Day 27 - San Francisco

Blogger: Stephanie Lynch

The day of exploring San Francisco had arrived… this is a spot which had been on my bucket list for ages so I was so excited to start the day of adventures. First stop was the windiest street in the world(Lombard St.)…. we drove down it which was a very cool experience with amazing views. A little tip is to drive around this area(other streets and hills nearby) as it is very high up and gives you a real feel for the character of the city and houses with each road surrounded by unbelievable views all around.

We then bumped into Lucas who was selling lemonade… now there is a boy who spotted an opportunity!! The youngest young entrepreneur in the USA.

Next stop was to get the famous cable car of San Francisco. We were planning on getting the cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf. There was a little bit of a que and we were offer a limo ride(for $5) so we decided to get the limo to fisherman’s wharf and we would get the cable car back up(hopefully skip the que!!). When do you get offered a limo ride in life? …it’s all part of the spur of the moment experience. We treated ourselves!!

We firstly went to Hyde St. Pier(historic ferry pier) before making our way to the well known Fisherman’s Wharf. I must say I fell in love with Hyde St. Pier as it was nice, quiet and very quaint. This pier is part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. Various historical ships are anchored to the pier. You know we always fall for any sailing ships, so the ship ‘Balclutha’, an 1886 square rigged sailing ship won our hearts!!

Next stop was onto the famous Fisherman’s Wharf. It is one of the most scenic waterfront attractions of the world so we just had to explore it. A little history: The original Meigg’s Wharf was once the main port of entry to San Francisco and an extremely industrious place. Hardworking fishermen set out to make a living by catching fish and crab in small vessels at the wharf. It is the heritage of these early fishermen, which contributes to today’s color blending of the old and the new at Fisherman’s Wharf. It is, and always will be, the fishing fleet that gives Fisherman’s Wharf its authenticity and activity.

(Note: If you have time, we stumbled across a bike rental company called Blazing Saddles who rent bikes that you can use to bike the Golden Gate Bridge… if only we have time, we would have love this!).

We were ready for our cable car back which runs a few blocks away from Fisherman’s Wharf(very near Hyde St. Pier). The San Francisco cable car system is the world’s last manually operated cable car system. Well, we learned our lesson getting the limo down(with was actually a short que)… there was a 2 hour wait to get the cable car back!! That’s what we get for getting a limo!! We decided to wait as you cant go to San Francisco and not go on this icon. So we waited… and waited and eventually got on. It was worth it to experience it… BUT we learned a few tips for you guys(You will thank us so much for this tip when you visit). The cable car actually takes people on along the way so DON’T que by fisherman’s wharf…. just simple walk up the hill slightly to the next stop and jump on… save yourself time!! Learn from our mistakes…. (Your welcome!!)

We decided to go on a little trip away from the big city for dinner. We drove up the coast to Half Moon Bay(we only wished we had another few days to explore this amazing spot… it’s beautiful!). We went for dinner in a local Italian restaurant and chatted about such a fab day before heading back to the hotel to pack for Vancouver tomorrow.