California Vacation - Day 1

Hey, I'm back and ready to start detailing my experiences on the West Coast. I apologize for not posting sooner, but I haven't had much wireless access at any point so far. I have been in California since Friday, August 7th and have loved every minute of it. My mother is vacationing along as well, as she hasn't been able to see Cali in a long time. We started our trip up in San Francisco, a city that's a personal favorite of both of us. Here's a recap of the highlights:

Flight: We took American Airlines from JFK to San Francisco International. Not really any delay which was good and the flight was smooth for the most part...just some minor turbulence. The views on the trip were amazing, especially when we passed south of Manhattan and over the Rocky Mountains. Safe flight was a good start.

Hotel: For our three days in San Francisco, we stayed at the San Francisco Marriott Fisherman's Wharf. The people at the hotel were very friendly, it was reasonably priced, and it was located very close to Fisherman's Wharf. The best part was the beds, which were nice and soft and gave me the best sleep I ever had at a hotel. I highly recommend this place.

Tour Bus: We began our day (which was in the afternoon at this point) by doing one of the many tour buses in San Francisco. We got a great deal on the CitySightseeing double-decker buses and got to do many different loops over the three days. The first one we did was to the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts which is a gorgeous looking building first. Then we went to the Bridge which is a fantastic sight to see up close. The views of the San Francisco Bay, the city, and the Pacific Ocean are all great from Golden Gate and there's a viewing point on the north side of the bridge too. On our way back, we passed through the Presidio district which is a wealthy part of San Francisco. It had some very nice Victorian Homes and Eucalyptus trees. Overall, this was a very nice tour to start the day.

Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39: After the bus, we went down toward the water to check out Fisherman's Wharf and the famous Pier 39. You cannot go in this area without being overwhelmed by the smell of seafood. Everything from crab to shrimp and even lobster is available here and is all very good. The Wharf itself had a ton of great places to just pick up some seafood and eat it with a view of the bay and Alcatraz. In the area by our hotel, there was an In and Out Burger, which I naturally went to so I could get my first experience of it. The food was pretty good; Burger, fries, soda is the norm. The place is a good combo of McDonalds and Johnny Rockets. As we walked further east, we eventually hit Pier 39, which is the hot spot for San Francisco Tourists. It has many shops, restaurants, and other assorted fun places to go. We had a shrimp dinner on the Pier which was fantastic. We also checked out the California Sea Lions, which is a must-do in San Fran. On the back-left side of the pier, there is a balcony where you can see all of the Sea Lions lounging on the platforms in the bay. They are very noisy despite looking like they are sleeping and are often "barking" at each other. It is an awesome site to see for sure. On the way back to the hotel, we passed by many cool shops and restaurants along the Embarcadero. There was even a Rainforest Cafe, which I didn't think existed anymore. Other notable places were a Wax Museum and Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum.

Overall my first day was fantastic. I will add some pictures either to this post or in a separate post as soon as I can. I've taken so many to this point that I have to share at least some with you all. Either later tonight or tomorrow, if I have wireless access, I will write about the second day in San Fran.