San Francisco Day 2

On our second day in San Fran we visited Pier 39. I think this area is also called Fisherman's Wharf, but it was difficult to tell because there are so many piers (40) along the shore line for several miles.  We had the famous clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls for lunch from Boudin's bakery.  Boudin's history goes way back to the start of San Francisco itself.  Here is an excerpt from their website: "In 1849, the Boudin family struck culinary gold. Wild yeasts in the San Francisco air had imparted a unique tang to their traditional French bread, giving rise to “San Francisco sourdough French bread.” Today, the Boudin family's initial recipe lives on in the hands and hearts of our expert bakers, with a portion of the original mother dough still starting each and every sourdough loaf we make."
  
It was actually really delicious.  I am not usually a clam chowder eater, but that was excellent too.  The Wharf is a very touristy area and if you go you pretty much have to surrender to the tourist stuff.  We also got some fresh baked mini-donuts, rode the two story carousel, watching the sea lions sleeping on the floating docks, went through a mirror maze, and toured the Aquarium of the Bay.  All around us was sunshine (unusually for San Fran) and gorgeous views of the bay, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge.  What a fun day!

 Sea lions.  In the winter they cover all of the floating docks, but in the spring there weren't as many.  They were mostly sleeping, but once in a while one would jump out of the water and climb over all the others to find a place to sleep.

 The infamous Alcatraz prison!  I didn't realize how close it is to the shore.  It is just right there in the bay, not out in the ocean like I'd thought.  I don't believe there were every any surviving escapees though.

More sea lions.

Golden Gate Bridge!  The weather was just fantastic this weekend, we were really lucky.

Cate loves carousels of all kinds.  She was so excited that this one was open and working!  After the disappointment of the closed one the day before, this was extra special.  It was a beautiful carousel too.  Cate still  remembers that it was playing music from the Little Mermaid Disney movie.

We had free tickets to the aquarium, thanks to our friends, and it was a fun little place.  The coolest part was the tunnels through the largest tank, so it was like you were walking under the water with the fish all around you.  

Lots of sailboats to look at.  We pack a lot into one morning, but it was worth it. By the time we left it was starting to get really crowded, so it was good timing. After a nap for Cate, our awesome friends babysat Cate while Joe and I went on a date.  We ate dinner in a restaurant on the ocean and watched the sun set.  The restaurant happened to have a live band that night which was extra special.  It was a lovely way to end the day.

San Francisco Day 1

We had the awesome opportunity to visit San Francisco and stay with some good friends of ours for a few days.  San Fran is a very interesting place.  There is a lot to see and do, but it's also very crowded and difficult to get around.  We managed to see a lot, I think, especially given the fact that we have an almost 3 year old and our friends have an almost 2 year old!  Here are some pictures from our fun trip "up north".  :)

Japanese Tea Gardens
Very pretty and very peaceful.  Cate liked climbing all the stairs, seeing the koi fish in the ponds and walking on the trails.  Everything was so perfectly manicured, it was lovely!

This was part of our day in Golden Gate Park.  A enormous park (similar to Central Park in NYC) with a lot going on.  We also played at the playground, tried out the swings, walked on some paths, and got ice cream from a food truck.  Yum!  We were all very disappointed that the carousel near the playground was closed. Luckily, we made it up to Cate the next day at Pier 39.  More pictures to come!