Day 30: 6/16/15 (Healdsburg to Monterey via San Francisco)
236 miles
The Golden Gate Bridge is 1.7 miles long
We were excited when
we woke up this morning because we would actually be around for breakfast. It was served promptly at 9am and there was
one other couple from Maryland who we ate with.
We enjoyed some fruit and yogurt as well as a sausage, spinach, and
mushroom egg scramble with asparagus and some chopped tomatoes with balsamic on
the side. We chatted with the couple
about traveling – ours, theirs, and their daughters – and as it turns out, the husband
is a civil engineer so he and Rico had a lot to talk about. When we were finished, we packed up the car
once again to head on the road to Monterey with a stop in San Francisco.
We wanted to stop at
the Golden Gate Bridge first so we tried to find an address within the
recreational area. The road we had found on the map couldn’t be
found by the GPS, but the street was
found so Jillian selected that one figuring it would take us there. So we ended up in a town called Martinez
which is about 40 miles away from San Francisco on the other side of the bay. Another hour later, we made it to the bridge and
walked around to get some good views and to take some photos. The wind was pretty strong by the water so we
had to grab sweatshirts to bundle up.
This whole sunny and warm California thing is a façade – we don’t
believe it!
From the base of the
bridge, we drove around and got to cross over it. It was a short drive into the heart of
downtown and we found some parking between North Beach (Little Italy) and
Chinatown. We went straight to the water
so we could walk along the piers. We
started at pier 1 where there was an endless line waiting for the ferries. We headed into the ferry building where there
is a market of cafes, cheeses, meats, etc.
We settled for some a scoop of breakfast surprise ice cream which was
bourbon flavored with corn flakes in it. We continued our walk to pier 33 which is
where they launch the Alcatraz tours. We
were hoping we could take a tour, but apparently they fill up really fast
because the next available tour was in July.
We walked around the area where they have a model of the island and some
information though. From there we
stopped at pier 39 which is the most built up out of all of them. We popped into the Hard Rock to grab some
drumsticks and then walked along all the shops and restaurants. There were a few jewelry stands that were
selling oysters, but we decided against it.
One little girl picked on out and it had two inside – definitely worth
the $15 on that one! Aside from all the
shops, pier 39 is famous for the many sea lions that bask on the docks
nearby. There was close to 50 when we
were there, but on some days it can be hundreds. We watched for a while as they lounged about
and barked at each other before we continued on to the last pier which is also
the Fisherman’s Wharf. The block was
lined with restaurants and food carts selling shrimp cocktail, steamed crabs,
and more. We decided to pass on the
seafood and instead went to Boudin which is a long-standing sourdough
bakery. We ordered a jalapeño cheddar roll and a
garlic sesame loaf. We ate the roll on
the walk back to the car and saved the loaf to use as toast for our next few
breakfasts. Walking back through Little
Italy, we were hoping to grab some award-winning pizza, but apparently the
restaurant is closed on Tuesdays. Instead
of searching for any other pizza place (which wasn’t hard because they were
everywhere), we just decided to hop in the car and start driving to Monterey.
It didn’t take long
to realize how bad of an idea it was to leave downtown San Francisco at
6pm. Within a quarter mile we were
gridlocked and in an hour we had only moved 1 ½ miles. Finally, we got moving and made it to
Monterey around 9:30pm. Our hosts like
to play trivia on Tuesdays so we met up with them at the bar for the last round
(we were of little help). After trivia
we realized we didn’t have dinner so we found a restaurant with a late-night
kitchen called Crown & Anchor. We
got a Rueben and French dip sandwich to go and spent the rest of the night
getting to know Amy and Rich, our hosts.
Fact:
Lesson:
Bunker Road and
Bunker Street are not the same thing – in fact, they are about 30 miles apart
Eat Well; Travel Often
Rico & Jillian
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