Leaving Las Vegas & Arriving in San Francisco

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at2:53 pm by traveltripz

San Francisco It is 4am and I am wide awake and have been since 2.05am. Then for some reason the alarms on our 02 PC Phones went off at 3.30am even though they were set for 4.30am.

As soon as we are packed and ready we head down to check-out and then make our way to the airport in a cab. As it was so early we have no problems with traffic and we arrive at the airport by 5.30am. The taxi cost us about $35. Nowhere near as cheap as a shuttle bus but we wanted to be sure that we were going to get to the airport on time as it was so early and shuttle buses can be slow as they generally have to go via various hotels to pick up other passengers before they head on to the airport.

We got a great deal through Hotwire for this trip which included return airfares from Las Vegas and 5 nights accomodation at Holiday Inn Express in San Francisco for only $376 each.

The flight only takes an hour and 10 minutes and then it is time to negotiate the airport corridors to the baggage claim area. San Francisco airport is huge and it takes us about 10 minutes to get to where we need to be. Only three passengers are waiting to collect baggage so we assume that the other passengers have gone on to other connections.

Once we have collected our bags, we head out to find a shuttle bus to take us to our hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf. For some reason, we have been finding this difficult in the US as signage for the buses and shuttles is not very good and we wander back and forward trying to figure out where they are. After going up and down in the elevator we see an area where we think we need to be and head that way.

We finally make our way over to the Super Shuttle company and ask the driver how much it will be to our hotel. We find out it will be $16 each so we hop into the van and wait. The driver has no other passengers and decides to wait a little longer to see if he can grab a few more before he leaves. Fifteen minutes later he realises he is out of luck and after making a round of the airport he reluctantly heads off to our hotel. So we are lucky enought to have the shuttle to ourselves and we get a direct trip to our hotel.

We arrive about 30 minutes later having driven past what we thought was the Golden Gate Bridge only to find out later Bay Bridge - San Francisco that it is the Bay Bridge. We also drive past the piers at Fisherman’s Wharf including the famous Pier 39 where the seals hang out and the many tourists wandering up and down trying to keep warm.

We really have no idea as to where our hotel is in relation to the main sights but are pleasantly surprised when we realise we are close to just about everything in fact The Holiday Inn Express – Fisherman’s Wharf is in an ideal location.

We initially decide not to do too much today as we are quite tired after the early morning start but we can’t help ourselves and decide to take a walk up to the Crookidest Street in the world which is within walking distance of the hotel. Mind you, it is all up-hill but it is a pleasant walk all the same and we just take our time. This is a definite must see especially watching the cars try and navigate their way down the hill.

On our way back we stopped at Denny’s for dinner as we hadn’t eaten since breakfast that morning. This was our first visit to this chain of restaurants and we really enjoyed the food.

Seals at Pier 39 - San Francisco We then head down to the water to walk along Fisherman’s Wharf. This area is full of tourists but also obviously some locals as we see them jogging along the walkway. We end up at Pier 39 which as mentioned before, is famous for the seals which inhabit the area for most of the year.

We take a few photos and then head to Boudins which is a famous old restaurant that has the best clam chowder which is served up in a sourdough bread bowl for $6.95. We bought a bowl each along with some black cherry soda. The meal was delicious and really warming as it was very cold outside.

For some reason we weren’t expecting San Francisco to be quite so cold.