24 Hours in San Francisco
As I mentioned in my last post, my husband and I enjoyed our honeymoon in northern California. Since we wanted to spend most of our time north of San Francisco, we only had one day to explore the city so we made it a point to do and see the major tourist attractions.
The biggest thing we had on the docket was to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge. Though my husband is a bicycle enthusiast, I am not and only ride a bike about once a year. So we biked across the bridge on a tandem bicycle, which requires teamwork and communication. We are happily still married after this experience (though in all seriousness we actually worked quite well together on a tandem bicycle).
Our first morning in San Francisco started off nice and sunny with blue skies. Perfect for some Golden Gate Bridge viewing along the bike trail. However, don't you worry, the infamous San Francisco fog rolled in.
We biked across the bridge and up to Battery Spencer on Fort Baker on the Marin Headlands for a nice, foggy viewpoint of the bridge. It was incredibly windy at the top. So when taking photographs hold on to your phones/cameras tightly and make sure you have good footing! The gusts are strong enough to make you stumble backwards. You can find momentary reprieve from the wind in the fort at the top. And one more pro tip: wear more than shorts and a shirt. The wind packs some hefty chills, even in the middle of summer.
Here's a more telling photo of the fog from a longer distance. You can barely see the bridge in the background! And yes, that's yours truly in the lower right corner.
When all was said and done, our round trip bike ride was around 10 miles--a personal biking distance goal for me!
After that round of exercise we located some ramen in Chinatown. We know ramen doesn't originate in China, but we had plans to wander around Chinatown after lunch. Regardless, it was delicious! Trying ramen for the first time (other than the instant kind) was high on my "to do" list and I wasn't disappointed. I ordered the spicy ramen which will wake up your sinuses!
Here's the heart of Chinatown with its iconic lanterns and shops upon shops that sell tea, clothing, and other various trinkets. If you venture farther inward the alleys get more narrow and you can have fun exploring in areas that aren't as choked with tourists like ourselves.
We also visited the Painted Ladies, which, to be perfectly honest, were a bit of a disappointment. Maybe it was the weather, but the houses aren't as saturated in color as many photos mislead you to believe. Even my photo here makes it look like the houses look a bit more colorful than they really are. If this is something you really want to see, then by all means go do it, but I wouldn't put it on the top of my list of recommendations.
Aside from that, these aren't the only "painted ladies" in town. The name actually refers to a style in American architecture that's used for Victorian and Edwardian houses painted in three or more different colors. Approximately 48,000 houses were built in this style from 1849 to 1915, though some were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. However, many still remain in the western and southern areas of the city.
The last thing we saw was Lombard Street. As with the Painted Ladies, I wasn't as enthusiastic about this spot once we got there. Again, pictures online are misleading. This is of course a fully functional street (which is fine). Because of that, along with the throngs of tourists, it's impossible to get the photo you want without going airborne. Yes, it's pretty, but again, I wouldn't put it on the top of my recommendations list.
Aside from visiting the typical tourist sites, we also visited a couple of breweries in the area. In general, California is known for having really good breweries in addition to great wineries. Pictured here is Black Hammer Brewing, which had a pretty sweet mural inside as well as a chill atmosphere.
All in all, San Francisco is a great city to visit despite my complaints about the Painted Ladies and Lombard Street. If we'd had more time there I would have loved to try a few more restaurants as there are tons from which to choose. I also loved how vibrant and active the city is; it was inspiring to see so many people up and either running or cycling early on a Saturday morning. With a bay-side view and the bridge to gaze out, what's not to admire while you're exercising?! Also, once last pro tip: take Uber whenever you can. They're everywhere, very easy to use, and you don't ever have to worry about finding a parking spot.
Comments
Post a Comment