Where We Have Been - USA - San Francisco
Being completely honest the USA wasn’t somewhere particularly high on David’s places he had to visit list although it was somewhat higher on Carolyn’s who had a dream to be in New York for a special birthday.
David said if we are travelling all that way I’m not going for only a week or so.
We thought Australia was big, and it is, as well as being sparsely populated the further inland you head, but the USA is so much bigger. Given our relative late in life new found fascination with history and the people and events that have shaped our world we anticipated that we would find the USA new, loud and crass. In fact we came away saying we’ll definitely be back, some parts, like everywhere we won’t return to but others are calling us back.
We toured the USA by Plane, Train and Automobile.
From New York we flew across the US, via Chicago where we had already decided not to stop as it was winter and we had heard about flights getting cancelled due to the weather, to San Francisco.
In San Francisco we stayed down in the Marina District which we found very handy with a bus stop right outside our hotel, great eateries and bars nearby. We visited the Golden Gate Bridge (nothing short of spectacular and beats the Statute of Liberty in David’s opinion) and Alcatraz, spent some time wandering the San Francisco Bay Waterfront where we saw another submarine, USS Pampanito, learnt about the Liberty Ships and were surprised to see Sea Lions. Of course we had to ride the famous San Francisco Cable Cars. Last, and by no means least, Carolyn got to enjoy part two of her birthday present, seeing her idol Stevie Nicks perform.
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
C @ Stevie Nicks Concert
C & D & San Francisco Cable Car
Alcatraz Island
Sea Lions @ Pier 39
USS Pampanito (SS-383/AGSS-383) @ Pier 45
C & Cable Car
Riding a Cable Car
D @ Alcatraz
From San Francisco we grabbed a rental to drive to Las Vegas via the Pacific Coast Highway
C, D & Friend @ Golden Gate Bridge
Tip: As with many places we visit we jumped the hop on hop off open top bus. They are a great way to experience the highlights and identify where you want to revisit and spend more time.
Highlight: Completely unexpected but the Golden Gate bridge is much more spectacular than you could ever imagine. The view back towards San Francisco late in the day as the sun sinks below the horizon is magical.
Memory: Sitting in a bar wondering what all the young people who came in, played a few drinking games and then left together was all about. Apparently it is a fun raising activity.
Closing Thought: San Fran, we enjoyed our time exploring your delights. We hope to get back either at the start or end of a cruise along the pacific highway to/from LA.
We have been lucky enough over the years to have travelled more than many but nowhere near as much as we aspire to. The world is a big place and there are still many places to see, many places to explore more thoroughly and many favourities to reconnect with.
Elsewhere on Crows on the Go you will find
• more on our travels and the places we have been
• our thoughts, and in some cases tips, in relation to some of these places
• what we consider our special places
• and more!