Day one of the trip is complete! and what a very very long it was. We landed in San Francisco at 10am local time, leaving us with plenty of time to explore our first day. Lucky for us, when we arrived at our hotel, our room was ready, so we were able to dump our luggage right away. Doesn't surprise me that our room was ready, though, tiny as it is. The bed is actually smaller than mine at home! and guess what - there's only one! We weren't going to let that dampen our spirits. Once we were done checking in / freshening up it was already 1300. That gave us 5 hours until our Alcatraz "cruise" allowed us to board. We thought we'd just meander and with that tripped out of the hotel.
First stop: lunch! Maru Sushi? sure. it was okay - a bit salty. This is when I first realised that I wasn't tasting things properly. Ruh-roh. You know what this means? I be sick. I trooped on. We were going to walk straight down Powell until we hit the piers and then just take it from there. We were waylaid not two blocks away from the restaurant by a seemingly friendly old man who saw me peeking at my map. He says: where are you headed? I say: to the piers; is this the right direction. He says: yes, but why not hop a trolley? Well, we're just going to walk it. And then he starts telling us where he's going and what a great place it is and how we should just get on the trolley and go there. JC and I begin nodding and smiling. Ruh-roh, indeed. Once we we able to shake him off we just walked until we hit water.
At the pier, we saw a breakdancing show (to which I donated $5) and a steel drum show (to which I donated nothing). We walked over to Pier 39 and watched some seals, had some soft-serve and took in all the tourist-y goodness that is the double-level, boardwalk-and-shop extravaganza. I bought some starfish that were guaranteed not to break for my bathroom. I resisted the rest. We were beginning to get tired by now, so we thought we'd kill an hour over crab cakes and chowder at Chowder's. Chattted a bit.
At 1730, we made tracks to get to Pier 33 for our Alcatraz Cruise - I find it funny that they call a 12-minute ferry ride a cruise, but if Americans do anything right, it is marketing. By the time we arrived on the island, it's just about sunset in the foggy Bay, a nice eerie feeling. The night tour at Alcatraz gives you all the historical stuff that the day tour does - the inmates, the cells, the history, the drama. But what only the night tour can deliver is "ambiance" - and what an ambiance it is! The hospital wing - still under restoration - is so creepy and weird with outmoded "medical" instruments, it's downright horrific. The cells where the guards were gunned down during a botched escape attempt, the old Spanish fortifications, the gun gallery... all very picture-worthy. We caught the last boat out and were back in SanFran by 2200.
After a late-night snack at Lori's (Bay Shrimp salad!) and a stop at Walgreen's (Nyquil!) it was time for us two tired cats to go to bed. But, the bed... it was so small. So JC opted for the floor - maybe to spare me his tossing and turning, maybe to quarantine himself from my ever-worsening illness, who knows? - and by 2330, it was lights-out in San Francisco.
Today: dive suit and leisurely wandering. Maybe an early check-in and more sleeping for me before our 15-hour day tomorrow (shark dive!). Did you know if you're sick they won't let you dive? No wonder JC took the floor...
Later poppets!
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