We Arrive

Our flight today didn't leave until 10:55am so we had a leisurely morning getting things ready before heading to Albuquerque for the Sunport.

Old & New Bay Bridges

It was a quick and easy check in and security was just as fast. That gave us time to have a bite to eat before making our way to the gate. By the time we finished eating and arrived at the gate we only had about a 20 minute wait for boarding. The flight we took today was a non stop flight from Albuquerque to Oakland and it lasted about 2 hours (maybe a little more). I watched a movie on my iPad and Thomas took a little nap. Before we knew it we had landed. An ex co-worker of Thomas' that is also attending the conference was on the plane and we all met up at baggage claim and decided to share a taxi to the hotel. The taxi ride took about 30 minutes to get to our hotel and cost $72.00. We are staying at the Parc 55 Wyndham near Union Square. Our room wasn't ready when we arrived and they said they could keep our bags while we went out and explored the city.

 We decided to head out to the Golden Gate Bridge and walk across it. After talking to the concierge at the hotel we made our way to catch a bus. But first we stopped for a bite to eat. From the hotel we walked up Cyril Magnin to Ellis and turned right. This took us to Powell where we took a left. As we walked along we found a little hole in the wall burger joint. We sat at a bar and had burgers and fries (the burgers were really good) until we were full. We continued our walk about a block more to Geary - which brought us to Union Square. We caught the #38L bus which took us west across the city to Park Presidio Blvd. At this point we had to transfer to the #28 bus. The first bus was big and not very crowded but the second one was much smaller and we were packed in like sardines.

Rivets on the Golden Gate Bridge

Thankfully it was only a short ride into the Presidio and on to the Visitor Center for the Golden Gate Bridge. Once off the bus we walked to a viewing area to get a good look at the bridge and take a few pictures. There is also a piece of the cable used on the bridge just to give you a feel for how big the cables are. Golden Gate Bridge is part of the National Park system so we went in to the Visitor Center so that I could get a brochure and my National Passport Stamp. Once that was done and we had looked around we headed out for our walk. As soon as we started walking we noticed the wind and it was chilly.

View from Vista Point looking south.

We bundled up and trekked on. The walk across the bridge is 1.7 miles and should take 20 to 30 minutes. We stopped quite a few times along the way to take pictures, admire the views, examine the cables & rivets, take more pictures and just enjoyed the walk. We made it to the other side and went to Vista Point to see the bridge from that angle. I think I love the view from this point the best. The picture on the right is my favorite and here is a list of fun facts about the bridge. Once we were back on the south side of the bridge we returned to the Visitor Center and took a PresidioGo shuttle bus (a free shuttle within the Presidio) over to the Palace of Fine Arts.

Palace of Fine Arts

Here we looked for a letterbox but came up empty handed. There were a lot of clues and things you had to figure out and translate. I thought I had done it correctly but when we tried to follow the final clues we just couldn't make head or tails of them and we didn't find the box. We may try again before we head home. After an hour of looking for the box and enjoying the beauty of the place we headed east with our goal being Ghiradelli Square. After a few blocks we met up with a nice couple that gave us some directions and suggestions for dinner along the way. In the end we walked along Chestnut Street and we stopped at a place called Squat & Gobble for dinner. I had spaghetti with prawns and Thomas had a Caesar salad with chicken. We split a s'mores crepe for dessert. So we definitely needed the walk after eating all that food.

Fisherman's Wharf Sign

We arrived at Ghiradelli Square and we bought some chocolate to bring back to the hotel and then we headed to Fisherman's Wharf. By the time we arrive at the wharf we were tired but we managed to walk around a bit (which turned out to be about 15 minutes) before we called it a day and took a taxi back to the hotel.

We got to the hotel and Thomas went and checked in. We had reserved a room on the lower floors because they were about $40 dollars cheaper per night. But when Thomas got to the desk he was informed that our room had been upgraded to a King Suite on the 26th floor - which means we would have a view. We headed up to the room and the porters brought our luggage up about 10 minutes later. Unfortunately it is dark and we can see lights but really can't tell what view we have. Now that I am showered and relaxing I realize how very tired I am and now that this post is done I can get some sleep. We have to be up and ready for 8:00am for a tour in the morning and I will let you know how that goes.