Experience Vicarious Thrills of San Francisco

Look around you--pieces of landmarks are tucked away into the corners of the city. Everything is so overwhelming, and you feel like visiting them all at the same time. Allowed a week-long stay in San Francisco for the city itself and another few for nearby cities.

The first landmark in San Francisco that springs into your mind would be Golden Gate Bridge. There are a number of lookouts where you can contemplate this remarkable structure. (Read my "Golden Gate Bridge" entry.) Next is the world-renowned Fisherman's Wharf, where the view of Alcatraz Island is conspicuous and more distinct on a clear day. Because of San Francisco's geographical position on the tip of a slender peninsula, the sky is an unusually vivid blue. Cool sea breezes roll onto the island, and a lingering haze envelops the city in mist.

Driving can be a pain in the city itself, not because of heavy traffic, narrow roads, or intricate street layouts. Downtown streets rise on impossible gradients, revealing breathtaking views of the city - gritty landscapes, sometimes Alcatraz Island, and most parts of San Francisco Bay. Initially, you are driving on a flat road. In a matter of minutes, you are going up on a steep slope and keep rising till the highest point. It is then that you realize the sudden acclivities looming before you! In just a split second, the car brakes all the way to the floor and keeps navigating till you land on an even road. The emotion is tantamount to riding on a rollercoaster, with unexpected drops and ups. It was real fun if you are not the driver. I let my husband drive and dared, "Encore! Encore!"

Lombard is the world's crookedest street. With the insatiable excitement on downtown streets, I opted to do this thrice. There was no queue waiting on the entrance of Lombard, which was unusual. Our car switchbacked on this steep incline and maneuvered the turns attentively on our very first try.

Another major piece of artwork in the city is the Palace of Fine Arts. The calming afternoon breeze and lush lawn were captivating enough to make me stay longer. Every angle was picturesque. Originally, the Palace of Fine Arts belonged to the Presidio and was built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The classical Roman rotunda, with curved colonnades, contributes greatly to this architecture.

Quick Tips:

Summer in San Francisco is the best season of the year, when the weather rarely exceeds 70°, but it still can drop much lower during nightime. Always tour the city either wearing long sleeves or carrying them with you. Don't chill yourself!

I mentioned some nearby cities. For wine-lovers, Napa and Sonoma County are places you can never miss. They harvest grapes and offer free wine tastings to visitors. Accompanying the wine tour, a deli lunch is included and often eaten in a vineyard picnic area. Wine country is just across the Golden Gate Bridge and through Marin County.

Being a roadtrip buff, we love to explore in our car. Sometimes, we drive to farther cities within a day. Oakland (40 minutes' drive) is located east of San Francisco, where Mt. Diablo State Park is located. Half Moon Bay (50 minutes' drive) in San Mateo County offers serene beachery and horseback riding. For a nice shopping spree, make an effort of an hour-and-20-minute drive on US-101 south toward Santa Cruz county to Gilroy Factory Outlets, where numbers of name-brand outlets are.

Best Way To Get Around:

The most common and well-used methods of transport in San Francisco are the cable cars, beside regular sedans. Take the Powell-Hyde or Powell-Mason lines at the base of Powell and Market/California street. Each ride cost and fully rewards you with a scenic drive of the city. The cable cars usually halt a few minutes along the streets in order for tourists to take some nice shots of the city landscapes. Enjoy when you are onboard and leave the photo-taking sessions when it's time.

Bicycle rental is a good alternative to a car. Especially during weekends, it was hard to find a free parking lot. You can save a lot of energy and time in walking if you intend to do some sightseeing from Fisherman's Wharf to as far as Pier 14.

A Bay cruise allows you to explore the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge from an up-close and personal standpoint.

Location was superb, in the heart of downtown San Francisco and steps away from Union Square and Moscone Convention Center.

With these, it still really depends on what you are looking for and the nature of the visit. This is an absolute great hotel for business purposes. The exalted lobby was enhanced with granite vanity tops and stone floors. Gregarious staff members came to welcome us once we stepped out of the car and always greeted us with smiles on their faces, ensuring our stay was comfortable. But the thing was, I did not like being treated like some kind of princess or queen. It made me feel uneasy.

