San Francisco in 48 Hours

As I have mentioned before, we usually like to squeeze in as much as we can on our vacations.  On my summer trip, I wanted to take Hunter to San Francisco for a few reasons. The first being that it is the closest major coastal city to Yosemite, it was also opportunity for us to visit another Major League Baseball Stadium, and it was a chance for him to fish in the ocean. And finally, just because it is a unique city that everyone should try to visit at least once in their lives.

We were not going to have a lot of time to spend in San Francisco because of driving, other stops, and it’s not a cheap city to visit.  So I wanted to make the most of our 48 hours in San Francisco. I initially debated on staying at a less expensive hotel and driving in for the day, but ultimately decided to “splurge” and stay in the city.  (Which I highly recommend!)

After making the decision to stay in the city, next came on where to stay in the city.  As with all major cities there are different areas within the city. After much research and investigating my options, I decided that the Union Square area would best fit our needs.  First being because of location. We wanted to squeeze as much as we could into our two half days and one full day in the bay. Union Square was centrally located to those attractions and cost wise I was able to find something that I was comfortable spending.  It was still more than I was usually spend, but I finally came to terms with it. And I am ever so grateful that I did.

I finally settled upon the Hotel Union Square.  It is an historic hotel that has been revitalized.  It was a block from the main hub of transportation in Union Square.  You could look out the windows and see the turnaround for the cable cars. And right next to that was access to the MUNI, busses and street cars. I chose to purchase the 3 Day Visitor Passport which allowed us unlimited access to all of this during our time.  We parked the car (which wasn’t cheap) and enjoyed public transportation during our stay, which was easy since we were so near a stop for all forms.

Back to the hotel,  the rooms were modern and offered several amenities, such as a Keurig and collapsible water bags instead of water bottles.  When making my room selection (I used Priceline like I normally do), I chose two “upgrades.”  One was needed and the other not. Since it is an older hotel, some rooms aren’t large and don’t offer an in-room bathroom, you share with others on your floor.  I chose to spend a little more and reserve a room with our own bathroom. The second upgrade was unnecessary. We were visiting in San Francisco in July. I knew that the weather would be cooler than back home, but not as cool as we experienced.  I chose to pay a little more for air conditioning in our room. We did not need air conditioning (I would have preferred heat). The temperatures never got out of the 60’s and in the morning it was in the upper 40’s plus the wind from that city by the bay.  (I only packed one cold weather outfit or hoodie which is why it looks like we are wearing the same clothes for two or three days.) A word of advice – Pack more than one cold weather outfit!

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Our hotel also offered a concierge to help with any questions we may have.  Aaron became friends with Reuben while we were checking in, and he was a great resource in our initial encounter with public transportation.  He provided a city map and explained what MUNI train to take to AT&T Ballpark and our other attractions. While Aaron was learning from Reuben, he was also enjoying some California wines because our hotel offered a free wine reception with live music.  Aaron was a fan!

We arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday around noon after our drive in from Yosemite. The plan of attack was to check out Chinatown because we were only a couple blocks away then later that evening attend a Giants game. (I had spent a day in San Francisco back in 1996 and had seen the highlights, but my one request for San Francisco was Chinatown.  We had planned on riding the cable cars (the famous trolleys) to Chinatown, but were met with an extremely long line of people with the same idea. So instead we used our Google Maps with the walking mode selection and made the short walk. (I was a bit worried about Hunter and the walking and the hills because he was only a week out of his knee brace after surgery.  He managed to keep up but we did a lot of walking over the 48 hours and some of it uphill because we couldn’t decided on a direction.) Because it took Aaron and I bit of time to find out bearing with the street map, we didn’t necessarily go in the most direct route and had to do a bit of backtracking. We were never lost, but at times not efficient.

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I wanted to see the entrance gates to Chinatown, The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, and try a little food. And since I was the planner, I scheduled those first!  When I visit a new place, I like to take in the culture and experience new things. Chinatown was going to fulfill that need. The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory opened in 1962 and is one of the only places in the country to find handmade fortune cookies.  And there is definitely a difference in taste, plus there are other flavors such as chocolate, strawberry, and green tea. There are two employees sitting at stations and hand folding the cookies while one other employee greets you and takes your money. That’s it! That’s the entire factory!  Now the factory is found down a side alley, but don’t be deterred it’s easy to find and I never felt unsafe. Now Aaron did have a different experience in the alley. He found a friend in a pigeon. A pigeon who decided to poop on his shoulder. This little event may have gotten the biggest laugh from Macy and Hunter on the entire trip.  A family with a baby offered up a baby wipe, so he could clean up and then we were back on our way.

