Day 19 (7/17). (Lin) We finally officially completed the coast to coast leg of this trip – we touched the Pacific! More on that soon. Today was a nice change of pace in many ways. We all slept in, and the kids got up and watched TV with our friends’ kids while eating breakfast. Score. On recommendation from Lisa, we stopped by Philz, the local coffee and pastry joint, and got delicious dark roast coffee, donuts, and croissants. We attended the church that our friend, Dave, is the pastor of, helped pack 400 lunches for homeless people in San Jose, and then headed into San Francisco.
Somehow we missed the memo that San Francisco is cold and foggy in the summer time. All day long. Middle of July. When we left Los Gatos, it was in the low 80s, clear and sunny. Our first planned stop in San Francisco was at Twin Peaks, usually a lovely way to see the city and bay from up high. On the way in, however, the clouds and fog begin building up and the temp dropped sharply. By the time we unloaded at the top of the lookout, the temp had dropped 25 degrees at least, and it was super windy, and you couldn’t see more than 20 feet from the overlook. Hello, San Fran! We scrounged some long sleeves out of our Thule carrier and spent the rest of the day simply freezing and mismatched with hoodies and sweatshirts over church clothes.
Nonetheless, we had a good time in the city. We briefly drove through Golden Gate Park stopped at Baker Beach, on the west side of the Golden Gate Bridge. We all got to stick our feet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, which means we can officially check the coast to coast thing off of our bucket list for this trip. The water was cold, but the waves were fun, and the Golden Gate Bridge was in the background.
From there, we fought traffic and went to the Golden Gate Bridge welcome center and looked around a bit. We followed the trail down to Point Fort under the bridge. It was super windy and cold, but also fun. From there we drove to Lombard Street (the curviest street in America), which was so backed up Jo and the kids walked down it.
From there it was to Fishermen’s Wharf, where we met some other friends (formerly from Boston) for dinner at Fishermen’s Grotto. Dinner on the second floor overlooking the downtown was lovely, and included a whole crab, crab cakes, clam chowder, and fish and chips. Dessert was incredible hot chocolate (and liquid chocolate) at Ghirardelli Square.
On the way out of the city, we drove down Lombard Street, since the traffic had lessened considerably. Of course, as we drove south the skies cleared and the temperature rose again. So fascinating.
(Click on photos to see larger versions.)
Fisher Family Travels 