Trip Report - Day Three ~ Part Two

Well, I have absolutely no pictures for this segment (there really wasn't much that was photo worthy) but at least I have some video.

So when I left off, we were enroute to get our rental car in a taxi. We rented the car from Alamo, which was located near Union Square. It was the best price I could find for a one way rental, and I actually booked it online through Orbitz.

So the taxi dropped us off, and I dragged all our luggage inside and waited while Brian signed all the paperwork and got the GPS I had also rented. I thought about bringing ours from home, but across the country and a two week vacation seemed like too much trouble for one day. So decided it was worth $11. There was a little confusion as to where our car was, but we got pointed in the right direction. We had to go into another garage and find our red Chevy Aveo. (Yes, of course I had reserved the cheapest type of car!) The trunk was small, but we had all the backseat, and so we loaded everything into the car and I started to try and get the GPS to find us.

I don't know what it is with GPS', but they always seem to take forever to locate us! We knew we had to leave the garage in order to get a signal, so into the roads of San Francisco we went. Of course the roads around Union Square are pretty congested, unlike the rest of the city we had seen. It was kind of stressful, driving in one direction waiting for the GPS to catch up with us! (I had TOTALLY forgotten that I had written directions in my phone. Yeah. Way to fail.) Anyway, the GPS finally got with the program and we got on the highway and headed out of San Francisco to San Jose. The drive was rainy but fine and the roads weren't very crowded because it was before rush hour. I found a decent station on the radio and enjoyed the lovely CA scenery. Despite the rain.




We arrived at the DoubleTree San Jose about an hour later. It was still raining. We went to check in and our room was ready. We were also given two delicious chocolate chip cookies. I love those! Brian had a little confusion with the parking situation, but we got to our room and brought our stuff in. It was very nice! Big, and we had a small balcony, even if the view was of the parking lot and it was raining.

We just relaxed for awhile and discussed what we wanted to do next. We both wanted to see a movie - sherlock Holmes - so I researched where the nearest theater was and we decided to head over there (with the help of our GPS) to see the movie.

I forget what time the movie was, or what time we left, but it was dark when we got there. We didn't have any trouble finding the mall (Thank you, GPS) but the parking lot was crowded and it was still raining. We weren't really sure where we were going, so we just parked where we found a spot and went into the mall. This mall was technically in Milpitas and it was called Great Mall. I swear, that's what it was called. Anyway, this mall was one level and it was HUGE and full of great stores. There was actually outlet stores in the mall! Man, I wish our malls were that awesome out here. I saw some stores I wanted to stop in, but there wasn't a ton of time before the movie and we still had to find the theater, so we kept moving.

The theater ended up being at the total opposite end of where we were - and it was outside. And still raining. There was a bit of a line, so we hopped on it, and gawked at the prices. And we thought NY was expensive! It was almost $11 a ticket. But more than that, I was perplexed why they felt the need to post a sign stating that firearms were not allowed in the theater. We weren't in a bad area or anything! Very strange. But luckily we just made it in time to get the matinee price, which I think lasted until before 6.

Anyway, we grabbed some snacks and saw the movie, which we both enjoyed. I just love Robert Downey Jr. He's a very good actor. Afterwards there wasn't too much time before the mall closed. Brian wanted dinner, but I had eaten popcorn and I was good, so I went shopping while he headed to the food court and had a hot dog or something. I ended up buying this really cute dress. I don't remember the name of the store, but it wasn't a store we have out here. It was kind of like Forever 21, because the clothes were cute and inexpensive. It was called Love Culture actually. Afterwards we found our car, went back to the hotel, showered and went to bed. We had a big day ahead of us!

Here's a look at the weird street lights in San Jose and a brief review of the our night:

NEXT...

Winchester House...of Mystery!
An important lesson about rental cars
San Diego delays

Trip Report - Day Three ~ Part One

It's our last day in San Francisco already? But we just got here!

We packed up our stuff (including the huge bag of chocolate I bought on our first day...and am still working on finishing over a month later) and headed down to the lobby where I enjoyed another delicious blueberry muffin. We had to leave our bags with bell services since we weren't picking up our rental car till that afternoon. We had to wait for a bit, but eventually someone showed up, we checked like 5 bags, and headed back outside into the 50 degree weather.

Finally no fog! Beautiful.

We'll be back here later - The Cannery.

Our goal? To ride the damn cable car finally!

