Nataliya and Seth's San Francisco Vacation
Today we started the day by going all out for breakfast - we went to
IHOP (International House Of Pancakes). Kind of reassuring that these restaurants are disgusting on the west coast as well
as the east coast. Some parts of this restaurant smelled like dishwater, but
the area where we were seated smelled like cooked food so it wasn't too bad.
We took a bus to the Marina district, stopping to go shopping in some of the
local stores. (You should realize here that we were running out of districts
and places to visit.) One thing I noticed is that there are a lot of stores
here with Asian antique furniture - the reason I point this out is that it's
been so difficult to find furniture on the East coast that I like, but around
here, I see stuff that both Nataliya and I both like! Antique Asian
styled furniture may be the answer to my furniture woes, and it's cheaper than
the overpriced stores in the northeast! (If not for those darn shipping
costs...)
We got back on the bus and got off at The Presidio. This used to be some
sort of training ground for the military and now they're trying to make it
into some income producing facility. They're planning to make it profitable
within a couple of years. They offer a free shuttle within the park and we
thought it would be an easier way to view the park.
We passed by "The Historic Batteries", "Fort Scott",
"Baker Beach" (which is supposed to be a nudist beach - but with the
temps as cool as they were, no one was sunbathing in the nude...),
"Mountain Lake", "Inspiration Point" (with its views
of Alcatraz), "The Officer's Club", and "Crissy Field".
We then stopped by "The Rotunda" and took a few pictures.
We then proceeded to walk to The Marina district, full of nice houses right by
the bay. I wuold say that these homes were very pretty, with very
well-maintained gardens. However, some displays in the windows were, uhmm...
very tacky. For example, there was a photo of someone's dead dog sitting in
one window. In another window was a carousel animal. In one window, we did a
double-take, trying to determine whether a dog looking out over the bay from
the window was real or not - after failing to get the dog's attention or even
see it blink once, we had to determine that it was a full-sized, stuffed,
family pet, positioned and doomed to look out over the bay for as long as the
owners live (or at least stay out of a psychiatric ward...)
We continued to walk along the waterfront, stopping at Safeway for a late
lunch and eating most of it at a nearby park on a hill. It was a bit too
windy, so we packed up and walked towards the Fisherman's Wharf which was
not as windy. We didn't make it there because we saw another shopping area
with magic words in the name.
We came to Ghirardelli Square.
Chocolate. You know this got Nataliya's
attention right away! We walked into to a cafe and found that they were
giving out a free sample of chocolate - a chocolate patty filled with
caramel. I tried half and wasn't very fond of it, so I gave it to Nataliya.
Nataliya went on line to get me a hot chocolate and a capuccino for herself.
While she was on line, I got another free sample of chocolate for Nataliya.
Once Nataliya returned with the beverages, she got herself another free
sample.
They had some live music there which I thought was relaxing, so I bought a
cd from the street performer. I also had him sign the CD liner for some
reason. (Hey, it's the least he can do for his overpriced CD. :)
Then we wandered around Fisherman's Wharf... again... bought some souveniers,
shopped at this cool store, "Cost Plus", and then hopped a bus back
to the hotel. (We tried to take the cable car, but they were all packed!)
For dinner, we tried to go to this other Mexican restaurant - but the
restaurant had other plans... It was closed. Apparently it was only open for
lunch. (We're not having much luck with restaurants on this trip... :) So,
we settled for Chevy's.
It was actually very
good - surprisingly good. In addition, the service was excellent.
We went back to the hotel and we settled in to watch Scarlett on DVD - but
after 20 minutes, we were both falling asleep...
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