We are going to San Fransisco!! John totally surprised me with this trip for my 30th birthday. I thought we were just going to have a nice quiet family day. Do I not have the best husband in the world?! I think so!!
We flew out of Calgary around 7pm, Thursday June 11th on United Airlines. Our flight was originally supposed to depart at 6:20pm, so it was a little delayed but not too bad. It was a quick flight which was nice, especially since we were both anxious to get there!
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San Fransisco is an hour ahead, so we arrived at our hotel a little after 9pm, checked in and went for something to eat (we were both starving) at the hotel restaurant "knuckles at the wharf". It was very enjoyable, had a great atmosphere, and was where we ate every morning at the breakfast buffet which was included in the package John booked through expedia. Ate way too much but it was so delicious and totally worth it!!
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Our awesome hotel HYATT at Fisherman's Wharf. 555 North Point Street, San Fransisco, CA
http://www.fishermanswharf.hyatt.com/
Our awesome hotel HYATT at Fisherman's Wharf. 555 North Point Street, San Fransisco, CAhttp://www.fishermanswharf.hyatt.com/
The next day (June 12th) we woke up around 9 o'clock, got ready and headed down to breakfast. I could totally get used to eating the scrumptious breakfast buffet every day. Yum!
After gorging ourselves we decided to take a stroll and headed down to the piers of Fisherman's Wharf. You definitely know when you've located all the little sea food shops...the smell is something else lol. Neither one of us are huge sea food eaters so we continued on our ventures. We came across this old Naval Warship, the S.S Jeremiah and decided to take the self guided tour. I mean how often do you come across one of these monstrous ships in a lifetime? We both really enjoyed it. The breeze off the bay was so refreshing and rejuvenating. Plus the views from some of the upper decks were breathtaking and provided some really great photo opps.
I love that our trip was so casual and relaxed. We were on our own schedule and could do whatever we wanted. The pictures below show Fisherman's Wharf, Fishermen's Grotto which is along the sea food strip, and an old arcade game which was amongst a huge collection of old (some very old) arcade machines in a building that we came across on our journeys, and a huge carousel at Pier 39. There was just so much to see!
That afternoon we decided to stop at the Hard Rock Cafe for refreshments. We had the greatest waitress (she ID'd me, YAY!) and it was just nice to sit back and relax. The next evening we went back to the Hard Rock for dinner and happened to get the same waitress, and you know, she even remembered what we had ordered the previous day...now that is a good waitress...that place is busy! Needless to say we tipped her well.
Back to our journey's on Friday. I absolutely loved the sea lions! They started arriving after the 1989 earthquake and in the winter months the populations of sea lions can grow as high as 600! I enjoyed watching them bark and bite at each other, protecting their territory and pushing each other into the water.
After exploring and seeing all the different things there was to do down at Fisherman's Wharf we decided to check out the Aquarium at the Bay. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The aquarium has 20,000 of San Fransisco's amazing marine animals.http://www.aquariumofthebay.com/
Next we hit the Wax Museum. I had never been to one so this was a new and interesting experience for me. At times I found it creepy but overall enjoyed it. It has over 275 different personalities. Below you will notice John and I trying out the electric chair. It was hilarious. You sit down, and it starts powering up, then suddenly blasts you with air. Freaky! lol
http://www.waxmuseum.com/
http://www.waxmuseum.com/
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Then it was on to the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. We didn't have a whole lot of time left before we had to get back to our hotel and get ready for dinner at this point so we did a quick tour here. It was pretty good. Lots of reading! It was neat to see some of the things that I had seen on the Ripley's TV show back when it was aired. Click on the pictures to enlarge them and you can read some of the plaques. It's crazy what some people have done with different things.
Part of my surprise trip was tickets to a Dinner Cruise on the Bay. After the Ripley's museum we headed back to the hotel to unwind and get ready for our 3 hour cruise around the bay. This was an amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone. Not only did we get to cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge just after sunset, but we had an amazing four course dinner. Nothing quite like seeing the skyline of San Fransisco while eating an amazing dinner. After dessert (which was so good I can almost taste it now) we took our drinks to the upper deck as we were cruising under the Bay Bridge that was beautifully lit up. Memories that will definitely last us a lifetime. Thinking about it now makes we wish I could do it again!
http://www.hornblower.com/
After the cruise we walked back to our hotel (from pier 3 to 39!).
After the cruise we walked back to our hotel (from pier 3 to 39!). It was a gorgeous night. I seriously had the best time!
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The End of Day One.
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