We've decided that every year for our anniversary we're going to try and go someplace new - our first anniversary we spent in Prescott, AZ, our second in Chicago, and last year in Vegas. This year we wanted to go somewhere neither of us had ever been and decided on San Francisco! We booked our tickets for our flights & Alcatraz months before the date arrived - we've been told Alcatraz sells out several weeks in advance, and we didn't want to get stuck in that category.
The morning of our trip finally was upon us - the kids were packed and dropped off with Grammy & Poppi, and we were on our way to the airport. After a short flight, we landed at SFO and boarded the BART into the city. Our first stop was Union Square, tons of shopping, and even more homeless people scrounging for money, needless to say, we weren't impressed. After buying our 3-day transit passes, we hopped on the Muni, the local electric bus that runs on overhead wires, and made our way to our hotel in the Marina District.
After getting checked in, we were starving so we took the short walk to Fisherman's Wharf. We walked thru Marina Green & Fort Mason on our way, where we got our first glimpse of the Golden Gate bridge, it was beautiful.
I was amazed how packed in the homes were, but completely fell in love with this one...
We walked along the beach too, and I was shocked to see so many people swimming in the cove because the weather wasn't exactly what I'd call "warm" and the water was next to freezing!
We continued our walk until we came upon Capurro's Fish House, a family owned restaurant since 1946, and their food showed just that - I got fish tacos & Josh got a San Francisco's classic, clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. We were both very impressed, full, and ready to see more of the Wharf.
We did a little shopping and LOTS of walking. We walked along Pier 45 where we got the chance to see the USS Pampanito, a restored WWII submarine that had been turned into a museum & memorial.
We walked by the original DelMonte Cannery, which is now all retail and food spaces, and Ghiradelli Square, which has been transformed into the same as the cannery, although they still had a few original chocolate factory machines on display, like the cocoa grinder below.
We decided we wanted to relax & freshen up before our big dinner date, so we took the walk back to our hotel and did just that.
After our nap, we cleaned up and walked back to the Wharf for dinner at Alioto's. This was our official anniversary dinner so we wanted to do it true San Francisco style, fresh seafood with a view of the bay.
After being escorted to our table with a beautiful view, we started with drinks and Shrimp Boats.
For our main dishes, I got Swordfish Involtini, while Josh went with pan fried Rock Fish.
And we each got a Strawberry Cheesecake with cookie crust for our dessert - it was dangerously delicious.
After stuffing ourselves at dinner, we shopped around a bit before relaxing at Jack's Cannery Bar for a few drinks. It was a fun bar with over 80 different beers on tap so we had plenty to chose from!
We walked back to our hotel as the sun set - we couldn't have asked for a better way to end our day.
We woke up fairly early on Saturday morning and grabbed a bite to eat at a local cafe "Caffe Union". After breakfast, we jumped on the Muni to Chinatown to see what it was all about. It was very interesting - Seeing how a lot of those people lived really made me thankful for the blessed life we live.
Once we had enough of the haggling store owners, we took another bus down to Pier 39 to check out the Sea Lions - We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a baby frolicking around his momma.
Still being partially full from breakfast, we skipped lunch and snacked around. I got some amazing fresh mini donuts that were to die for!
This archway below caught my eye, and after closer inspection we figured it was a boat launch for the larger vessels in the bay. We assumed that it's no longer in use due to the very severe damage on the legs from the unwavering ocean waters, but didn't look into it further.
Tired of walking, we took the short trip up to the Cable Car turnaround to catch a ride on the world renowned San Francisco Trolley. It was definitely an awesome way to see parts of the city we otherwise would have missed.
The Cable Car was a one way trip to Union Square, so at the end of our ride, we walked amongst the crazy tourists and smelly homeless back to the bus route that took us to our hotel. After relaxing our legs, we grabbed our warm clothes for Alcatraz and headed back to the Wharf for dinner.
During our many trips back & forth from the hotel we passed this beautiful bush, and every time I stopped to smell the flowers - so of course, I HAD to get a picture of it! The picture after is of an acorn - we stumbled across these all over town, but I have NO clue what kind of tree they come from!
We decided on dinner at Fog Harbor Fish House on the upper deck of Pier 39. I got an amazing Crab & Avocado salad, while Josh went with good ol' Fish & Chips.
We couldn't decided on whether to get dessert or not, until our waiter pulled the tray around - chocolate banana bread pudding with fresh whipped cream, enough said.
After dinner we picked up our Alcatraz tickets at Pier 33 and got in line to board the boat to begin our night tour! This was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to San Fran - I have an obsession with old abandon prisons, weird I know.
At the start of our boat ride, we had a great view of the city.
As we got further out, we all turned our attention to "The Rock", as the inmates had nicknamed the prison back in the day. We circled the island before docking and climbing up the hill to the main cell block.
Our tour started in the shower room, a big, cold, desolate place, very much lacking in privacy - definitely somewhere I would never want to wash!
Once we picked up our headsets, we were on our own. The audio tour, narrated by inmates and correctional officers who used to live & work at the prison, was very informative - I learned SO many things about the prison and island itself I never would have known!
