GoofyFan1515
DIS Dad #174
- Joined
- May 23, 2012
Don't be silly Rosie, you know her name is........................................ Katharina!How exciting that Michael is spending the summer in Germany!! Does he know anyone there ????
Don't be silly Rosie, you know her name is........................................ Katharina!How exciting that Michael is spending the summer in Germany!! Does he know anyone there ????
Don't be silly Rosie, you know her name is........................................ Katharina!
Yes, I promise, things will get moving again soon!
I think it said something mocha on the can, so I told him to stop whining, it was him who made the choice which cans to pick up. We started the packing process and the complaining about the iced coffee continued. Well, after some time when he had woken up a little bit more, Michael actually looked at the can in more detail and it turned out it was indeed chocolate milk, no coffee in sight! Michael does not like chocolate milk, so now I did understand his complaining.
Since we were late in departing, we decided to grab a quick and cheap lunch at one of the fast food options around our hotel in Fairfield and picked the Del Taco. I don’t have any notes about it, but I remember that it was tasty.
I already had a very good impression about the hotel. We then got to our room and this was very spacious, recently renovated and even had a view!
I don't share ice cream. Ever. I also don't joke about it. Something M learned recently without being thrown head first out the window!
We found the second Ghirardelli’s shop:
And I guess now we made it officially to Fisherman’s Wharf:
And then we entered Pier 39, which is the epitome of touristy cheesiness:
It is interesting that the sea lions only started to hang out there in 1989, before they had other preferred areas, now it seems that they have found other attractive hang outs as well.
I used to enjoy the Mel's on Sunset Blvd when I lived in 90210 despite it being a tourist haunt. Parking was atrocious so a few times we would be headed there for midnight breakfast only to wind up at the West Hollywood I-Hop where I usually ran into soap opera actors.
I would say that San Francisco is only very slightly behind New York City with regard to crazy expensive hotel prices!
There was a street, Chestnut Street, that ran parallel to Lombard one block towards the water that was supposed to have lots of restaurants and shopping.
So, looking at a map on how to get there and also knowing that driving in San Francisco is a nightmare, it became very obvious that the best route was actually across the Golden Gate bridge as this is US Route 101 which we then would just follow into town directly to our hotel.
On the approach we had a very nice view of the skyline of San Francisco:
The first thing we came across was Ghirardelli Square, the old chocolate factory which still has Ghirardelli shops, but is kind of a mall with all kind of shops and restaurants. http://www.ghirardellisq.com
Butterscotch Hot Fudge Sundae: Butter pecan ice cream smothered with butterscotch and golden almond nuggets under a layer of vanilla ice cream and our freshly homemade hot fudge. Topped with whipped cream, chopped almonds and a cherry.
One really neat feature in San Francisco is that besides the cable cars, they also have a streetcar line on which they use historic street cars from all around the world:
All kind of weird shops, some were actually fun to check out. But we were here for the main attraction! The sea lions!!
Michael had a meatloaf sandwich
Cow Hollow Inn
I think it said something mocha on the can
It was delicious! And we had a nice table at the window overlooking the bay and enjoyed sitting there while trying to make a dent into our huge sundaes!
One really neat feature in San Francisco is that besides the cable cars, they also have a streetcar line on which they use historic street cars from all around the world:
The evening before I had asked Michael if he wanted something and he had decided that he would have the last can of iced coffee drink that we had gotten at the 99 Cents Only store in Garden Grove. So, I got back and woke up Michael and gave him that can. He drank it and started to complain that it did not taste like coffee at all, more chocolatey. I think it said something mocha on the can, so I told him to stop whining, it was him who made the choice which cans to pick up. We started the packing process and the complaining about the iced coffee continued. Well, after some time when he had woken up a little bit more, Michael actually looked at the can in more detail and it turned out it was indeed chocolate milk, no coffee in sight!
Isn't she an angel folks? And my return to this 18-year endeavour to tell the tales of our amazing summer month in The Golden State (or paradise as I call it) and she is immediately taking shots at me?!?!?
For $ 160 a night (excluding tax, but with free parking) it seemed a great deal for San Francisco. Reviews on tripadvisor were pretty good as well.
Spoiler alert: It was a great deal and a great place for a first visit to San Francisco.
