Fisherman's Wharf

I could spend all day at Fisherman's Wharf, (Pier 39 on a cable car stop after you get off the ferry)....there are the most interesting people and entertainment for you to enjoy along the wharf! You've got your sea lions who are very entertaining to watch, almost as much fun as watching the people watch the sea lions!

You've got your street entertainers who are regularly scheduled to appear along the streets as you walk the wharf, and the entertainment in the form of music--very talented musicians play at the main wharf daily--the wharf where the Aquarium is, is where some of the best music seems to take place. One of the cutest things we saw was a guy in his seventies, at the MINIMUM, dancing on inline roller blade skates to the jazz saxophonist who was playing at the time. The elderly skater put all of us to shame the way he was so agile on his skates--little hops, skips and jumps and twirls in time to the music. It was wonderful and doesn't he look dapper in his hat!?

We saw a man totally painted silver, skin, hair and clothing--he was walking to his "gig" when we saw him. We saw another guy who was a gold pirate--gold skin, again, gold clothing and dressed to the nines as a swashbuckling pirate....

We saw another guy, or rather, I didn't see him...he was hiding behind some branches of shrubbery, sitting at the side of the sidewalk, and as unsuspecting passers-by passed him by, he revealed himself with a big loud "ARRRGH!" scaring the you-know-what out of people who weren't too observant at the moment. ("Hey, he got you really good, didn't he?" asks E. "You should have seen yourself jump out of your skin!") Yeah, yeah! This was how this guy was making a living at the moment! Geez, I need to get more creative with my money making efforts while on the road, me thinks!

Now, your guess is as good as mine, what this guy's gig was....

We didn't see how he grabbed the guy off the street, but everybody was laughing and having a good time, and isn't that what it's all about when you are seeing a new city for the first time?

Fisherman's Wharf may be touristy, but it's beautiful and interesting! There were some heckuva great buys in clothing--San Francisco labeled fleece lined jackets for 14.95 that looked every bit as good as an LL Bean jacket, great tee shirts for less than 10.00, ball caps for 5.00 and MADE IN THE USA--Yay! We each bought a ball cap...you can never have too many hats as they get lost in the RV and buried in the car...I bought a couple of great tote bags for 5.00 each to stow my knitting in and they appear well made.

And the FOOD! If you are a "foodie" like me, you'd love all the restaurants and streetside seafood shops to get CHOWDAH,  dungeoness crabs and other delectable delights, like Boudin's sourdough bread. Eldy likes to say we are eating our way across America, but honey...I'd like to stay long enough to eat my way through San Francisco...(Uh, it's a good thing we are moving on soon! says E.)

Boudin's Sourdough Bread

We had a great time today walking the wharf...and we'll definitely return again some day......

San Francisco, Day 2

We are really in a wonderful spot for RVing, seeing California wine country AND seeing San Francisco...Twenty-five dollars a night at the fairgrounds in Santa Rosa with full hookup, hop in the car and drive 25-35 min. to go see wineries, hop in the car and drive 45 min. to Larkspur to catch a ferry to San Francisco. The ferry parking is free, a one way fare is 8.00, then when you get to the Ferry Terminal, hop a cable car/street car/muni bus for 2.00 and ride all day long. Now, the TROLLEY cars, the open sided ones with the railings and no glass between you and the San Francisco air, are 5.00 each time you board one.

You see the coolest things in San Francisco. We spent some time at Fisherman's Wharf today (more about that tomorrow), then caught a cable car to Chinatown. Most people end up at the gates of Chinatown....the spot where all the hanging ribbons, flags and decorative stuff hangs on both sides of the street. That part of Chinatown is very traditional looking and what you see in photos all the time. The gateway/entryway to Chinatown is a great photo opp for any tourist. We didn't know the street intersection for that, so we just asked at the tourist bureau at Fisherman's Wharf about where to get off on the cable car and off we went.....we hopped off in what seemed to be the very heart of Chinatown, the streets Stockton and Pacific, where a bazillion Asian people do their grocery, meat, and fish shopping. As we were walking down the street, we didn't see anyone BUT Asian people! It was a strange feeling, almost like we were in Korea, Japan, or China, there were no other tourists in sight. It was like walking down Wall Street in China amidst throngs of Chinese people, stepping into a different world, which of course, it was. Talk about submersing yourself into a different culture! For a very brief period of time, we were in a different world, it was quite a culture shock for the moment but fascinating!

We watched shoppers haggle over prices of interesting looking vegetables and fruits we have never seen, raw fish, fish parts and really different types of seafood, ducks and other meats were in every tiny little nook, one little shop after another, strung together. It was extremely crowded on the streets, must have been a major shopping day, or maybe it's this way all the time. Not a word of English was being spoken anywhere, naturally....There were some beautiful buildings along the street blocks and there was so much to see....we really enjoyed our brief submersion into a different culture today!

We didn't explore beyond Stockton Street in Chinatown, but there's a lot more to see on another visit...we hopped back on a cable car, time to head home.

We'll see you at Fisherman's Wharf tomorrow...Wait till you see what we saw!

So Many Sights, So Little Time

some of the pretty sights along the shore on the ferry ride

I didn't show you all of our photos yesterday....So here are some more! I stand corrected in telling you that when you take the ferry, about a 30 minute ride from Larkspur to San Francisco, you land at the ferry terminal building. From there, THEN you take a cable car to Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39. And that's where all the wonderful sights, smells, and sounds abound. And where you might get crushed by the crowd if it's a busy day...we went on a Thursday, and it was very nice, not crowded at all.

We saw my friend, Zoltar, at the Wharf. He really gets around! We've seen him three times now...I never ask him to tell my fortune, but I am a sucker for those penny machines that take a shiny penny, squash it flat and imprint a local scene on them. I've started collecting them on our travels. It costs .51 to make one. I think I'm going to drill little holes in the tops of them and make mini Christmas ornaments out of them to put on my little Christmas tree in the RV at holiday time.



I love this photo I took of the Golden Gate Bridge.

It's not really golden, it's a very reddish orange...

"You know I luv ya, bro' "  "Yeah, yeah, I know"

We spent quite a bit of time yesterday at the Wharf...they have sea lions there, too. They were just basking in the sun on platforms...most of them look like they were dead they were sleeping so much. But a couple of frisky younger ones were going at it, playing hard and for what it looked like, doing some serious wrestling to see who was going to stay on the platform in that particular spot, and who was going to end up in the water. It was very entertaining to watch. The blacker one just kept pushing and shoving the tanner one until he fell off the platform, at least six or seven times. The tan one would just heave himself back up on the platform for more punishment.

As we continued walking around the Wharf, I heard people yelling, "FIRE IN THE HOLE! FIRE IN THE HOLE!" I rounded a corner and saw this guy....

If you look closely, you can see he is swallowing fire! Wish I had gotten a better angle! There is more live entertainment around the wharf--we saw a guy singing and playing some great blues and jammin' with a harmonica in his mouth at the same time and he had the neatest curlique mustache and beret.....cool!

And did I say I was a sucker for California strawberries? Yesiree, I surely am. I paid 9.95 a pound for a bunch of huge strawberries because I was too shocked at the checkout register to say, "Sorry, that's ridiculous price!" Luckily, I only had a few in the bag...So don't get suckered into buying expensive fruit the wharf like I did...I should have known better when there were NO prices posted anywhere for the fabulous looking fruit at this stand.    ("No comment" says E., wisely.)  Now you have seen our best photos for our first day in San Francisco. But wait till you see the drive we took on Highway 1 on the coast!  That's coming up tomorrow.....see you then!