Cable Cars, Golden Gate and GREAT Chinese Food!

Yesterday, Snead and I got up early. We actually both woke up at 3:59 a.m. PT and sat up to stare weirdly at each other across the room, until we realized that our body clocks were not yet synched and we still had a few hours to sleep! After some tossing and turning, I did manage to drift back off again.

Neither of us could make it past 6 a.m., though. We got dressed and walked over to the Hertz office, which is located handily right here in the Hyatt, and picked up our reserved rental car. It's a cute little charcoal gray Mazda 6. Looks like a mini-van got personal with a sedan. hehe

After breakfast, we set out for the 40-mile drive from San Jose to San Fran.

The trip was mostly uneventful, except for one side trip to the Googleplex. It's an interesting story and warrants a blog entry of its very own, so stay tuned. :-)

When we hit San Fran it was easier to find the big landmarks that we'd expected. We drove down to Fisherman's Wharf and stowed the Mazda 6 in a parking garage. Then, we hit the sidewalks and decided to do the cable car. There was more walking as we finally found the start of the Hyde-Powell line, paid for our all-day tickets and got in line.

While we were standing in line, the fog lifted just enough for us to see the red shadow of the famous Golden Gate bridge peeking out. Snead had promised she would squeal with delight when she finally saw it, and she didn't disappoint.

Riding the cable car was so incredibly San Francisco that I felt like a little kid on a ride at Disney World! Going up and down the hills and fearing that the breaks would give out at any moment and send us hurtling to our bloody deaths pumped all sorts of adrenaline into my system. I have to admit it was quite a rush.

We got off at the end of the line and paid a local guy a dollar tip to tell us where we should go next.

We headed up to Grant and walked until we hit Chinatown, where we browsed through all sorts of quaint little shops and cheesy little shops. We admired the interesting offerings in the outdoor markets and listened as folks haggled over prices in Chinese.

Snead was determined to find a "good" place to eat, so we peered into every little place until we found one that seemed to be overflowing with locals. That was the place! We ordered one #1 Special -- Mongolian Beef, Chicken with Cashews and Fried Rice, along with a couple of bowls of Hot and Sour soup. There was so much food that we couldn't possibly consume it all, and there was a DELICIOUS!

When we had gorged enough to pop, we waddled back out onto Washington and climbed the hill until we found a cable car back to Fisherman's Wharf.

Along the way, we shopped for stuff to take back to our loved ones at home. (Kisses to all the loved ones reading!) I bought a kewl apron (I have a thing for aprons) with the Fisherman's Wharf crab logo on it. I got my boy at little cable car with a dinging bell. And, finally, we ended up having Anchor Steam beer (thank you, Michelle!) at the Hard Rock Cafe. (Girls, you've got t-shirts coming!)

We ended our San Fran day with a stroll around the pier. We gazed at Alcatraz and the Golden Gate and took some photos of the sea lions barking away on the floating docks.

The chilly wind whipped up and reminded us that it was high time we got back on the road for San Jose. What an unforgettable day! I hope the photos turn out.

Leona

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