Monday 15 July
After another sleep in this morning, we finally succumbed to a request of the kids weeks ago and took them to Denny’s for breakfast. They had seen the breakfast menu when we ate there along the way, and were enticed by the picture of chocolate chip pancakes and softball pancakes!
We then returned to Fisherman’s Wharf to board a hop on hop off bus tour of the city – alas, no Alcatraz tickets available still, even when I requested 4 instead of 8, thinking I would just send Ross and the older 3. So it appears we need to return here at some point to tour Alcatraz! When Ross and I came here 17 years ago, we could not go to Alcatraz because stormy weather had destroyed the pier from where the boats leave, but I don’t remember having to book tickets so far in advance when I used to come with my parents.
The tour guide on the bus was an African-American lady who sounded just like Oprah, and we loved her humour. Belle fell asleep and Ross was happy to ride and rest his leg, so we took the whole trip in one go, rather than hop on and off. The trip took over two hours. It was good to have such an informative guide and to be able to see the city. The bus even did a loop over the Golden Gate Bridge. When it returned, we went to Applebee’s at Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch, then returned to our room for a rest. On the way back, we bought some weatherproof jackets similar to one we had bought Jarrod when we left the hotel this morning. He was so warm and we were so cold on the bus tour, it was easy to vote to shop again!
At 4pm we headed out again, in our new warm jackets, planning to walk Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. At Ghiradelli the lines waiting for cable cars were as long as yesterday, so we thought we would walk the five blocks to Lombard…until we saw the angle of the street! Ross knew he would not make it, so instead we hopped back on the tour bus and off at Union Square to explore that area.
Close to 6pm we caught another tour bus back to Fisherman’s Wharf. The kids have been begging us for McDonalds because the happy meal comes with a Despicable Me toy, so we fed them there and then I picked up some clam chowder in a bread bowl while Ross got frappucinos from Starbucks for us. We are not used to the cold weather, it is the middle of summer here after all! We retired to our room for the night, and are planning to return to Lombard St when we pick up our rental car tomorrow morning. It is amazing to realise but we only have three days to go!