And then we were on the bridge:
The best visit was with Katharina in 1992 when the bridge was mainly in the fog and just looked so massive as it came out of the fog. We walked a bit onto it and at some point it felt like all land around us had disappeared!
The first thing we came across was Ghirardelli Square, the old chocolate factory which still has Ghirardelli shops, but is kind of a mall with all kind of shops and restaurants.
I don't share ice cream. Ever. I also don't joke about it. Something M learned recently without being thrown head first out the window!
We found some really nice retro postcards and magnets there, this was the one I got for my fridge:
By then we both were totally happy with life, it just seemed like a perfect day where everything just fell into place.
They had a lot of Sour Patch Kids merchandise there and I commented to Michael that I find this candy a bit disturbing – who wants to eat kids???
One really neat feature in San Francisco is that besides the cable cars, they also have a streetcar line on which they use historic street cars from all around the world:
And then we entered Pier 39, which is the epitome of touristy cheesiness:
There used to be far more sea lions who would come to this area. It is interesting that the sea lions only started to hang out there in 1989, before they had other preferred areas, now it seems that they have found other attractive hang outs as well. You can see in this picture that there is room for a lot more sea lions!
She still has kissed me in a way no one else ever has and likely never will. I miss Cass terribly sorta like a visitor in Delaware misses indoor plumbing.
I am sure no one else has ever kissed him with the same fishy breath as her...
For San Francisco it would be perfect to have a city map with contour lines to help you figure out the route with the least elevation gain!
Our server told him that the soup of the day was beef and vegetable (when she said it I knew that this was what Michael would order) and then when his soup arrived, he really liked it, but commented on that he thought that it was odd that they put so much beef in a vegetable soup and how this might mislead some vegetarians. I told him that it should be obvious that a beef and vegetable soup has beef in it. It turned out that he totally had missed out on the beef part!
Glad to see an update!
Love the pics of the Sea Lions! They are cute, I did a fun excursion in 2013 on a cruise that had a stop in the Dominican Republic (Samana) where we swam and played with the sea lions, it was so neat!
This is funny! But how can someone not like Chocolate Milk???
I like Del Taco better than Taco Bell. If you order the basic tacos, Del Taco packs them full of shredded Cheese while Taco Bell is very cheap about it. I have to order "extra cheese" at Taco Bell just to get a taco made like they do at Del Taco.
That looks like a very nice place for a reasonable price. I never get to stay in the City because we can stay for free at my parents 40 miles away.
This is a very interesting statement!
This is the one that I know of and if I were to say we should get an ice cream sundae at "Ghiradelli's" This would be the location. Do they serve meals there any more? I also wondered how you had a view of the Bay as this one is tucked into the back of Ghiradelli square.
It's really too bad that Michael doesn't eat seafood. You can get some tasty snacks from the street vendors located between the two pictures you posted from "on approach" and "arrival at Fisherman's Wharf."
I remember when Pier 39 opened. I'm pretty sure it's sole purpose was to revitalize the waterfront. When I was in High School. I used to spend a lot of time on weekends driving around the city doing touristy things (much to my parents chagrin). I never understood why people thought it was a nightmare for driving, I even had a stick shift car at the time. We hung out at Pier 39 a lot playing arcade games.
I was long gone by then. No wonder I don't remember Sea lions being very prominent.
That is could to know. We fell in love when we had our overnight stop on the Wonder in 2013 and we will definitely go back. At least we will be prepared.
That sounds amazing and I am with Michael there: when it comes to ice cream, I don't share.
Oh, I wish I had known that when we were there. We kind of just passed through that area.
My parents stay at that very place every visit they make. They were just there a few short months ago.
Coffee with ANYTHING "mocha" listed will most certainly not taste much like coffee.... but especially one that doesn't say COFFEE anywhere on it. LOLOLOL!
I may just go for an entire dinner at Ghiradelli at DTD when I'm there.
You will absolutely fall in love with the Walt Disney Family Museum (unless you saw it then)
Thanks for the tip! I'll need to remember this for the future.
Very cool! I hope I get to see the Golden Gate someday.
Neat! My daughter would love that.
I'd love to see these! My boys would be fascinated.
...says the guy who can't tell the difference between coffee and chocolate milk.
Have you ever tried after eating raw tuna for dinner?
So looking at our food choices carefully is evidently not a strength.