It's a California Adventure! (with added Las Vegas) Day 5

[Lizzybear]

Pre-trip
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

21st September

Up slightly later today, but still indecently early, we got ready and set off for Pier 33 to scope out where the Alcatraz ferry was. We also fancied a Starbucks breakfast but couldn't find one nearby, or even anything close. We ended up in the 'coffee shop' bit (I use the term loosely!!) of an Italian restaurant. The woman was sooo slow, didn't put lids on our drinks and the coffee was awful, really bitter. We ended up chucking most of it but luckily my fruit cup and Steve's cinnamon twist tasted OK. We boarded the ferry ar 9:50 and set off at 10. Steve got us a cheese pretzel to share and we soon arrived at Alcatraz island.

Just thought this was a cool shot

After a brief introduction to the island and the tour by one of the rangers we headed straight to the audio tour starting point and followed it round. It was very interesting and also quite creepy, but in a good way. We would have liked to listen to one of the extra talks that were scheduled for that day but none of them corresponded with our tour time as we had other plans for later that day.

Gunshot marks from the battle of Alcatraz!

Scary!

Solitary confinement cells

Dining hall

I bought my dad some birthday presents from the gift shop, had a look around outside and watched the movie (in hindsight this was probably intended for before the audio tour!) before getting the 12:25 ferry back to San Francisco.

View of the city from Alcatraz

Mortuary

Once back at Pier 33 we walked back to the hotel to drop of my Alcatraz purchases then got the bus to Union Square, picked up a few snacks then got another bus to Haight Street. Plan for the afternoon was to explore the Haight-Ashbury area so we did just that! We strolled along the street, taking in the atmosphere and doing some shopping: I got my sister some little toys from Kid Robot and Steve got himself a Simpsons figure from there. I also got myself a bag from Loyal Army which i'd been eyeing up online beforehand! Steve loved the Amoeba Records store, it was huge and reminded us of the store in the movie Empire Records. We didn't buy anything there but it was fun to just look around.

 

[Lizzybear]

We soon reached Golden Gate Park and we wandered for a few minutes but it was so huge that we didn't really have the time or energy to do it justice, I guess this is just one of many reasons to return! We saw a lot of hippies hanging around in there, some of whom looked as if they were living in the park, though I couldn't help thinking most of them just looked like teenagers rebelling! We got the bus back to Union Square and went to the Paul Frank store where I got a hoodie and T-shirt for my sister's Christmas present and some elephant and skull earrings for me. Steve got a camo Julius holdall which had been reduced to half price and there was a promotion going on where you got a $20 gift card when you spent $100 so my earrings ended up being free, score! We then headed back to the hotel on the bus and chilled a bit before walking to The Stinking Rose for dinner. This restaurant was recommended by a DISer, SusanEllen, and we really enjoyed our meal here. It's only small but we were seated quickly and we shared the garlic cloves in oil for a starter. Steve wasn't sure of these at first but once he tasted it on a roll he was sold and they were soon gobbled up! For mains I ordered the gnochetti and Steve got the vegetarian lasagne. The bill was $56 inc. tip and on the way back to the hotel I got myself dessert (a yummy mango and blueberry gelato) and also some smores fudge for the next day. I remember John from our tour mentioning that something like 20% of San Francisco restaurants close within the first year.. There are tons and tons pretty much everywhere in San Francisco and North Beach is no exception but literally every single one we passed was packed, as in spilling onto the pavement! We packed and went to bed at around 9 tonight, quite sad that our last full day in San Francisco was over.

The Italian flag was on every lamp post in North Beach

Packing

 

[natalielongstaff]

Sounds like a nice meal, good tip Susan

Im shocked at how small the cells look

 

[SusanEllen]

Now that Steve's discovered the wonderfulness of dipping a good piece of bread in garlic cloves in oil there'll be no turning back. All things considered, I think it was a good choice picking up the fruit gelatos on the way back to the hotel. The Stinking Rose's garlic ice cream is just about a step too far.

 

[Pinky166]

Wow - you had a busy day! Great pics.

 

[Minniespal]

Another fantastic day with lovely photos.

 

[irongirlof12]

you sure packed a lot into your SF segment.

 

[florida sun]

Fabulous day, really enjoying your report

 

[Tammy Stringer]

Another wonderful day with great photos.

Tammy

 

[saratogagirl]

a wonderful day, great Alcatraz shots, and the restaurant menu looks lovely

 

[saratogagirl]

may I asked which hotel you stayed in, I keep saying next year and then ruling it out, your trippie is certainly swaying us towards it again !!

 

[Lizzybear]

may I asked which hotel you stayed in, I keep saying next year and then ruling it out, your trippie is certainly swaying us towards it again !!

We stayed at the Columbus Motor Inn We thought it was very reasonable for the location and the size of the rooms, $145 per night, comparable places I checked were $200+

 

[Strommie]

Brilliant day. I really want to visit SF and Alcatraz.

 

[mark&sue]

great photos and it does seem a shame this bit of your holiday is over


susan

 

[cap'njack.]

I love the pictures of Alcatraz. Certianly wouldn't have wanted to be banged up there though would you! Not exactly 4 star accomodation!