As we were wandering the streets of Chinatown, I was drawn to a bakery that I felt like we needed to try.  It was on the corner and just looked like someplace we needed to visit. We went in and looked over the menu and display cases.  Hunter requested a cookie and wanted to try the Chinese sausage. Other than that it was up to me to decide. The others took a seat and I ordered for the group. The two bossy Chinese ladies behind the counter were yelling orders in Chinese, so I pointed to a few things and fumbled my way through the rest.  Hunter and Macy aren’t the most adventurous eaters, but they were willing to try a few things probably because they wanted me to stop nagging. None of us were fans of the yellow bean stuffed pastry. And after Aaron realized the sausage needed to be cooked before eating (thanks to little old Chinese lady for heating it up) he still wasn’t a fan.  But hey, we can say that we ate at the Eastern Bakery in San Francisco which is the oldest Chinese Bakery in Chinatown. It has been in operation for 94 years. I knew we needed to try out this bakery!

As we were making our way back to the hotel and looking for the nearest cable car stop which we found after a few block of hills, I said to Aaron, “I wish we would find one of those restaurants with the whole ducks or pigs hanging.”  And what did we see as we rounded the corner? A row of Chinese restaurants and grocery stores with hanging ducks and all. Aaron wanted authentic Chinese food, so he went in and ordered. He ate a few bites but the rest got lost in the shuffle of the afternoon.  

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Our adventure to Chinatown was over and I was content with our tastings and purchases – a few trinkets and Christmas ornaments.  It was back to the hotel to rest for a few minutes then head out to our evening adventure of a SF Giants baseball game.

Before setting out to the ballgame, we checked in with Reuben again to find out best options for public transportation.  This time we would taking the MUNI (subway). The station was only a block from out hotel and we had our three day passes, so we were good to go.  It only took us a few minutes and a little direction from a stranger to point us to the correct platform. (The couple times we rode the MUNI we found it to be clean and friendly towards visitors.)  We were not exactly sure what we would be the best stop for us to get to AT&T Park, but my suggestion was to exit when everyone else did that was wearing Giants gear. (I’m street smart like that.) The MUNI stop ended up being directly in front of the park which was handy.

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I had been fortunate and found good cheap seats (lower level and $18 a piece) on Stubhub which doesn’t happen in St. Louis.  We made our way into the stadium and located these prize seats then we were off to explore. Our seats were near the McCovey Cove wall section, so my only demand was that we take a picture with the Cove and scoreboard in the background. We then split up and went about checking things out which for me meant find a Christmas ornament and food. Aaron was pleasantly surprised about the variety and quality, including the BOGO free hot dogs that are available on Tuesday games!

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 I expected the game to be cold being San Francisco and on the bay, but it was colder than I had anticipated.  We were wearing pants (except Hunter) and hoodies but was under dressed compared to those in winter coats and hats. Because of the cold and an early morning for Hunter and Aaron, we left the ballgame early but not before an argument and ejection.  Hunter and I were content enough with our visit to check this ballpark off our list.

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The early morning for Hunter and Aaron involved a half day bay fishing trip.  This is the carrot I dangled in front of Hunter to seal the deal on him agreeing to the trip.  As always I did my research and found Argo Sport Fishing. It offered a half day trip at a reasonable price and was available for booking.  It ended up being an excellent choice because the guys had a great time and caught some fish. Hunter always having luck or skill on his side caught the most fish – striped bass and halibut (both of which were quite tasty).  And as usual Aaron found a common acquaintance from Missouri with one of the two other people fishing on the Argo that day – in San Francisco meets someone living in Arizona who knows his relatives in Charleston, MO.

The morning began with an early cab ride to get to the wharf for the 6:00 am meet up time.  They didn’t have any trouble with traffic or finding the slip at the time of morning. We had wanted to visit Alcatraz but because of time constraints and cost I made the executive decision to cut that out of our trip.  Aaron ended up being satisfied with fishing with Alcatraz in view. From the pictures,it appeared that the bay was a beautiful backdrop for this California fishing trip (another state Hunter can check off his list). Captain Craig  was a great host and led them to some fish and then even cleaned them up and prepped them for us to take them home. Which we did in our cooler over our cross country drive back to Missouri.

