wanderlust: San Fran: The Fun Stuff

While this trip was technically for academics, I did manage to squeeze in some sight seeing and fun too :) I got into SF early afternoon on Monday and my hotel was able to check me in early -- hauling all of my stuff on my sight-seeing wouldn't have been as fun. I decided that stop #1 needed to be the park at the beginning of Full House. Since I spent the majority of elementary school wishing I was DJ Tanner, this was only appropriate.

After some sketching, picture taking, and dog-gawking, I went to Union Square which is the big time, expensive shopping center. I went into Sak's 5th Ave and was terrified to touch anything and then venture into Tiffany and Co. and eavesdropped on some Australian dudes trying to pick out an engagement ring. FYI: there's free Tiffany-blue saltwater taffy there!

The next day was mostly meetings, but I did squeeze in a trip to the Museum of Modern Art since it's free the first Tuesday of every month. There was some cool stuff there and then some really conceptual, confusing stuff too. One exhibit was literally a lady sitting in a room with a laptop typing observations of people as they walked around. I was really tempted to do a kartwheel to try and get on the screen, but restrained myself. I did make it down to the Fisherman's Warf that day too -- on a cable car no less!

The Warf is pretty cool. Lots of seafood and touristy shops. There's one restaurant off of Pier 39 that looks out on to docks full of sea lions! Apparently they get eaten pretty often by sharks, so they spend most of their time in shallow water to stay alive. And man are they fat and loud!

Alcatraz was the other big attraction that I wanted to make sure to see. The ferry ride itself was pretty sweet with lots of great views of the Golden Gate Bridge. The cell block on "the rock" was a little creepy especially since the audio tour was narrated by a former guard with commentary by some former inmates. You could see dings in teh floor from where bombs had bee dropped and into the utilities hall where 5 inmates crawled up to the roof and escaped. The freakiest of all was listening to the story of the riot in 1962 when some inmates tried to escape and as their plan started to fall apart, they locked an officer in a cell and shot him to death. Standing in front of that actual cell while hearing that story was a little creepy. As was going into one of the solitary confinement cells! One of the most interesting memories from a former inmate was that San Francisco was so close that they could sometimes hear festivals going on and bands playing in the summer. Reminders of what they had given up were always present.

That evening I walked all over kingdom come to try and see a few other things before leaving. Of course they were all in completely different parts of the city and I bet you I walked upwards of 7 miles that day. That wouldn't be so bad if it was flat, but San Fran rivals Duluth when it comes to gigantic hills. And trying to break in new Birkenstocks in the process was not my smartest decision. One thing that I did want to see was the Golden Fire Hydrant. It was the only one left working during the fire of 1906 and it essentially saved the entire Mission district, so they paint it gold every year on the anniversary of the fire.

Here are a few more snapshots from my wanderings. I decided that I really do like traveling by myself. Not having to work around other people's schedules or preferences is kind of liberating. It was nice to do some things with my classmate who was also there, but being able to just lay in the park and journal without worrying if my travel mates were bored was really enjoyable.