Day 20 San Francisco

Up a bit more leisurely this morning with hot breakfast included at the hotel again. 

We drove to the Castro Valley BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) car park which is free on the weekends.  We walked across the road into the station and found machine to buy tickets.  After a bit of umming and ahhhing we eventually got 2 tickets loaded with enough money for return travel to SF.  It wasn't too tricky really, we are just slow about reading all the instructions.  Tickets in hand we entered the station and made our way to the platforms.  These are positioned between the carriageway of the freeway at Castro Valley which was interesting!

BART station in the centre of the freeway!

We waited about 15 minutes for a train which was pretty empty.  We grabbed a seat and enjoyed the passing scenery until we entered the final underwater stretch.  The trains move quite fast and our ear popped a couple of times as we went down beneath the bay!

We got off underground at Embarcadero and exited to bright blue skies in San Francisco.  Checking shadows on the ground we headed north until we found pier 9, then turned left to follow the road round the bay area.

There was quite a bit of activity area the bay but having not been before we didn't know if this was normal.  It soon became apparent that I hadn't done my homework on SF.  This week is Fleet Week and there was lots going on.  By the time we got to Pier 39 it was heaving.  Although there were lots of people it still felt relaxed and everyone was chilling and enjoying the weekend.  We walked along pier 39 looking at all the restaurants and shops until we got to the far end where we found the seal viewing area.  There were lots of them basking in the sunshine and also swimming around the dock.

We walked a little further to some Bay Boat tours where I managed to persuade Keith to take the hour long bay tour!  He would have preferred the speedboat tour but that didn't go where I wanted to go!

It was about 11.45 and the guy in the ticket booth said they had tickets for 12.15, so we purchased those then went to join the queue.  After the obligatory green screen photo, we boarded and managed to find seats on the top deck.  The journey out of the harbour was a little bumpy but with the sun out and little breeze it was a gorgeous day to be out on the water.

We made our way out towards the Golden Gate Bridge and passed underneath it before turning round (this was a little bumpier) and heading back to pass around Alcatraz.  As we headed back to dock we watched first a parachutist with an American Flag followed by an airliner making a fly past.  It soon became apparent that actually there was a full blown air show this afternoon and the parks and walkways along the bay were jam packed.

Alcatraz

Back on dry land we bought some ice creams and sat on a nearby wall to eat them.  Keith noticed a movement on some nearby flowers.  It was a hummingbird!   (Pic to follow next week from camera!)

We carried on walking West with the intention of getting some more good views of the bridge but we kept getting distracted by the air show!  It really was very good with the aircraft flying very close to the water and also overhead.  The highlight was the Blue Angels, similar to the Red Arrows and obviously held in high regard by Americans as they were all very excited when they were announced. 

We didn't make it all the way to the bridge but we did have a fantastic time enjoying the flying displays.  It was lovely to see everyone relaxed and enjoying the sunshine, including the police and emergency services. 

At 4pm we decided we ought to head back.  We retraced out steps back along the bay alongside everyone else now the flying displays had finished.  We grabbed a hog dog from a street seller on the way back as we realised we hadnt eaten much since breakfast.  Our feet were starting to hurt and we ambled back to the BART.

We quickly found our platform and waited for the train for Dublin/Pleasanton.  It was a bit busier than this morning but after the first stop we got seats and the 35 minute journey soon passed.

We went back to the hotel to shower and freshen up before we set of for our last evening meal at Applebees.  It was gone 6 by the time we got back.

It didn't quite turn out to be the day we expected but we have thoroughly enjoyed what we have seen of San Francisco. It was clean, friendly,  interesting and had a lovely vibe.  We would be very happy to return and explore more.