Our suite was located on premium floor and was only accessible with door cards. The room was spacious, coated with sophisticated warm natural tones and boldly textiled curtains. Decoration was a mixture of modern and comfortable. A king-sized bed was tossed with pure-white plush cushions and a slim long velvet maroon bolster, with a luxurious down duvet and crisp linens. The table lamps and incandescent lights filled the room with slight romance and sense of warmth. High-speed connections are available in all guest rooms to help businessmen with their work, but with additional charges. However, it still lacked something important to me--the home touch! Usually this is something that a deluxe hotel could not offer.

On the day we checked in, we were surprised to know there wasn't a parking lot in this hotel. Either you do valet parking, or you've got to park your car somewhere else. We chose the latter. Valet parking can be quite a hassle during peak hours. You need to make phone call before leaving your room and wait for at least 10 minutes before your car arrives. And most importantly, it wasn't cheap. It cost $40 per day for valet parking.

Diagonally across the road from the Marriott, there was a public parking that cost $22 per day. Normally, we had to lug our things to the hotel lobby, then park our car over there, then walk back to the hotel (5 minutes' walk) or collect our car first before moving our luggage back to the trunk. The parking system was rated not-so-good!

This hotel was totally amazing. Be it the location, services, and accessibility, everything was more than perfect. It was midway between San Francisco Airport and downtown. In front of Residence Inn was a waterfront reaches into San Francisco Bay. An early stroll along the waterfront opened up to a stunning view of the boundless mountains embraced by morning hazes. But the air and breeze was normally frigid.

Starting at 6:30am, breakfast was prepared for its guests without fail. Hot pipping scrambled eggs, bacons, muffins, DIY waffles, fresh fruits and dozens of variety beverages await you. The capacity of eatery area near to the front desk was about 120 guests. Just outside the buffet bars, was an outdoor pool and a hot tub. Adjacent to it was a miniature tennis-cum-basketball court. Some part of the day, all we want were to relax and laze around in the hotel. It rents basketball, tennis, and badminton rackets for free. Beside these, there were rentals for novels and board games (including Scrabble, Monopoly, Boggle, etc.) at the front desk. It was so fun without even stepping out of the hotel.

From Monday to Thursday, the hotel serves complimentary snacks from 5:30-7:30pm. The variety of food changes everyday, except for every Wednesday's BBQ (grilled chicken/beef). There are dishes like vegetable tacos, chicken wings, meatballs and spaghetti, corn dogs, fried rice, chips and dips, and nachos. Cans of soda, beers, and red wine were self-service. All these were worth a hearty dinner!

We had a corner room on the second floor that faced the waterfront. The room never failed us. Stepping into the room was a kitchenette with a giant GE fridge, wooden cabinets, and excessive storage for food. A family-like stove and a microwave were tucked in the corner. The first idea that jumped into our mind was to do some simple homemade food for ourselves, which inspired us to head to nearby Albertsons to stock up on raw meats, pasta sauce, pasta, two cans of Campbell's soup, microwaveable food, and a big tub of Dreyer's double-chocolate-fudge-brownie ice cream.

During nighttime, we slipped into our bathrobes after a hot bath and made ourselves cups of peppermint tea while enjoying the free high-speed Internet access and doing research of San Francisco and tomorrow's adventure!

That's what I call the "home touch", and we truly felt it for the two and a half weeks we were here.

On our first visit, the place was utterly quiet. Dark clouds hung low over Alcatraz Island, which could be seen from Pier 43 ½, where you board bay cruises and access the ferry terminal. The day looked somber and was close to 50 degrees. It was not a good day to do anything.

On our second visit, the weather was totally in contrast from the other time. It was sunshine and bright. The skies were impeccable. The day was so perfect to do anything. Near to Fisherman's Wharf, we rented a tandem bicycle from "Wheel Fun Rentals" located on 2739 Taylor Street. The congenial owner of the shop laid out a detailed map of Fisherman's Wharf and gave us suggestions for where we could ride. Before we left for our adventure, he reiterated not to hesitate to give him a call if anything unexpected happened.