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Macy and I were not interested in the fishing trip, so we slept in and then made our way down to the wharf a little later.  We were going to try the cable cars, but again there was a long wait time. We initially joined the line, but realized it was going to take too long, so I looked into other options which led us to the street cars.  The street car stop was about 100 yards from the cable car line with no wait time. So we hopped in the line headed to the wharf and enjoyed our twenty minute ride on another form of public transportation.

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Aaron had service while fishing, so he was able to tell us exactly which stop we needed.  It was directly in front of the boat slips that they would be returning to. We found it very easily.  We were about an hour earlier than their return time, so we ate some breakfast at a crepery and then did a little shopping.  We were right next to the Boudin Bakery which is known for its sourdough bread bowls. I bought a bowl, some clam chowder and a few Christmas ornaments.  They have a restaurant here and we could have eaten here, but it is hard to choose this when next door are several food stands on the square that are serving seafood fresh from the ocean.  

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We only had to wait a few a little longer for the guys to return which we did while enjoying the warm sun on our faces and overlooking the pier.  They showed us their catches and told stories while waiting for Captain Craig to prepare their fish. (The other couple took their fish to a local restaurant which is willing to prepare the fish you bring in but we decided to take ours home.)  We then made our way over to make our lunch selections there on the wharf. The kids were not as excited as Aaron and I were but were willing to try whatever Aaron and I decided to eat which was clam chowder in a sourdough bowl from a stand in operation since 1908.  The kids tasted and moved on. We sat down for some live music and bird dodging while enjoying the “sea breeze.” It was a glorious lunch on a San Francisco June afternoon.

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I would venture to say that a lot of tourists don’t make it down this far the wharf that they just stop at the commercialized Pier 39 (which I was guilty of on my first trip to SF).  It really is a shame if you don’t go past Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Company. – My only regret on this portion of the trip was not making to the restaurant on the wharf that Anthony Bourdain suggested in his Part Unknown series and not making to the Ghiradelli Square – again time was our enemy.

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I’m not saying “Don’t go to Pier 39” and see the tourist stuff, but don’t let that be your only experience on the San Francisco Wharf.  We walked the block or so to the pier to get a better view of Alcatraz and to see the seals that call the pier home and then we walked the boardwalk to find our way back to the cable car stop.  Our next adventure was to be a short nap!

After our short nap, it was time to eat again. Adapting quickly to the urban lifestyle, we didn’t want to travel too far for dinner – like more than 2 blocks LOL. So I turned to trusty YELP and found a local Mexican restaurant about two blocks from our hotel. Now when Reuben was initially helping us find out way around the city, he drew a little square around an area we needed to stay away from. After crossing Union Square and on our way to the restaurant we realized this was the area Reuben had mentioned. The restaurant was on the edge of the seedy area and it was still daylight so we continued on our way. It was a wise choice for dinner and a little something different than what we had been having on our trip.

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Even though dinner was good, I was more concerned with dessert. I mentioned we didn’t make it to Ghiradelli Square for chocolate and ice cream but we had a store near our hotel. So another short walk past some street musicians and a corner heavy with smoke – the California legal kind- and we were ready for some ice cream -some expensive ice cream. Never in my life did I think I would spend $15 on an ice cream sundae but I did and I don’t regret it. Because of the sizes and prices of our choices, we went double date style and shared sundaes. So many choices but we narrowed it down. It was glorious!

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Just when we thought our evening was over, we realized that the line to the trolley cars was finally short. Probably because it was about an hour before they stopped and they were heading down to the bay, so hopped on one heading that direction and took in the views along Lombard Street and the other iconic trolley spots along the way. Once we reached the end we had to get off the trolley because they won’t let you turn around and ride right back. Avoiding the lines heading back downtown, we took another cable car back to the hotel. Our only full day in San Francisco had come to an end.

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We couldn’t leave San Francisco without crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, so that was our last adventure the next morning before starting THE DRIVE back home. The Bay wanted us to appreciate her full beauty and gave us a wonderful foggy view of the Bridge but hey we can say we did it!

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We did it twice to be exact because we crossed heading north then turned around and crossed back over so we could make our way out of the city and down the Scenic Coast Highway and eventually onto to the Pacific Coast Highway – Highway 1.

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So our last view and adventure in San Francisco was a view of the Golden Gate Bridge in the rear view mirror. It was an adventure packed 48 hours and I wouldn’t have it any other way!