We had a very interesting day today. Drove all through the city. First, we went to Stonestown Galleria, a real indoor shopping mall. We had lunch there and checked out the stores. AE needed some real help. Then we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. Nothing too spectacular about that, but the views were very pretty and Sausalito was nice. On our way back, we drove down Lombard street, the really steep street that curves back and forth. That was a lot of fun. We have video of Golden Gate and Lombard we’ll have to post later. Then we set out to find the bubble tea place that Sarah went to with her cousin Eric a year ago. It was on Clement Street, and they have their own website www.genkicrepes.com! The bubble tea there was very tasty. On our way back we drove by the ‘Full House’ vista (it’s really just the ‘Painted Ladies’ houses, but there they were. We couldn’t find where the real Full House house was. I thought it’d be cool to go down Lombard street again, but somehow we ended up near Downtown on Market street, where, once you get on the street, you can’t make any left turns…the direction we wanted to go. So instead, you have to go around the block and go straight through the intersection. Then we made it back to Lombard and down again (this time in the dark) with only minimal honking at other cars who were driving stupidly (making left turns where they can’t). Tonight we walked down Fisherman’s Wharf. Sarah purchased some souveniers at a pirate store, and as we were walking down the street a scary homeless man made a growling noise at us after ‘hiding’ behind some tree branches. Very weird. We went to Pier 39, home of the Sea Lions. They were very loud. I tried to get a picture, but it was too dark to see them. We ate at the Pier Market Restaurant that’s evidentally been around almost as long as the pier hasn’t been a garbage dump. The food was delectable. Walking back from there, I was ‘had’ by a shoe shine. He said that if he could guess “where I got my shoes” city state and everything, he’d shine them for free. He said that I got my shoes on my feet and they’re in San Francisco, CA. So it was $5 for the shine and $5 for the line ($10). My shoes did need a bit of cleaning after wearing them in the rain, so now they look clean again. Of course, I could have bought a bottle of polish for the same price, but I would never have used it up, so I figure it was an investment into the man’s future. (or something like that) And that brings us to 10pm here. Tomorrow we drive to Sacramento with a possible stop in Napa (if the roads aren’t bad and things are cleaned up from the flooding earlier in the week). Otherwise, maybe we’ll get to see the Gov, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Fisherman’s Wharf Sign

Had a late start today (around noon). We ate lunch at ‘In-n-Out Burger’ which was really quite tasty. Then we walked to Chinatown. The weather was beautiful…mid 60′s, perfectly clear, best day so far! We had a great time going through all the little shops in Chinatown and bought lots of souveniers and gifts for people. We walked back around 4 or so and went to the ‘Basic Brown Bear Factory’, which is basically like Build-A-Bear workshop, only they make their own clothes and bears right there in the shop. We built a baby for Georg and Micaela and named it Kilikina, which means Christina in Hawaiian. This evening we went back to Chinatown for dinner. We at at ‘House of Nan King’ which was absolutely delicious! Huge portions for not a lot of money. Oh yeah, this afternoon I introduced Sarah to Lychee jelly. And later in the afternoon, we had bubble tea. Sarah had Almond (her favorite) and I had Taro (my favorite). The Taro was FRESH, not powdered like most places. The flavor was very strong, but very good. Back to tonight, after dinner, we walked down toward the financial discrict and the shopping area. We saw 3 Gap stores, 3 Aldo’s and AMERICAN EAGLE!! It was really weird, becasue Lori, Sarah’s manager from Rosedale from a few years ago, was the store manager at the location we were at. We didn’t know she worked there. So Sarah and her had a good chat about AE happenings. On our way back, we stopped at Sephora and Sarah bought some lip plumping stuff, and I showed her the man-makeup. We saw another Gap. It is amazing all the stores that are down there! Anything you can name is there. It’s like MOA outside. We walked through Chinatown on our way back and bought more stuff, and then made our way back to the hotel. By the end of the day we estimated that we walked about 8-9 miles total. My legs hurt! It’s not like it was walking on a flat surface, San Fran is all built on hills. It was a great day though! The weather was perfect for being outside. I Love San Francisco!!!

St. Peter and Paul Cathedral

Coit Tower from Washington Square

Chinatown Gate

Transamerica Pyramid from the middle of Colombus Avenue

San Francisco from just below Telegraph Hill

The San Fran – Oakland Bay Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge from the top of Telegraph Hill

Alcatraz from Telegraph Hill