Aaron and I, being the adventurous folk that we are, decided to stay in California longer than the rest of the family so we could spend a day in San Francisco. It was a bit of a last minute decision. We didn't look up our route on Google Maps. We didn't plan what attractions we would see. We didn't have a map of the city. We were just going to go with the flow.
However, we weren't very good at going with the flow...we almost died 4 times trying to maneuver our way in and out of narrow, steep, one-way, there's-a-trolley-car-coming-this-way, San Francisco streets.
Aaron was feeling tired when we left Woodland, so I followed the freeway signs for San Francisco. That wasn't too hard. But when we got outside Oakland, we realized that they charge people to go across the Bay Bridge into San Francisco, and that they only take cash. Rude. So we got off the freeway at the last possible exit and made our way into the ghetto of Oakland. We found a gas station, got some cash, and had near-death experience #1 when I almost ran a red light.
Things were going great. We got across the lovely bay bridge, and made our way into San Francisco. We both wanted to see Chinatown since Aaron served his mission in Taiwan, I took 4 semesters of Mandarin, and I saw David Bowie's music video "China Girl." (Worst experience of my life) So we took what we thought was the exit. But there was not anything Chinese about that exit. We were lost, had near-death experience #2, I started crying, and Aaron took over the driving.
We finally decided we needed to find a map, but in order to find a map, we not only had to find a gas station, but we also had to be in the correct lane, at the correct time, going the right way so we could turn into the gas station. But we eventually found a map. Things only got better from here.
We found Chinatown on the map and headed that way. We got close to the right spot and decided to park...which also cost money, but parking meters only take change, not cash. So after making cash with a guy in Walgreen's, we parked and headed to Chinatown. Did somebody mix Chinatown with Italytown? Seriously, it was Italy and China side by side. Weird. And we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown. We still wonder if we were in the right place. But there were lots of Chinese shops and Chinese people, so it was something.
Our next stop was Fisherman's wharf. This went a lot more smoothly. Remember how I thought California was supposed to be sunny and warm? Well, nowhere was that less true than here by the ocean. We were cold, but Annie got to see the ocean, and we got to look at Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge from afar.
Alcatraz looked so cool, and Al Capone Does My Shirts is a really great book that includes some stuff about Alcatraz.
After Fisherman's Wharf, we went for a drive down Lombard Street after having near-death experience #4. I don't remember where near-death experience #3 happened, but I know it was in there somewhere.
And then took the scenic route (on purpose--we were not lost) to the Golden Gate Park. By now we were really having a nice time. Annie was being a pretty good sport, all things considered. But she was not keen on the wind.
It was 5:00 by the time we were ready to leave, and we thought traffic would be nasty on the Bay Bridge. So we decided to take another scenic route across the Golden Gate Bridge. And you don't have to pay when you're leaving the city! It was a lovely drive home.
The trip started out rough, but we ended up having a nice time in this great American city.
Here are just a few final observations:
1. We saw a lot of rainbows in San Francisco, a symbol of gay pride. In that same section of town we saw lots of signs for the Aids Walk. It was an interesting juxtaposition.
2. I saw an amazing number of mothers with young children in strollers. How would you like to raise a family (or rollerblade) on these streets?
3. Aaron and I never want to live in a big city.
The end.
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