In the years that Alcatraz served as a Federal prison, there were only 14 escape attempts, most of whom were quickly captured, but 5 whose bodies have never been recovered, and 3 of those were from the escape attempt pictured below. These 3 men molded "faces" out of soap and paint, widened their air vents big enough to squeeze thru to the pipes behind, where they eventually shimmied their way up to the roof and were never seen or heard from again. Some believe they made it to safety, while others are adamant that they met their maker in the frigid waters of the bay.
One thing about Alcatraz is for certain, the views are phenomenal.
The building itself is in such disrepair that many sections have been closed off to the public for safety reasons - one of the rangers volunteering on the tour said that it's believed by the end of 2015 that the Western facing wall will collapse entirely!
On the particular night we were there, they opened the hospital wing for us to roam, which is generally not open to the public. It was the most interesting, yet creepy part, of our tour. Unknown to myself, Alcatraz didn't have a "psych ward", they sent their prisoners with mental issues to nearby San Quentin.
Another fun Alcatraz fact, no one was ever put to death on The Rock, they were also sent to San Quentin to await their untimely fate.
As stated in the photo below, Alcatraz was only occupied as a Federal Penitentiary from 1934-1963, within those 30 years, 1576 inmates were processed, while only 90 correctional officers ever worked at the facility.
Even after dark, the sights on the island were breathtaking.
The island has no predators, so it has, in a sense, become a sanctuary for the birds - they were EVERWHERE out there!
Once our tour of the island concluded, we boarded the boat once again for the dark ride back to the pier.
Although I was disappointed after being told by the rangers that no one had ever reported any paranormal activity (I really wanted it to be haunted, it would have made the night tour THAT much more creepy) I couldn't have asked for a better trip! The island was incredibly interesting and beautiful, and I was completely in awe!
The walk back to our hotel that night was insanely cold, I do live in the desert so I may be exaggerating a bit. Although the wind coming off the ocean was quite nippy and we definitely weren't prepared for it. I've never been more thankful to see the warm glow of lights in our hotel lobby than that particular night.
Sunday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed, by now our legs were nearly on fire after the miles upon miles we'd been walking, and grabbed a quick bite to eat so we wouldn't miss our 10 o'clock reservation at GoCar. We took a different route to the Wharf that morning and saw some beautiful sights - we walked by Washington Square Park and the Joe DiMaggio playground, both interesting in their own rights.
Once to GoCar headquarters, we filled out our paperwork, watched the short video on the three-wheeled car, and were on our way. GoCar is a GPS guided "storytelling car" - we chose a course, although we could essentially go anywhere we wanted, and the car would explain the different points-of-interest along the way, we were even able to park and get out at any point along the drive!
One of the many highlights of the drive, the Golden Gate bridge. We got to see it at all angles, up close & personal, yet it's sheer size and beauty never ceased to amaze me.
We drove past the infamous Baker Beach & the beautiful, yet cold, Ocean Beach.
Eventually we made our way into Golden Gate Park, which, unknown to most Americans including myself, is 20% larger than Central Park in New York City! We passed a pair of these large windmills that were used to pump water into the park for irrigation purposes, before being replaced with motors in the mid 20th century.
Inside the park grounds is a man-made Stow Lake, surrounding Strawberry Hill which is lined with hiking trails and picnic areas.
At Stow Lake, Huntington Falls was also built, measuring 64 feet, the tallest monument in the park.
Next to the falls is Chinese Pavillion, given to the park by San Francisco's "sister city" Taipei - it's also a popular destination spot for weddings!
After returning our GoCar, we wandered back to the Wharf to grab some lunch. Nick's Lighthouse caught our eye, with their fresh crab & lobster sitting out front, so we grabbed a table and waited for our own fresh catch. We each got a starter, me a bowl of clam chowder and Josh a shrimp salad, while waiting for our main dish, a whole spicy garlic dungeness crab.
Before heading to the airport, we made one last stop at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park - It was separated into a few different spots around the Wharf. First we stopped into the Maritime Museum, they had all kinds of old artifacts from the first settlers who called San Francisco home, to shipwrecked boats, to the original lighthouse light on Alcatraz.
Eppleton Hall is a 1914 paddlewheel tug built in England and was donated to the Park Service in 1979.
Hercules is a 1907 steam tug from the East Coast - she still contains her original triple expansion steam engine which the Park Service plans to restore back to working order.
Balclutha is an 1866 three-masted, steel-hulled, square-rigged ship, which measures a staggering 301 feet long. It was originally built to carry various cargo around the world. Birthed out of Glasgow, Scotland, the ship carried a multitude of goods around Cape Horn 17 times, with a crew of about 26 men to handle her complicated masts at sea.
C.A. Thayer was a lumber schooner built in 1895. She's currently undergoing restoration and projected to be completed in 2016, they currently have invested approximately $15 million to restore this vessel since she is the very last of her kind.
While wandering the pier, we came across this, not so little, guy - He was enjoying the sunshine while catching some Zzzz's.
After finishing up our tour of the pier, it was time to board our shuttle to the airport. Unfortunately as we pulled into departures, I got a text from Southwest that our flight had been delayed 3 hours! Needless to say, we had plenty of time to relax around the airport before our flight.
Even with the long delay, we had an amazing time on our long weekend trip, but were ready to get back to our babies. We couldn't have done it without the help of my parents taking such great care of the kids, we will be forever grateful! I also want to give a shoutout to my amazing husband, we couldn't do any of what we do without all of your handwork and dedication. Happy Anniversary to us :)
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