San Francisco (Day Three)

On our third day in San Francisco, we slept in and then went into uncharted territory. One of my friends from my chemistry class over the summer recommended a great lunch spot called The Grove  in Pacific Heights, and we learned that it was 30-minute walk from our hotel. It didn't take us through the most scenic parts of the city (ever heard of the Tenderloin? Not so great, and not a good place to walk around at night), but it did take us through Japan Town.  

I stayed there when I was little girl, so I recognized parts of it. We would have explored, but we were hun-gry!

Al didn't believe that I actually knew where I was going, but we found our place! Pacific Heights is an adorable little area with lots of non-commercial shops and restaurants to visit. I loved the decor inside of The Grove. It had a country-western-camping-healthy sort of theme. Don't worry if that doesn't make sense. It's a fun place. 

I also took advantage of the free wifi to check my e-mail on my phone. 

My friend said that she had the best BLT (sandwich with bacon, lettuce and tomato) of her life there, but I was very intrigued by the sauteed pear and gorgonzola sandwich. All sandwiches came with kettle chips and a pickle, but I upgraded the chips to a cup of vegetarian chili. 

I think that the sandwich was a great idea in theory, but it was so rich that I could barely finish half of it. I am a huge lover of the cheese the world has to offer, but there was too much cheese on there. The gorgonzola cheese, which is strong on its own, completely overwhelmed the taste of the pears.

Oh well. My chili was just great. I inhaled it. 

Al got a big-ass chicken pot pie that came with a salad on the side. He loved his lunch.

I would definitely come back here again! It's a popular spot, and for a good reason. The staff are friendly, the menu is diverse and the decor is a lot of fun. I just need to order something different!

After lunch, we had a difficult time figuring out what to do next. I wanted to look around the Height-Ashbury neighborhood, and Al wanted to go to Alcatraz. We settled on Alcatraz, but Al got exhausted by the time we were halfway there. All of the walking around and jet lag caught up with him, so we went back to the hotel to rest. 

While we did that, I made a reservation for dinner in Fisherman's Wharf at Cafe Pescatore. My parents went there a few times on their visits, and they can't seem to get enough of that place. They highly recommended it. 

Before that, I went to a quick 2.5-mile run along Market Street (I don't recommend it at rush hour- you will stop every twenty seconds for lights and have to weave in and out of crowds of people) and then got ready very quickly for dinner.

Instead of walking this time, we took the cable car. We had to wait a few times on Powell Street to find one with enough space on it, but it was worth it. What a hoot! I would never take it to work or anything, but it is a lot of fun for the tourists. 

We were an hour early for our reservation, so we planned on having a drinks and walking around before our meal. To our delight, however, there were plenty of tables open. We waited at the bar for about 15 minutes while chatting to a middle-aged couple from rural Illinois, and then we got our table. 

They gave us fantastic warm ciabatta rolls to start. 

For my meal, I got fettucini fruti di mare. It had salmon, clams, muscles, some sort of white fish and calamari. It also had big slices of olives and chunks of tomato.Everything was mixed in a white wine sauce. I was thrilled with this meal! Al also loved his food, which was spaghetti bolognese. I also plan on coming back here when I go to San Fran again, and I will want a repeat of this meal!

After dinner, we lined up at the cable car turn-around. Lucky for us, we didn't have to wait longer than 20 minutes. 

We were one of the first people in line for our car, so we got the choice of the lot. We really wanted to hang off the side since we are big dare devils. It was a good time! You just have to make sure that you don't stick your head out, or you might lose it. When you pass a car going the opposite way, you are VERY close to each other!

I have one more recap left, and that's for the wineries! I can't wait for this one!