Oh Rice a Roni.....So we awoke the next morning from the world famous Motor Coventry
Inn (still on a budget and they didn't charge $50 a night for parking per vehicle), ready and willing to explore the city of San Francisco. Armed with tourist maps in hand, we started walking down Lombard Street towards the biggest Chinatown in the US for some dim sum!(yes again). After 3 blocks we were going strong, until we saw the grade of the hills. Some hills in upwards of almost 40% grade roll through the city. It was amazing! After 2-3 blocks of relatively intense uphill climbs, we soon approached the apex of the hill, and looked down to find "the crookedest street in america", a block long winding road on Lombard 
street. Supposedly used in the past so that horse drawn carriages could safetly ascend and descend the 30% grade hill, the street resembles "S" curves while skiing/snowboarding. It was awesome to see. We walked down the Sidewalk/Stairs to the bottom of the hill and kept walking. We reached chinatown and it was HUGE! If you take the NYC chinatown and more than triple its size thats what you would get. We seemed to walk for 20 blocks and still not reach the end of just 1 street! We stopped at a little restaurant for dim sum, and we weren't very impressed. Seattle still boasts the best dim sum we have had. We continued walking and walking and walking down to 
the water and finally to Pier 39 which is the equivalent to Chicago's Navy Pier. A tourist trap with 
shops/restaurants/games and attractions, it also houses an aquarium. We walked through the decadently covered pier, browsed some stores, and then saw some more sea lions lying on floating docks in the water. Apparently, these sea lions took over the north side of Pier 39 and rather than fight to remove them all, the city uses them as another tourist attraction. We walked further down the water to Fisherman's Wharf, another touristy part of the city. It was a beautiful walk, as the Golden Gate Bridge and the island of Alcatraz filled the background scenery of the San Francisco bay. Boats, docks, and restaurants all boasting the best crab and chowder in the city line the pier fronts. Many outside vendors also are available, serving up delicious smelling crab and fresh seafood. We tried a chowder on the street, and again, I may be partial to Boston, but there is no chowder out here that even rivals a new england clam chowder out of Boston. The streets are lined with shops and stores and we came upon the hop on/off downtown city bus tour, which we took. The bus took us all around the city, down Market street, Union square, chinatown, Tenderloin, Nob Hill. It was a decent tour, but our guide was 
very strange. He was too theatrical for his own good, and I don't think anyone appreciated his humor and constant requests for tips so that he and the driver "Moe, could run off into the night to partake in their own vices......separately". It was getting cold so I bought a 12 dollar fleece from a tourist shop, and we continued walking around. We saw an "In and Out" burger place and stopped in, as many places reported that it was THE best fast food burger. Amy had said there was a special way that locals order their burgers, so whipped out the trusty Iphone, learned the lingo, and ordered a cheeseburger "animal style" and fries "well". Meaning the burger was fried in 
mustard, with onions, mushrooms and special sauce, and the fries were well done, extra crispy. We shared the meal, and it was a damn good burger....for a fast food joint. Probably the best tasting fast food burger out there. The line for the trolley was way too long, so we walked back down the pier, and eventually back downtown to Union Square. We stopped in North Beach aka "Little Italy" and found a restaurant close by with great reviews, named Franchino. It was a small little restaurant, but the owner was front of the house, and was very welcoming/inviting. The food was amazing! Amy had veal and chicken with fresh made pasta and I had the best Cioppino ever. The
meal was wonderful, and afterwards, we walked our full bellies around Union Square, the center of downtown. Amy really wanted to take the trolley, so we waited at the stop, and soon enough we were hanging off the trolley, just like in the opening credits of Full House. The trolley ride was great, especially after we had traversed around the city for miles and miles over the hills of San Francisco all day. We got off at the top of the hill near the crookedest street, took some pictures of the beautiful san francisco skyline, and walked back to the hotel.Day 5
We were supposed to leave SF that day, but decided to stay an additional night, so that we could see more of the city, and do the Alcatraz tour that day. We awoke the next AM, and drove down
to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge where we took in the beautiful construction of the bridge spanning over the San Francisco Bay. We walked almost halfway over the bridge, snapped some shots of the San Francisco skyline and the island of Alcatraz and then continued to drive through the city. We drove through the Golden Gate Park which was huge! Much bigger and more elaborate than New York's Central Park, it housed a zoo, hundreds of acres of beautiful green hills, the California Academy of Sciences, and multiple rose and Japanese gardens. The park was great, and if we had more time, we would have explored it more. We drove back to the hotel because we had a 12:10 tour of the island/prison/fort of 
Alcatraz! We parked the car and then walked down to the water and followed the shore all the way up to Pier 33. After a quick bite and cider from the gift shop, we boarded the ship and were on our way. It is only about 1.5 miles to Alcatraz, so the boat ride was quick. We were able to get a bit of history of the infamous island, and we were soon walking through the same cell blocks as, George"Machine Gun" Kelly, Whitey Bulger, Al Capone, and Robert Stroud the "Bird Man" of Alcatraz. I won't bore you with all the history of the island, but Alcatraz started as a strategic fort defending the SF bay. However, the bay was never attacked, so it was decommissioned because of cost and eventually used as a high security prison, housing some of 
the most dangerous, high profile inmates. They say no one has ever successfully escaped from Alcatraz, but there were 3 prisoners who escaped. They just never found or heard from them again, so they don't count it as a "successful escape". The prisoners made fake heads/bodies and placed them in bed while they escaped through a spoon dug hole in the back of their cell. I say that's pretty successful. It was creepy to see the small size of the cell, the old chipping green paint, and the old rusty bars just knowing that Whitey Bulger and Scarface once lived in these very cells! We took an audio tour and were able to enter the cell blocks, the cells including solitary confinement, the mess hall, and prison yard. The tour was informative and we really enjoyed exploring the mystique that surrounds the infamous island. We took the boat back to shore and then went to sample some staple SF cuisine. We walked the 2 miles up to the Nob Hill area and found the Swan Oyster Depot. This little restaurant was very highly recommended. We walked in to a tiny oyster bar with about 12 seats and little room for anything else. We sat down, ordered a dungeness crab cocktail, a half dozen oysters, and a clam chowder to share. All were incredibly fresh, the crab was sweet, and the oysters were 
amazing. We walked out of there very satisfied with the quality of the food, the quantity of food 
however, was not enough. So....we went to second dinner (walking 10 miles a day through the hills of SF build up quite the appetite). We walked back to the hotel and stopped by a small restaurant on the way for a bit more food. It was a great trip to SF, but 2 days was just not enough! Next time we hit SF, we will allot more time to other things. Overall, the city is beautiful, the weather was incredible for January, and it is easy to see why SF bay properties are amongst the most expensive in the world. We had a great time exploring this city and hope to make it back again soon.
Day 6
We woke up, packed our bags, (watched the Dolphins get their ass kicked in the AFC playoffs by
the Ravens-but I'm not bitter) and drove around town for a last look at some sites. We first stopped at the house used for the show Full House, then drove to Mission Dolores. The Mission Dolores was founded under the direction of Father Junipero Serra and is both the oldest original intact Mission in California and the oldest building in San Francisco. We walked to the corner, had some lox and bagels, and left the beautiful city by the bay via the bay bridge. We drove 6 hours south......destination? Chez Mcarthy in L.A. Amy's friend Brian and his Fiancee Heather had just bought a house in L.A. and were kind enough to let a few homeless nomads into their home.
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