7 min read
WARNING Long post ahead with lots of pictures (but I promise it's worth the read) WARNING
Today I woke up well rested in the comfiest hotel bed I slept in since this time last year. I got ready for a day of adventure and embarked on my journey shortly before noon. The first stop: Pier 39, a spot I heard to be a good tourist attraction thanks to Google Now (which is really handy if you're visiting a big city). I got an Uber and enjoyed the ride as I got to see the bustling San Francisco piers and lots of palm trees.
I arrived shortly after noon and weaved my way through people. I made a beeline for the edge of the pier to see the boats and the Bay. I was surprised at how much I could see as I walked along the perimeter of the pier.
Boats and the Bay Bridge off in the distance
Alcatraz Island
San Francisco, sea lions, and Forbes Island
I didn't know they had sea lions at Pier 39, which was a nice surprise. I like sea lions and there were a ton of them there barking loudly. Lots of people were gathered to see.
I like the one posing under the sign
After wandering around for a bit and checking out souvenir stores I started to get hungry and explored options for food on the pier. I ended up going to an Italian and seafood restaurant (my two favorite kinds of food). I was seated at a table with a great view.
Tough to see, but the Golden Gate Bridge is behind Forbes Island
The waitress was nice and gave me tips about places to go and things to see in the city. She told me to walk up Stockton and go to Chinatown and North Beach, which is like Little Italy. I walked up Stockton but decided my phone didn't have enough battery to last the trip if I added Chinatown and North Beach to my itinerary, but I did take the time to walk up Stockton since it was kind of on the way to Lombard Street, which I guess also took me through North Beach. Holy crap are the streets of San Francisco steep.
Stockton wasn't too bad, then I crossed onto Lombard (before the zigzag part) at the intersection. What. A. Hike. I had to walk on the balls of my feet it was so steep. I was also wearing a heavy hoodie on top of a long sleeve shirt I got at the Google store to keep me warm in San Francisco (believe me, it's not as warm here as you'd think). The hoodie came off after reaching the base of the zigzag section as I was sweating like crazy.
Normal road in San Francisco
The bottom of the zigzag on Lombard. Why anyone would want to drive down this is beyond me
I decided to climb up since I was already there. The view from the top was pretty good.
You can see Coit Tower and the Bay Bridge from here
After that achievement, I wandered northwest towards the Golden Gate Bridge -- my next stop. Eventually I decided it would be smarter to get another Uber so I took one to the toll plaza (after I had to chase it down since my pin's location wasn't very accurate). The driver was very friendly and we talked for a bit on the way.
Before long I had arrived at my destination. After checking out the gift shop and waiting in a long line for the bathroom, I geared up for the wind and cold. I then made my way to the end of the bridge and took a few pictures.
Selfie before walking across
The clouds were so low that they obscured the top of the bridge. I hear they're often that way.
I took a lot more (not as good) pictures along the way too:
San Francisco from the bridge
At the base of the first tower on the east side
The bridge itself spans 1.7 miles. I made it my goal to walk from one tourist station to the other and back, each situated at opposite ends of the bridge. It was quite the walk. On the way back I noticed the clouds had descended such that they complelety obscured the towers and view from the bridge. It was actually misting as I walked back to the south end through the cloud. I was glad I made it across once before this happened.
One interesting thing that happened on the way was a crazy helicopter pilot decided to fly through the cloud and barely cleared the lowest part of the cables. One tourist pointed and looked in disbelief. Other than that it was a somewhat boring walk back as nothing was visible.
After getting back to where I started, I noticed my battery had drained to 22%. I had left with it fully charged but with the GPS enabled and 4G and encryption on my phone, it goes through battery extremely fast. I decided it was time to head back so I planned to walk to a less congested area and get an Uber back to my hotel. That wasn't what happened.
I walked down a steep road towards Crissy Field and got my feet a bit sandy. After walking a sufficient distance of about a mile and enjoying the view of people flying kites and playing with dogs, I requested an Uber -- at 12% battery. The closest one was 7 minutes away so I waited. Unfortunately 7 minutes never changed as my battery continued to drain.
Eventually I got a notification that my ride canceled. By this point my battery was at 5% forcing my screen to the absolute dimmest setting such that it was almost impossible to see the screen. I frantically tried to request another Uber but my phone decided NOW was the perfect time to crap out and spontaneously powered off. That's never happened before -- not before hitting 1%. There have been times I got a decent amount of time out of my phone on that low of power. Not today.
I desperately tried to power it back on, and it would turn on to the boot screen, act like it was going to start up, then shut itself off again with no indicator that it was absolutely out of battery. This is the first time that's ever happened and it couldn't have had worse timing. Crissy Field isn't exactly close to my hotel in terms of walking distance -- it's about 5 miles away. Of course I didn't see any taxis being this far away from the main part of the city so I started running. I wasn't wearing proper footwear and I had my backpack on but that didn't stop me.
Stranded in the middle of freaking nowhere
I ran/walked for about a mile until I made it back into the city. I was then able to hail a cab and finally make it back to my hotel but not without seeing the City Hall on the way and hitting some traffic. After charging my phone and calling home, I was back out into the city to find dinner. Thankfully that was easy and cheap.
By the time I was finished eating it was almost 9 and time to head back. One cool thing I noticed is that San Francisco is so fabulous that at dusk some sections of the sidewalk are sparkly from glitter. I've never seen that during my time in the Big Apple. Speaking of which...
Yeah so Apple is supposedly next to my hotel if they occupy the entire building yet this isn't marked in Maps at all. This isn't the headquarters, that's in Cupertino
So after this crazy and eventful day, my legs hurt and I am tired. I walked somewhere between 9 and 10 miles today venturing around the city. I expect to sleep well tonight.