The Powell/Hyde cable car started (or ended, depending on how you look at it) right near our hotel, so we took a ride over there. I wanted to go first thing in the morning because I had seen longer lines later in the day. It was nice and quiet over there. We bought our tickets, which amounted to $5 each way for each of us. Expensive, right? Well, you can get a pass for cheaper but there was no point in us doing that at this point. There was a car about to leave, and we could have gotten on if we wanted to stand, but we decided to wait for the next one. Standing on the cable car...not the safest looking thing to do. Those things pass very close to cars and other cable cars! But...we'll get to that later.

Took this video while we waited:





So we waited awhile for the next car, and we were the first ones on. The car filled up pretty quickly because a line had formed behind us and so before we knew it we were heading up the hill and riding the cable car!





I was filming as much as I could and enjoying the view until the second stop - that's when this guy got on and stood right in front of me. He couldn't stand in front of someone not clearly filming? Thanks a lot, buddy. Anyway, I tried my best to film around him. He got off at like the second to last stop.





Riding the cable car was really cool. I don't know how the brakemen control those things. Cars zoom around them, and they have to stop at traffic lights - it's pretty crazy. I think the video tells the story better than words could. But we rode the cable car all the way to the end, which was Union Square. And you have to get off at the end of the line.

The line to get back on the cable car? SUPER LONG.

And we were a long, long way from Fisherman's Wharf.

Oh well! Might as well make the best of it. We wandered around Union Square, and ended up in the huge, beautiful mall. This was probably the nicest mall I've ever seen. It had escalators that kind of curved around like spiral staircases. And it was packed full of high end stores, of course. There was also a really nice looking movie theater. And there was a gorgeous dome. It was pretty big, and we explored the whole thing but didn't go in any of the stores.

The beautiful dome.

Once we were sick of that, we started thinking about how we would get back. There was no way I was waiting on that long time. So we decided to walk a ways back up the cable car line, and just catch it at another one of the stops. We wanted to check out Lombard Street anyway, which is right along the cable car route.

So we started walking. In San Francisco. And have I mentioned how hilly it is in San Francisco?

A beautiful city it may be, but a walkable city it is not.





But we toughed it out. And we walked up about three or four stops. This British couple joined us in waiting for the cable car. One came along after a few minutes, but there wasn't a lot of room on it. We let the British couple go ahead of us since we saw another one was coming right behind it. So we got on that one instead. I got to sit, but Brian had to stand and hang on for dear life. He wasn't too thrilled with this, but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.





But there was a problem! We were on the Powell/Mason line! Oops! Wrong line! Brian discovered this - I had no idea. We came to a stop where we could transfer, so we hopped off and waited for the right cable car line. This car was crowded too, but we were able to stand inside - at least there was no hanging off the side this time! We listened to a family from San Francisco chat with a family from Canada. It was funny, because the San Francisco family were acting like such tourists - they had small children with them, I'm thinking maybe the kids had never been on a cable car before?

At no point did anyone ask to see those extra, expensive tickets we had paid for. What up, California? And this wasn't the last experience we had with that.


The stop for Lombard Street came, and we got off. Lombard Street is really cool. There are houses right there, and people literally have driveways right on the street. I wouldn't want that to be my driveway! The view from there was awesome, and there are stairs leading down, so we walked down the street. Lots of people were driving down at the snail pace of 5 mph. Lombard Street is part of the much advertised 40-something mile drive through San Francisco.

Check out that view!

Yeah, it's just a little windy.

Me taping, what a shock!

Lots of cars coming down!

After taking some pictures and video, we decided to head back down the hills towards the Bay and find somewhere to have lunch. Along the way, we saw a truck that had run into a pole (the truck was hardly damaged at all - it wasn't a bad accident or anything) and there were a couple of police and firetrucks around. So, I took a picture by the firetruck. One of two accidents we saw in California, and the only one I wish I saw.


The walk back was nice. The streets in San Francisco are so much quieter than any other city I've ever been to.

Do not do this in New York City unless you want to wind up in a hospital.

Once we were back in tourist land, we headed to this place called The Cannery. If you guessed that it used to be a cannery, you're right! Anyway, now it's a bunch of shops and restaurants, but there really isn't much there. It's kind of a shame, because the building is really cool. We went in a sock store, but didn't buy anything. According to the directory, there was supposed to be a hot dog place in there somewhere, but we didn't see it. Maybe it closed. We kind of just wanted to grab some hot dogs, but since that clearly wasn't going to happen, we decided to go to The Buena Vista, which had been recommended to us. It's the first place in the U.S. to serve Irish coffee.




