We went to San Francisco twice, on the way north to Crescent City and again going south back to Los Angeles. On the first stop, we went only to the Golden Gate Bridge. I was feeling pretty sickly that day, but still had a good time. We were first on the San Francisco side of the bridge where they have a gift shop with expensive T-shirts. I went ahead and bought one since I had to get a T-shirt at every touristy (or not) place that I went. Then we drove across the bridge and found where there were people selling cheap T-shirts. I got another...
Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge
From the northern side...
When we came back through San Francisco from the north, I had already been to Mount Shasta and had been cured of the ailment that had stricken me at Venice Beach. This time was lots of fun! It was almost like being with tour group. We parked at some garage we found and walked until we found the place to buy cable car tickets and the place where the tracks begin...
Where the tracks begin... Riding the cable cars!
People began gathering there with us. They all had cameras; no one knew what they were doing...
We rode the cable car down to Chinatown, bought a bunch of trinkets and caught another cable car on down to Fisherman's Wharf where we saw lots of street performers. We bought several paintings on the street, and I sat for one of those quick profile jobs.
Chinatown Fisherman's Wharf
Fisherman's WharfA juggler we saw on the way to the dock
We could see Alcatraz from there, but didn't have time to take the tour since we had to drive back to Los Angeles that evening.
Alcatraz as seen from Fisherman's Wharf
When we realized that we had better leave Fisherman's Wharf to head back to L.A., we walked back to the end of the cable car tracks where the track does a loop. There were hundreds of people waiting in line. Impatient, needing to be on our way, we began walking across San Francisco, looking for our way back to the garage where we had parked the rental car. Luckily, after reading maps we found along the way, we realized that our cable car passes were good for any city bus all day. We found a bus stop and made our way back to the car by city bus and left our hearts in San Francisco...
Tall buildings
Other San Francisco pages
The San Francisco, California USA page from the Marco Polo Galleria
Virtually California: San Francisco
Get all the Golden Gate Facts at the Golden Gate Bridgepage
and
Golden Gate Bridge Facts
Back to the main page of Darla Kay's Whizbang California Trip