"San Francisco - Unique in character. " a San Francisco Travel Page by K.Knight

Anne & I were in Los Angeles for 10 days. As part of our flight deal we were given 10 days accom, a 7 day Disneyland pass and a 1 day Universal Studio Pass. What to do with the other 2 days...........San Francisco!
I hired a car, from opposite Disneyland, for a period of 48 hours and picked it up at 10 pm. (The clerk advised that this was the best pick up time because they wanted you to return the car the morning after it is due back due to security reasons. BARGAIN, 48 hours gets me 60!)
I returned to the Motel and set the alarm for 2am. Anne and I left at this hour because we figured that San Francisco was around 400 miles north of Los Angeles and with no traffic we could enjoy "Brunch" at Fishermans Wharf at 10am.
The drive was uneventful and the cruise control came in handy. At 9.30 am, after traversing a barren landscape loaded with hundreds of wind turbines we came across the splendid sight of the city, which we entered via the Bay Bridge. Easy to read signs led us straight to Fishermans Wharf and we located a US$9.00 24 hour car park!!!!
First things first, "Brunch" at the famous Fishermans Wharf and we both sat down to a huge bowl of seafood chowder (You know, when in Rome...))
After our fill we headed to the booking office for the the Alcatraz tour that would take us to "The Rock," only to discover that you should book 2 days in advance & everything was booked solid! A little sweet talking and lots of begging got us two tickets for the "After Hours Tour" departing at 6.20 pm.
OK, 7 hours to get back for the tour. We ventured along the Embarcadero beside the bayfront to where a cable car line terminates and is only a few blocks easy walk from Fisherman's Wharf. Here we watched the motormen manually rotate the cars to face them up the hill. We boarded this cable car and rode it downtown where we explored for an hour or so before returning along the same route, alighting at the top of Lombard Street, "The crookedest street in America" This is where this picture is taken from. We then walked down Lombard Street, stopping to enjoy the view and tallk with some locals before walking back down toward the water which includes several piers that have been converted to specialty shopping malls, seafood restaurants and gift shops.
This area is also where we found Pier 39 and watched its colony of California sea lions play for around an hour. After watching the sea lions we headed to Pier 41 and waited for the Alcatraz tour which turned out to be one of the most enjoyable tours that we have ever done.
The tour began with the crew lining us up to have our photo taken so that they could rip us off for the photo when we got back! We refused to have the photo taken and they got a little upset, but I told her to get over it! Once the ferry departed the view accross the Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and the nearing Alcatraz prison were spectacular. The ferry circled the Alcatraz island &, after docking, we stepped ashore. The cool breeze added to the atmosphere and we were grouped into three seperate groups. As we walked up the steep road that leads to the prison itself the guides stopped for us to catch our breath and tell stories and tales of the history of Alcatraz.
Once at the top we were handed a map of the site and a "waterproof" walkman that included a narrated guide of the complex. This tour was nothing short of brilliant as it instructed you to follow a pre determined course and asked you to stop at all of the sites of interest along they way, providing gripping stories of prisoners, events and their outcomes. The beauty of this tour was that we could stop the tape and look around before continuing! At the end of the self guided tour, as all tours should, you finish in the gift shop at the top of the road that will take you back to the dock. Of course there were many souveniers to be had such as t-shirts and books.

The interesting thing for us is that Alcatraz tours also include additional, free of charge, guided tours on a number of subjects such as "The bird man of Alcatraz" tour that gave you all the "inside running" on the Birdman. (who, by the way, never had any birds while in Alcatraz! Hollywood licence!) All of these free tours actually finish right back at the dock and most people get back on the ferry. NOT US! We returned to the top and did all 4 free tours, the self tour and also looked around until the last ferry departed! I can recommend this tour because it starts in day light hours, finishes after sunset, is less crowded and the lights of the city on your return ferry trip are something to behold.
When we returned at 9.45pm we were very hungry and decided to revisit Fishermans Wharf for another bowl of seafood chowder and a steak washed down with a few of the local brews! Our dinner discussion focused on the lack of somewhere to sleep for the night and as there was a conference in town and no rooms available we should look further afield. We headed back across the Bay bridge and found a small but comfortable room for the night...At 2.30 am

We got out of bed at 8.00 am and headed back into the city and yes, you guessed it, seafood chowder at Fishermans wharf for one last time. We then headed up to the Golden Gate Park and did the touristy thing before completing our whirlwind tour of The Presidio, Cliff House/Seal Rock, Nob Hill and a drive through the city via Lombard Street!
After an early lunch, no not at Fishermans Wharf!!! we headed back to Los Angeles and headed toward our motel where we arrived at 7.45pm....Anne advised me that Disneyland was open until midnight tonight and that our 7 day pass would allow it!!!!!! So we went to Disneyland and had another great time!