Quick
trip to San Francisco for a little personal redemption. I was going to be in
Portland for work the following Monday so I thought, “Hey. Why not pit stop in SF the
weekend prior then go straight to Portland?” After all, it was the last regular
season series. Dodgers were in town taking on the Giants. A lot was on the line…
had to win these three to have a chance at winning the division. (Which,
spoiler alert. We did. Only took a 163rd game. But we won the
division for the 6th season in a row!)
Anyways,
back to San Francisco. I tried to get all touristy and hit up everything I
wanted to see that we didn’t have time for back in April. There’s just so much
in San Francisco. I got to my hotel and my room wasn’t ready yet so I had to
leave my bag there and just hit the ground running. My list of things to do started at a brewery… obviously. 21st Amendment brewery was where I
ended up upon landing around noon. The game was on in the brewery but I didn’t
realize I stayed as long as I did until I noticed it was already the 8th
inning. Welp. So much for all the touristy stuff I wanted to hit up.
The
one thing I’ve been dying to see is Alcatraz. And I can happily say, I can
check that off my list. I did the night tour. We departed Pier 33 at 5:55pm
sharp. Cruised to the island while watching the sunset behind the Golden Gate
Bridge. Absolutely peaceful. But once we got to the rock, we were guided up the
steep, uneven, hill and given headsets so we can listen to the audio tour while
walking through the infamous prison that once held the most notorious criminals.
While walking through, it was so neat to see inside the prison. I’m a sucker
for gangster and mafia history. So I loved this tour. I feel like I was just in
awe walking through the cell blocks.
Total round trip time from Pier 33 to Alcatraz and back was three hours. So plan
accordingly if you plan to visit the rock. Which I highly recommend (as well as many others probably).
The
second thing I just wanted to do was get clam chowder from Boudin’s. I did this last time I was in SF, but I feel like it's a must EVERYTIME in SF. So I looked
it up, and the place said they closed at 10. Which I thought was perfect. Hop
off the boat at Pier 33 and head over to get some clam chowder in Fisherman’s Wharf. So I
make the walk down toward the Wharf only to get there and the takeout
area of Boudin’s is closed. The restaurant was open, but I didn’t want to sit
down and eat at a restaurant. But luckily there is no shortage of clam chowder
at Fisherman’s Wharf.
So
I stumbled upon a little place. And no, I didn’t stumble because of the beers
I’ve been drinking throughout the day. I’m using the word “stumbled” in a
figurative sense… not literal. Anyways, if walking through Fisherman’s Wharf
and venturing to The Buena Vista at 9:30 at night while eating clam chowder in
a bread bowl doesn’t say “peaking at life”, then I don’t know what does. But it
was delicious and I’m not even mad about it.
Then
it was The Buena Vista. And another bar. And then it was the Tonga Room and
Hurricane Bar (fun place, but just get a beer here. Sorry, but the tiki drink was
not great. This is definitely not a “when in Rome” situation. Just go for a
beer but hang out for the fun music).
And then back
to my hotel I go where I literally only stayed in for about 6 hours (5 hours of sleep and one hour to get ready for the Giants/Dodgers game).
No comments:
Post a Comment