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Monday, June 22, 2015

Day 30

Day 30: 6/16/15 (Healdsburg to Monterey via San Francisco)
236 miles

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:
 The Golden Gate Bridge is 1.7 miles long

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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