beef noodle broth. I had a seafood noodle dish and Jon a plate of seafood. Ron chose a Kobe Beef dish. Callum was far too tired for pudding so we said our goodbyes and thanks to Ron and caught the bus back to our hotel and Callum was once again asleep before his head hit the pillow.
