The Tale of San Francisco

I was so prepared to write my blog entry the evening after our day spent in San Francisco but wouldn't you know my laptop crashed and I had to wait until we returned home so it could be repaired. Nevertheless I'm posting now.......

We had a wonderful time in San Fran. The weather was perfect! We woke up early and rode BART into the Embarcadero station and then walked down to the pier. The air was really crisp and fresh and the waterfront was quiet except for the several joggers out for their daily run. We walked around looking for a spot to get a quick bite to eat before our tour boat left for Alcatraz, but nothing seemed to be open at 7 am. So we snapped some pictures and waited until the Boudin Bakery opened and then we quickly ate sourdough bagels before it was time to board the boat.

We waited in a long line of people to board the Alcatraz tour boat. Once we boarded we were both feeling the motion of the water.....blah.....but it quickly faded once we started moving. It was a beautiful view from the water looking at the city skyline and the bay bridges. We snapped many photos as we pulled up to the island.

When we exited the boat and stood on the island it was so exciting! I was anxious to get inside this creepy prison and have a look around. When you enter the prison, you enter through the shower room. It was strange seeing these old prison showers. We were then given headphone sets to start the audio tour of the prison.

Here are a few snapshots.....

Prison Yard

Prison Cell

Prison Cell with escape hole

Prison Hall

Visitation area

After we finished the tour we walked around the island before boarding the boat to return.

Once we arrived back to the mainland we walked on over to the food stalls and shared a clam chowder sourdough bread bowl. We wanted to just have a small snack for lunch but the soup was so filling we both felt stuffed from just sharing one. LOL

After we finished eating we headed on over to the China Town District and it was an amazing transformation. All the buildings changed and you became immersed in another culture. There were delectable smells of Chinese steamed buns, dim sum, and other seafood delights. If we could eat we would have but there again we were stuffed!

All those hills and miles and miles of walking had our legs throbbing and blisters on our feet. It was worth it but we were ready to head back to the hotel. We walked on over to the BART station and hopped on board to get back.

When we arrived back at our hotel we freshened up. Our feet were sore and we were feeling sweaty and gross after all that walking. This day was our official anniversary and we wanted to head out for dinner. We had decided to have Korean BBQ for dinner and headed down to this small restaurant we heard great things about on YELP called Korea House. Oh wow what a treat!

The restaurant was buzzing and we were so excited to start eating. We sat down at the table and ordered; I had the Bibim Naeng Myun (Spicy cold buckwheat noodles with veggies) and "Z" had Dae Ji Bulgogi (Spicy BBQ pork) plus we ordered some Soju, and the waitress looked very surprised!

The food started to come out; first the Banchan or Korean side dished which consisted of fish cakes, kimchi, seaweed, mung bean sprouts, spicy anchovies, spicy squid, salad and they even threw in a free plate of Jap Chae (stir fried buckwheat noodles). We were seriously getting stuffed! The owner was totally wild and crazy she would come over to the table and feed you with her chopsticks, drop off free soft drinks and continuously refill your empty bowls. She wouldn't even let you say no to seconds she just starts bringing out more. We couldn't believe the incredible service. We have a confession......the food was so good we came back the next day for lunch LOL! If we ever return Korea House will definitely be on our "to do list"!

The next day we cuddled in our comfy hotel room and relaxed. We head out for a walk over to the strip mall across the street and popped into Trader Joes and we purchased some salad and mixed fruit to eat in our hotel room that evening. It was a nice treat to just stay in and relax.

The next morning we drove home earlier in the morning. It was a perfect trip.