After having arrived in San Francisco and checked in to the hotel we opted to try and wander Fisherman's Warf in search of food. Keep in mind that we hadn't slept much from the drive, and were rather shell shocked by the vast numbers of people in the area. It was a total mob scene.
We failed at the first few attempts to find food. Then we managed to find a family place with proper seating. After chomping down the requisite bread bowl of chowder and being completely overwhelmed by the volumes of people we retreated back to the hotel for a nap. Well, Jensen and my nap turned into an 18 hour snooze fest that didn't end until the next morning. The women fared better than we did and snuck off for a little adventure while we were out cold. They say they just went to Wallgreen's, but with those two who knows. :)
The following morning, having stuffed ourselves on the continental breakfast we walked back down to Pier 33 and boarded the boat to Alcatraz. The Warf was much quieter in the morning. This was Jensen's first boat ride and he excitedly exclaimed "Water!" for the whole ride out there (it's his latest new word, and he's obsessed with it).
We were all suprised at Alcatraz. I've always had pictures in my head of the prison part, but the actual prison building is only a small part of the island. It has been all sorts of different things over the years. Today it's a giant bird sanctuary and filled with chicks running around. The other big suprise was the gardens! We never expected to see such beautiful gardens. We explored every inch of the island. It took us until 4 in the afternoon. If you visit, the return boat trip is your best bet for taking full island photos.
My cell phone was dead, so I don't have any photos to share today, but we'll have a pile once we're home from our trip.
That evening we made full use of the expensive, but totally worth it, babysitting services. If you indend to do this, keep in mind that it's certainly not cheap at ~75.00 for a night out, but the romantic seaside dinner with SWMBO was well worth it.
We watched the sun go down over the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz from Neptune's Palace. If you want the good tables here you *must* make your reservations in advance (even if only a few hours). The food was really good, the desserts even better and the service was excellent. SWMBO had a "Cable Car" and I proceeded to watch her giggle her way through supper, so they must be pretty potent. :)
We finished the night with a nice walk along the Embarcadero. Definitely take the time to walk it in the evening, but make sure you're dressed warm!