It's right by the cable car stop, so we headed on over. I don't remember exactly what time it was - kind of early for lunch - maybe somewhere between 11 and 12? Anyway, the place was small and it was packed! We walked through the whole thing and there wasn't a seat to be had - even at the bar. It's kind of a casual place, and there's really no one there to seat you. It's really pretty inside though. We weren't sure what to do, and we were just kind of standing there when the bus boy found us a table - a table for six! But we sat down anyway. And I was cold! So I just ordered some hot tea and a grilled cheese. Brian had the Irish Coffee and I forgot what he ate - maybe a hamburger?

Anyway, we were sitting there for a few minutes when an older man and his grandson approached us and asked if they could share our table. Of course we said sure. We had a table for six, and we were only 2 people after all. Anyway, the man was very nice and his grandson was adorable. (I think he was about 4.) He was from CA - just outside San Francisco, and we started telling stories about New York and such. He was very emotional about 9/11, and talked about how much he admired the NY police and firefighters. Since his grandson was visiting and they were planning to ride the cable car, Brian gave him our tickets that no one had taken on our return trip.

Mmm...Irish Coffee.

We had a very nice meal. The little boy, Casey, was very well behaved. The older man got an Irish coffee too and he got crab cakes that he offered to share with us, but we don't eat crab. Anyway, when our check came, the older man grabbed it and insisted on paying! We tried to talk him out of it, but he was insistant. He told us in exchange we could just buy a drink for a cop or firefighter from the Hurley family. It was so nice of him! Needless to say we thanked him profusely and headed back out to kill some time before we picked up our rental car.

So we wandered down in the direction of Ghiradelli Square, but we stayed at sea level. No more hills for us! There was this historic bathhouse place, so we walked inside. There wasn't much in there - just a pretty mosaic on the wall and a nice view of the Bay outside.

Shot this out there:




I thought we could walk down these steps and head to the path that runs along the Bay, but there was like a senior center down there with a bunch of older people exercising. Um, nope! Can't go that way! So we went back outside and found our way to the path and just walked along the bay for awhile. It was really nice. I miss San Francisco! It's such a fantastic city - I can't wait to go back.

The Rock

After that we found our way to this free ship museum. I know it sounds boring as hell, but it actually wasn't that bad - and there were benches! They had an interesting section on shipwrecks (there have been plenty off the coast) that I spent time reading about. When it was nearly time to pick up our rental car, we headed back to the hotel, picked up our luggage, and had the valet call us a cab. (Using this interesting whistle... I had never seen anything like it. But then again I don't really ask valets to call me cabs in large cities.)

Just one more thing I want to say before I forget - at some point I decided I wanted to get the paper - you know, the San Francisco Chronicle. I decided I wanted the newspaper from every city I visited. Well, that dream died right in our first city. I could not find one! I tried a couple of drugstores (they carry the paper here in NY!) and even our hotel gift shop, but they did not have it. Unless I wanted USA Today I was out of luck. Very strange. Oh well.

Next!

Oh god, we really do have to drive here!
Another lovely mall...
The clothes here are better. They just are.

Trip Report ~ Day One, Part Two

Okay, there are no pictures and only one video to go with this part. Sorry!

So my friend Emily moved to CA after fourth grade. She's come back to visit NY a bunch of times since she moved, but this was my first time visiting her! She and her husband had recently bought a house in Livermore, which is a suburb of San Francisco. So the plan that night was to go and visit her.

Emily had given me instructions on how to get to Pleasanton, and part one involved taking the MUNI to the Embarcadero BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station. The closest MUNI station was only like a block away, so after relaxing in the room and freshening up we ventured back outside and started to head towards the MUNI station. (With the assistance of my iPhone map.)

Now, while wandering around San Francisco and riding in that awful taxi cab, I had seen some bus looking things that were attached to wires overhead. (I've tried to find a decent picture online to no avail.) Anyway, we were expecting a subway of some sort. Not a bus on a wire.

So we stumble upon the station. And we have a few minutes to wait. And...it starts to rain. More people gather around. And more people. And I'm getting nervous, because I have no idea what I'm getting myself into.

So the MUNI pulls up, and everybody crowds around to board. The bus driver starts SCREAMING at people to have their tickets out - she was seriously being really nasty. Now I understand she was probably having a long day and there were a lot of people, but holy crap was she rude! I had exact change for our fare, and thank god I did because that was another thing she was screeching. We moved to the back of the car and found two seats together. They were some of the last seats on the bus. And then it quickly filled up so that people were standing from the back to the front - it was like after closing time at the Magic Kingdom. The seats were tiny and the bus was gross - there was stuff carved into the windows.

