Day # 30 - San Francisco

Happy Birthday to me! This morning, everyone seemed a little bit on the grumpy side! We got breakfast made and everyone fed and that seemed to improve everyone’s mood. We decided since today was a Sunday to brave driving into town. It’s not the traffic that worries us (well it worries me, but Tony is the DD for dicey traffic situations) it’s the lack of parking. Our land yacht is pretty big to begin with and by the time you add the car top carrier and hitch on the back it is ridiculous. Anyway, the drive in was uneventful and we found a nice parking space close to Fisherman’s Wharf for the low, low price of $3.50 a half hour with a max of $28. What are you going to do, we knew going in parking would be a killer?

Anyway, we got unloaded and headed through the street vendors to take in some of the sights. We started with a tour of the USS Pompanito. It is a World War II submarine that has been “restored” and turned into a museum. Tony loves the history behind military planes and ships so he was really looking forward to checking things out. The kids were really excited too. Since I am claustrophobic, I was a little more hesitant. A submarine is not really conducive to wide open spaces and since it is docked in the bay you get to experience some of the roll of the ocean. We climbed aboard and began out tour. The submarine was really neat. We didn’t pop for the audio tour, but there was plenty to look at and Tony knows enough about all the mechanical system that he could answer many of the kids questions. I just couldn’t get over how cramped everything felt and then tried to imagine being on board with a crew of about 80 (well, maybe I could handle the tight quarters a bit easier if it meant checking out 80 sailors –but I digress). Anyway, we all enjoyed checking out all of the different areas and learning about a piece of America’s Naval history. When we finished the tour, I was happy to have my feet back on dry land. Docked next to the Pomapnito is the USS Jeremiah O’Brien. The O’Brien is the Last surviving supply ship that was part of the Normandy Invasion. We didn’t have time to explore it, but we did take the time to look at some of the interpretive info on the dock. There was a display about Rosie the Riveter and we talked to Sarah about how the women stepped up during the war and took over jobs that only men had done in the past. She seemed pretty impressed that a group of women could have built something so impressive.

Next, we headed over to the Boudin Bakery to take the bakery tour and to enjoy some of San Francisco’s yummy sourdough bread. Boudin Bakery is the longest running business on the pier – over 160 years. It was started in 1848 by a French Immigrant. The bakery offers tours of its industrial bakery facility. There is also a small museum area where you can learn more about the history of bread and the Boudin family. We all enjoyed seeing how the bread was made and sampling some of the bread. In addition to the traditional loaves of sour dough bread, the bakers have perfected creating animal shapes from the dough. Our favorites were the alligator, crab and lobster. They also made turtles, fish and teddy bears too. After our tour, we were hungry (who wouldn’t be after smelling all of that bread!). We headed downstairs to the cafe’ to get a bite to eat. Tony and I enjoyed some delicious clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. The kids shared some pizza on sourdough crust.

After lunch, we were ready to explore some more with the kids. We took them over to Pier 39 to check out the sea lions and the views of the Bay and the City. The kids were amazed by all of the street performers trying to get people to part with their money. Our kids have seen panhandlers and people playing instruments for “tips” on our trips downtown to the circus, festivals and to Reds games, but they were speechless trying to take in all of them in such a small area. Abby’s favorite was the man who had turned himself into a human robot and had painted his body and clothes silver. She kept talking about the “man with the makeover” but was too scared to put a dollar in his tip jar. Sarah said she’d do it, but was a little startled when he suddenly came to life to shake her hand! We managed to keep everyone together through the crowds and worked our way over to the pier. We walked around and happened upon a comedy/magic show that was happening on a small stage in the middle of the pier. “Al Catraz” was performing. We stopped to watch for a minute. Sarah was picked out of the audience to come up on stage to help out with the act. Al asked Sarah what she did for a living and she replied that she mostly drove her mom and dad crazy! What a character! She totally loved being up on stage and being the center of attention (not a stretch for anyone who knows her!). Abby started to pout because she wanted to go up on stage too. I am not a psychic, but I predict the teenage years are going to be rough! Anyway, Abby got over her jealousy when Tony announced that the kids could take a ride on the 2-story carousel. AJ had been asking for about 30 minutes if he could ride a pony. He is at that stage where he thinks if he says please he will get what he wants. In this case, he did. Tony took the kids on the carousel. AJ didn’t get to ride his pony, but he picked out a nice dolphin on the upper level instead!

After a few games in the arcade, the kids wanted to check out the sea lions. You can hear them on the pier. They were excited to check them out, but I think they were a little jaded from their experience in Oregon. Having been to the Sea Lion Caves last week and watching hundreds of Sea Lions, they really weren’t all that impressed with the hundred or so sunning themselves from the end of the pier! Sheesh!

Everyone was getting tired so we headed back to the truck. Traffic was fairly light in the city so we decided to drive around a bit and check out some of the sights and give the kids a taste of San Francisco’s hills! We drove through China Town and saw Coit Tower. We meandered our way around and then decided we were getting hungry! One of the guidebooks on San Fran suggested a restaurant called Pasta Pomodoro. It is known for having good food, being family friendly and not assaulting on your wallet. There are several locations in the city, but we headed for the one in North Beach (Little Italy). Dinner was delicious and the kids were extremely well behaved (especially since AJ and Abby didn’t get a nap!) For a birthday treat, I enjoyed a molten lava cake with ice cream! It was getting pretty late, so we headed back to the car and then back to the campground. It was certainly an enjoyable day!