My first time to sunny northern California. It should practically be a different state because there is definitely nothing "sunny" about San Francisco. When my mom told me to bring a jacket because it was cold, I was expecting it to be a little chilly in the evenings... not wearing a sweater and a jacket at noon.
It was a fun trip nonetheless. My favorite part was definitely the bike ride - through the fog. My mom, sister and I rented bikes to ride across the Golden Gate (2 miles on the bridge, an 8-mile trip overall to Sausalito a SUNNY town on the opposite side of the bridge).
When we went out that morning, I told my mom how disappointed I was that I wasn't going to get very good pictures of the Golden Gate because of the fog, and she just laughed at me and said, well that will be the true San Francisco. And she couldn't have been more correct (moms always are). But seriously - I picked up a "San Francisco attractions" book for tourists and fog was listed. See the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Ghiradelli Square, Fisheman's Wharf and fog.
Of course, being HUGE Ohio State fans (all three of us alums), my mom, sister and I had to get an O-H-I-O pic with the Golden Gate. We were in a biking tour group, which was great because I got to learn all kinds of history and fun facts along the way from our guide. For example, the city of San Francisco is planning a $45 million (yes FORTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS) net to prevent suicides off the bridge. I'll be honest.. that concept blows my mind for a state in such dire straights. But regardless, we were in a tour group with people from all over (some M*ch!g@n fans, some visitors from England and other European countries), and I can only imagine what some of those who aren't familiar with the tradition of spelling out the name of our school thought of what we were doing. Our tour guide was from Ireland, and he wanted to know the website where the pics are posted.
I'd recommend a bike tour to anyone visiting San Fran. My mom was nervous to make such a long bike ride, but it was relaxing for the most part - with a few GIANT hills, and it honestly can be enjoyable by people with all levels of biking experience. :) Here is my mom and I on the Golden Gate:
We did a little shopping over in Sausalito.. got some ice cream, mostly because we could smell them making fresh waffle cones and it was simply unbearable to walk by without buying some. Then we took a ferry back across the bay. I thought it'd be a great idea to ride in the front of the ferry back so I could get sweet (FOGGY) shots of San Fran. It was a great idea until about halfway across.. when it suddenly became a splash zone. At first, it was just a little mist. Then a few drops, and then I got hit by a wave. At that point, I retreated, cold and soaking wet to the inside seating on the boat.
We stayed in Fisherman's Wharf, which was ironic because I don't really like sea food and that was all there seemed to be available. Except for the Boudin bakery..... MMMMmmm. I admittedly could live on bread (and ice cream) but I have never really had a taste for sour dough. My mom told me, "This sour dough is different. You're going to like it..." and again, of course, mother knows best.
Apparently, San Francisco's awful weather is the perfect climate to make sour dough. Who knew that the WEATHER could affect baking. The sourdough's flavor is produced by a strain of lactobacillus (bacteria found in wine, cheese, etc) that thrives in the San Fran climate - and the climate slows down the fermentation process to allow the dough more time before it rises making it more flavorful. The bread-making process at Boudin is still a 72-hour process while elsewhere in commercialized bread making it takes about two.
So moral of the story, whenever anything doesn't taste right in the kitchen from here on out, I'm blaming it on the weather. It is too hot, too cold, it's the humidity that is really messing up my cooking. But honestly, the reason their bread tastes so good is a combination of the weather and the fact that Boudin still uses the bread starter from the original mother dough from way back in the 1850s. Very cool, huh. Can you tell I took the bakery tour?
In addition to making delicious tasting bread and other bread products like pizza, Boudin also makes bread in cool animal shapes, like teddy bears, crabs, and alligators. They even make a race car one. It sometimes doesn't take much to impress me.
I was, however, unimpressed by "the painted ladies," which is often advertised as the Full House house. I went looking for John Stamos - who I saw live in Bye Bye Birdie in New York last December. But Uncle Jessie wasn't there, probably because NEITHER WAS THE HOUSE. I later learned, thanks to Wikipedia, that the actual Full House house is at 1709 Broderick Street, dangit, but I also learned Full House was only ever filmed in San Fran once. According again to Wikipedia, "the sitcom itself was taped at Warner Brother Studios in Los Angeles. The only episode to have actually been taped in San Francisco was "Comet's Excellent Adventure", the first episode of Season 8." So if I ever go back I guess I have to go to Broderick Street. At least I saw the place where the family picnicked - Alamo Square which overlooks the painted ladies.
We were total tourists in San Francisco and rode a cable car.
Sometime there is a choice between a photo opportunity and safety. I went with photo opp and stuck my arm out into the street while hanging on for dear life with the other arm.
We drove down the "crookedest" street in the world - Lombard St. Pretty much a total tourist attraction, and I have no idea why anyone would want to live there. You have to wind down 8 hairpin turns to park your car in your garage, you have to deal with tourists driving and walking up and down beside your house all day, I just simply do not see the appeal in having my house there, but to each their own. In the distance below you can see Coit Tower, which overlooks the city on Telegraph Hill.
Quite a hike up to the tower. We had to stop and ask directions of this little old lady. She has been around for 7 decades, she told us, and she still does this daily walk up the steps to the tower. She told us about everything we'd see along the way, right down to the detail of this apartment where this woman has a carousel horse and a grand piano, who used to have naked mannequins in the window until the city made her take them down. She told us about this little park to go through and there was a Levi's jeans museum if we were interested in reading postcards and letters to the company. And it was quite a climb. I wish I would have counted how many steps, but there were A LOT. A good workout. I can see why this little old lady is in her seventh decade and she will probably live for 10 decades if she works out like that every day! Plus, saw this cool flower growing on the way up the hill..
Great views of the city from Coit Tower, a tribute to the firefighters of San Francisco. The pics were cloudy from the fog and had weird reflections from the glass, but it was a spectacular sight to see!
So San Francisco was a nice little adventure. I've saved Alcatraz for a separate post because this one is obnoxiously long, but I hope you've enjoyed reading about Adventure #5. I PROMISE I will eventually get to posting about Adventure # 2 - #4. Maybe this week if I get the time. :)
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