It gets worse.

So we continue along, rain slapping against the graffiti decorated windows, and the bus driver has decided she hasn't yelled at everyone enough. Oh no. She gets on the PA and starts screeching about how it's a dangerous city and there are pickpockets everywhere and to watch your stuff. Um, hello? I've been in this city less than 10 hours - this is what I get treated to? And she doesn't just say this once. She says it REPEATEDLY. Like four times. Seriously. I could not get the hell off that horrible bus fast enough.

Finally our stop came, and we ran off and never looked back. The BART station was right there, so luckily we didn't have to do any more wandering around in the rain.

And I decided what MUNI really stands for - Massive Under-performing Network of Incompetence.

So we purchase our tickets, and we're a little confused at how no one takes the ticket...it's not like the subway where you have to insert your ticket to get through the turnstiles. You just walk right through.

BART trains run like the metro North trains we have here in the NYC area, but they look like subway cars. There was a guy behind us who decided he had to share his rap music with the rest of us, and some panhandlers came through (they were all over Fisherman's Wharf, too, and they were aggressive) so it was REALLY like the subway. But I just relaxed and we rode the train for about 45 minutes to the end of the line - Pleasanton.

When we got off the train, we realized that we had to put our tickets into the turnstiles to get OUT. Bizarro land...

It was raining pretty hard outside. I had texted Emily from the train, and she was waiting to pick us up at the station. We looked around for her car, but she spotted us first. We quickly greeted each other, and then we were off! Emily claimed that we brought the rain with us, since it hadn't been raining a few minutes ago. Sorry! We New Yorkers bring the crappy weather with us. It's a curse.

She offered to take us on a tour of Pleasanton, and we took her up on that offer. Even in the rainy darkness, it was a really cute town. Hopefully I'll be able to go back soon and see it in the daylight! After the tour, we got on the slow moving highway and headed to Livermore.

When we got to Emily's house, we got to meet her husband, Ivan, as well as their rescued greyhound, Fantom, and Ivan's sister's pitbull puppy they were watching - Tila. This was our first time meeting Ivan since we weren't able to make it to their wedding and they hadn't been able to make it to ours. He's really nice, and we all got along well right away. Emily gave us a quick tour of the house and then we all talked for awhile while she made dinner. It was really comfortable in their house because they had the fireplace going - but I was surprised at how NOT TIRED I was. I'm not a night person at all, so I thought I'd be jet lagged like crazy, but I was actually doing really well.

So we just sat around and talked, and I got to see their wedding album. (We had the exact same album cover - weird, right?) Emily made chicken and rice for dinner and it was delicious. We also had this really good natural soda - it was like ginger ale. I can't remember what brand it was! Anyway, after dinner, Ivan wanted to play this game he had.

And so it began.

The game was called "Last Night on Earth" and basically it's a tabletop RPG game that pits zombies vs. humans. That means it involves fighting and rolling dice to see who wins. I'd only played one game like this before, and it was overly complicated and took forever and we had monsters lined up outside our town waiting to get in like it was Space Mountain. But this game was much simpler and much more fun - Emily and I played as the zombies and the boys were the humans. We won! Okay, it was kind of cheap, but we still won! Brian immediately fell in love with this game and it became his goal to own it. (Ivan also made some yummy brownies for us while we were playing the game.)

When the game was over, we talked for a bit more and then decided we should probably head back to the city. Emily offered for us to spend the night, but all our stuff was back in San Francisco and I didn't want to impose, so she took us back to the BART station. It was a really fun night!

The rain had mostly stopped by this point, and even though it was after 11, it was still like 50 degrees out. While we were standing on the platform waiting for the train, this young couple were asking us about the stops - I guess we looked like we were from San Francisco. (One city for another, I guess.) I fell asleep on the ride back, so it went quickly. We caught a cab (this cab driver was much nicer and didn't drive like an escaped maniac), went back to our room around 12:30.

Here are some reflections from our first day:



By the time I got ready for bed and laid down, it was 1 a.m. PST - that's 4 a.m. EST. And I'd been up a full 24 hours.

And I never had jet lag the whole trip.

That, my friends, is how to kill jet lag.

COMING UP...

A Trip Over the Golden Gate
The house from Full House!
And how I'm a sucker for puppets