Not far from point of origin was Pier 39, a few blocks away from Fisherman's Wharf. The distant, boisterous barking of the sea lions was audible. Getting close, the stench of them was even stronger and almost filled the air. A multitude of frolicking sea lions were sunbathing under the afternoon sun while enjoying the sea breeze rolling from the bay. It was a nice big family! Annually, sea lions tend to migrate to Channel Island (350 miles to the south) during summer months, but still, small, loyal groups of them opt to stay in Pier 39. Perhaps it is still a source of trust after all.

At the dead end of Pier 39, there was a bay walk offering a view of Alcatraz Island. The Bay is a busy one. Every interval of 15 minutes, a ferry to Alcatraz Island glides back and forth. Sometimes, Bay cruises sail across San Francisco Bay toward Golden Gate Bridge. Besides these tourist transports, the Bay bustles with other activities ranging from security patrol—police boats and U.S. Coast Guard—to commercial vessels; tankers to container ships carrying millions of tons of oil every year. With luck, you may see racing whaleboats or even colossal aircraft carriers!

Before our bicycle rental was due in another 20 minutes, the numbers of our wheels' revolutions doubled. My husband was peddling fast, and I joined in from behind, doing the job great till we arrived at Pier 14.

Pier 14 may not ring a bell to most people. Comparative to Pier 39, it was quiet. But it has a great lookout to the panoramic Bay Bridge (I-80), which links San Francisco to other part of cities in the east. One of the distinguishable features of I-80 was the exterior coating of silvery gray paints and a double-decked bridge; the lower deck serves vehicles leaving San Francisco, and the upper deck is for oncoming vehicles.

Left with three minutes, we departed for "Wheel Fun Rentals", panting ever harder, and the bumpy roads hurt our buttocks.

How do you like to view it - from far, on it, or from the top?

I have three answers to the above questions.

Marina Boulevard was the road leading to Lincoln Breachery. On a clear day, we sauntered down the silvery sheened velvet beaches and let the tepid waves from the sea lap over our soft feet. In the distance, Golden Gate Bridge was mounted across the bay, with cirrus clouds hovering low over the rolling rounded hills. Breathe in deeply. Inhale the fresh crisp air surrounding you. If you long for a rest, bring along a towel, roll it out, and lie back on the beach. The feeling is just as good as doing a Thai massage in a cabana. In a matter of minutes, rhythmic waves tapping against the shore and the saltish light breeze lull you into deep slumber.

Pick up your stuff and dust the sand off your pants. It was an hour later. The first sight after opening my eyes was Golden Gate Bridge, with passing vehicles like busy ants riding on it. Get ready for the next destination.

Here we are. Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point was just right after crossing the bridge. On the right, there was a huge parking lot catering to bulky tour buses and private cars for this scenic view. It was an unparalleled lookout to Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate strait, the skylines of the city, and again, the endless mountains on the sides. "WOOOW!" The place was so dazzling and unbelievable that I told my husband I could stay there forever and never get sick of it. For the entire trip, we visited this place three times, and I knew it was quite nerdy of me.

Along the bridge itself, there was a sidewalk whereby walkers/cyclists could enjoy the bridge from the start to the end point. But it was going to be a grueling one because of the relentless wind blowing from the bay, as well as the length of the bridge, which was about 9,266 feet (overall length) or 4,200 feet (span length). We stepped onto the bridge and experienced the reverberations of it that could not be felt through driving.

Have you thought of viewing the Golden Gate Bridge at night? It must be beautiful. Yes, indeed, it was. Around twilight or before sunset, Battery Spencer (located on the opposite side of Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point on top of the hill) was crowded with visitors - normally photographers were there to catch the best glimpse of this modern marvel. On this windy night, they were waiting patiently for the perfect timing. Unlike them, we already started snapping our camera here and there. Just hope to get out of this windy place after a few nice shots.

Who cares about the timing for amateurs like us? After the street lamps along the bridge were lit up, we left, chattering.