Tim dropped us off in San Francisco in the evening after a long day of hiking in Yosemite and then driving back to the coast. Since we would no longer have a car, the hotel was picked for convenience of the hop on-hop off bus. Unfortunately, one turn of the corner and we were in the slums. Our hotel was on that turn of the corner. Once we got in, it was good. The hotel wouldn’t even let you in the lobby. The elevator was in an alley way going into a car park and so was the window we literally had to shout through to talk to the guy checking us in. There may have been some gun shots after we got to our room…but we never heard any screaming or sirens, so I am guessing they were a bad shot. We didn’t fly out until the next evening. There are these places called Bounces which will hold your luggage for you while you are traipsing around town for the day. Ours was close to our hotel…in a bad part of town, covered in iron bars and you had to talk to a voice box before they would come and open the door. They were a very nice mom and pop hotel and very nice. So we dumped just about everything and left to find the bus to start seeing the sights. We were shocked at how cold it was. That fog is chilly! Lily and I were on the top of the bus, which is open. There were others who were in winter coats. We were in short sleeved shirts. My honest opinion about San Francisco….I have always heard how wonderful it is. The homeless and lawless folks have taken over a good chunk of the city and that is a shame on so many levels. I wanted to see a street car…got to ride on one. I wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog. Got to see it several times and it was mesmerizing. We ate dinner at a tiny place in China Town. We had a really good time exploring the city together before heading to the airport for Seattle.
Messina Musings 