Crims and cons

Our final day in San Francisco dawned soon enough. We were fortunate in having a very late flight out that night so we had the whole day to explore and experience.

First I thought it a good idea to check how far my booking for Alcatraz had gone and whether it had disappeared into the ether of the Internet. We set out for Pier 33 down at the waterfront. Yet another beautiful day, warm with just a hint of crispness. 

No, my tickets hadn't been processed but did we want to do the ferry only tour, with commentary and onboard, genuine crim; a one time resident of the island? Turns out he had written a book and was touting it, perfect opportunity for him really.

What the heck, we thought, it's going to be the closest we get to it, this time round anyway.  Turns out, it was quite interesting, even though we didn't get to actually land on the island, and Rose even bought the book, which from the few pages I skimmed through, seemed to be quite well written. We also sailed UNDER the bridge, giving us yet another view of this grand old lady.

Breakfast at Pat's

San Remo Hotel

Alcatraz

Sea lions wallowing in the sun at the end of pier 39

William C Baker 1259 one of the last living inmates of Alcatraz

On disembarking we bought at the Alcatraz shop, what has to be the worst cup of coffee yet. That is truly an achievement as, frankly, there has been some fierce competition. Mind you, we quite enjoyed reading the T shirts that were on sale. One of them had "Alcatraz swimming team" emblazoned on the front. 

Although the stretch of water between the island and the coast is not a huge distance,little more than a mile, it is utterly treacherous due to the strong and extremely cold currents that flow through San Francisco Bay from Alaska. In the 29 years that Alcatraz served as a federal penitentiary, 36 prisoners tried to escape the Rock; all but five were recaptured or otherwise accounted for.

We spent a happy afternoon on pier 39, a commercial area built over a disused pier. Two floors of shops and eateries with a central promenade complete with an antique Venetian carousel.

I don't know whether to tell this story and confess my callowness, but it may serve as a warning to other ingenuous souls.
As we walked past a hawiian style stall, I noticed that a sign advertising oysters. You could pick out your own oyster and have the pearl inside for only $15. 'That sounds fun' I thought, so I did it. Very bubbly girl showed me a big bowl of oysters and advised me to pick out a fat one, which I did. She got out her knife and with a great performance we had to call out "one, two, three ALOHA" and ring a little bell. She then flipped open the oyster and nestling in the flesh of the oyster was a beautiful silver pearl. "Oh, that's a beauty" she exclaimed. She then removed the umbilicus and shined it up for me. I was feeling quite pleased at this point, but then she asked how I wanted it set, and before I had a chance to consider anything very much, I found myself bulldozed into spending half my holiday money on a ring I didn't even know I wanted. And because I was such a good customer, before I had a chance to draw a somewhat shaky breath, she gave me another one for 'free' and the whole performance was repeated. This time I managed to keep the price down and just get it set as a little pendant. I walked away in a bit of a daze and not sure if I would ever be able to enjoy wearing these.

Don't worry, I've got over it now, and love it, especially as it has a little story with it and will remind me of our time in San Francisco.

My free pearl

It was a sweltering, hot day, so after watching the sea lions languidly frolicking from the edge of the pier, we got ourselves something icy,sat in the shade and consumed it, then proceeded into the Aquarium of the Bay. Pretty good and pretty vast, but frankly my mind was a little numbed by this stage so didn't take too much in. At least it was cool in there.

We managed to fit in one more 'must do' stop and headed over to Ghirardelli Square. The Ghirardelli family ran a chocolate factory here from 1859 to 1962. The site now houses over 20 restaurants and cute little shops that sell everything from T-shirts,jewellery, dog clothes and dog pushchairs (!!!), olive oils and of course, chocolate. I had been primed by my sister that you could get free samples from the two Ghirardelli shops and you could walk in one door and out the other numerous times. I would have too, but the day's sample, being close to halloween, was a pumpkin pie spiced filling. It was ok, but not my first choice. I managed two. Didn't buy any here, though, as it was hellishly expensive.

Hold me back! 

Some of the old chocolate making equipment demonstrating the processes involved in making food for the gods.

We staggered back to 'our' bar under the hotel. Although we had to check out earlier, they kindly allowed us to store our bags in the office. We spent a few hours there, saying goodbye to our new best friends and enjoying happy hour before heading to the airport. We never managed to get our names engraved on a little brass plaque on the bar. Maybe next time.

Everett of the beautiful nails and gorgeous clothes, who partied outside our window 'til the wee small hours.

Watching the football

Patron

Nino, one of our friendly barmen and disher out of advice.