back when I lived in San Francisco proper you would have had to drag my ass kicking and screaming to Fisherman’s Wharf or Pier 39, two of San Francisco’s many popular sights. I would have yelled, “Only tourists go there, yo!” but times have changed. El Hub just loooooves the touristy parts of the city, so this morning we drove the 10 miles south from Marin county across the golden gate Bridge into San Francisco for a unwinding day trip.

I still find SF’s traveler spots completely kitschy, but the weather was beautiful in the city today, and I couldn’t help but fall in love a little bit much more with stunning San Francisco, one of my favorite places in the world.

ANNONSE

Here’s a tip: next time you check out Fisherman’s Wharf, there’s a “secret” totally free vehicle parking lot at the end of Van Ness Avenue, next to Aquatic Park. It’s at the far end of the Wharf area, but if you don’t mind walking, it provides four hours of totally free parking! In SF, finding totally free vehicle parking is like finding your ideal foundation shade.

A view of Aquatic Park from the secret vehicle parking lot

We started out by walking down to historic Hyde street Pier to check out the old boats docked there. It’s where the ferries headed north across the Bay to Marin would depart from before the golden gate Bridge was completed in 1937.

ANNONSE

Katter og sminke -sweatshirt ??

42 dollar

Handle nå

San Francisco fun fact: before the bridge connected San Francisco to Marin in the North Bay, the ferry route between Hyde street Pier and the small town of Sausalito in Marin was once considered a segment of highway 101.

El Hub found a pal taking a nap on the pier…

Of course, El Hub’s homie paid me no mind when I tried to pet him.

This is nothing new. I welcomed him to the clan of cats that disregard me and use me on a daily basis.

Our check out with the cat was cut short by my stomach, which started grumbling for new England clam chowder.

Hungry, we trekked the quarter mile to Pier 39, which has a lot of restaurants and shops, and stopped to eat at Pier Market restaurant. many eateries near Fisherman’s Wharf are over-priced traveler traps, but Pier Market was delicious (order the crab cakes, yummy!). El Hub also loved his grilled salmon sandwich with fries. The price wasn’t bad, either, and the restroom was clean. From now on, ’tis the only place I’ll eat at Pier 39.

After lunch, we walked along the pier admiring substantial tubs of stunning tulips, which were there to brighten up the place.

At the end of the pier, we stopped to admire the view!

The golden gate Bridge

Random makeup and charm blog fun fact: I grew up in the Bay area but have never been to Alcatraz, ha!

Called K-Dock, there’s a part of the pier controlled by a gang of sea lions, those lazy bastards.

El Hub took a picture of me with Coit Tower in the background. Back in the day when I worked in downtown SF, I used to actually walk up the stairs to Coit Tower for fun on my lunch hour. Talk about crazy!

On the walk back to the car, we stopped for cupcakes at Kara’s Cupcakes shop in Ghirardelli Square. When I bring company to Fisherman’s Wharf, I like to get them cupcakes from Kara’s. I treated El Hub to a chocolate one and snagged a Meyer Lemon-filled treat for myself.

ANNONSE

I threw a few pennies into the Ghirardelli Square fountain and wished for much more sunny days like today.

Din vennlige nabolags sjarmavhengig,

Karen