World Cruise--A Day In San Francisco

The postings on the Queene Anne World Cruise Facebook page from those in San Francisco awaiting the ship’s arrival for the start of their portion of the cruise didn’t look promising. Lots of pictures of rain and one in particular of the Golden Gate Bridge that was barely visible from all the rain. So, when we awoke our first morning in SF, we were pleased to see that, although a bit dreary, the rain had let up and almost to a stop. From our balcony, we could see Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, a clear view of Alcatraz Island and a partial view of the Golden Gate that we had sailed under around 4 AM. (We slept through that.)

The forecast still called for a chance of rain. We shrugged, packed the umbrellas (for insurance that it wouldn’t rain again) and set off.

But let me back up a bit. This was the first day of entry for the ship back to the US so all the passengers had to go through immigration and once through you could not reboard until the whole of the ship had been processed. Added to that, Bob’s doctor suggested he change up his medication a bit and he hadn’t brought enough to do that so we had to find a pharmacy for the office to send the prescription. The CVS we found was not in their system (we would discover later the store was closing) so we found a Walgreen’s on the map that was not quite a mile away and decided to try that.

Luckily, the immigration process was going well and we were able to leave earlier than planned. The weather that was supposed to be rainy turned out to be drier and warmer than expected. We Googled our way to the Walgreen’s and the pharmacy gave us the contact information the doctor’s office needed. When we tried to call the doctor, Bob’s phone went dead and wouldn’t place the call. After several frustrating attempts, he used mine. (Later he turned the phone off and on and backed it up and it started working again.) All set—or so we thought.

We walked back down to the harbor and Fisherman’s Wharf where we wandered around a bit and grabbed a hot tea and sweet roll to share at a bakery and rested a bit. Near the bakery was an arcade that featured “antique” arcade games. Some of them were not quite as antique as we are but it was fun looking at them.

We had a little more time to kill before meeting our tour guide at Pier 33 for our afternoon excursion so we wandered toward Pier 39. The Wharf has several piers, all numbered and easy to find. They are all relatively close together as well. Pier 39 is probably the busiest as it had a slew of restaurants and shops and snack places and a view of the herd of very noisy sea lions.

We needed to get lunch before our tour so we found a place where we got some clam chowder and a tuna salad on sour dough that was not as good as I remembered the sour dough being from our visit years ago. It was a little disappointing.

After lunch, on our way to Pier 33, we got a FaceTime call from a granddaughter who had just had her wisdom teeth removed. We talked a few minutes and commiserated with her, complimenting her on her chipmunk cheeks that we promised would go away. I love the technology we have today that can help us keep in touch no matter where we are in the world.

Our arrival was a few minutes early but so were all the others who were on the tour. We filled the Mercedes van which was quite comfortable and set off for our trip over the Golden Gate and on to Muir Woods where all the large redwoods are. Still no rain but a bit of a mist now and then. The umbrella insurance was working.

Our driver took us over the Golden Gate and to the area set aside for viewing. I remember being there before when we drove ourselves. It does give you good opportunity for photos. I did not remember the sailor monument as it was dedicated in 2002. A bronze plaque with a dedication on it is worth repeating here:

                 The Lone Sailor

This is a memorial to every one who ever sailed out of the Golden Gate in the service of their country - in the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, the Merchant Marine.

A ship heading for sea passes directly by this spot at the northern end of the Golden Gate. Here the sailor feels the first long roll of the sea, the beginning of the endless horizon that leads to the far Pacific.

There is one last chance to look back at the city of San Francisco, shining on its hills, one last chance to look back at the coastline of the United States, one last chance to look back at home.

Thousands and thousands of American seafarers have sailed past this place, in peace and war, to defend this country and its sea frontiers. Many of them never returned. This monument is dedicated to the ordinary sailors and marines who sailed from this place and did their duty.

Carl Nolte

The rest of our drive to Muir Woods took us up a mountain on winding roads and back down into a valley. The area is really beautiful and some of the views of the bay were spectacular. It was a little cooler at the park than it had been on the Wharf and I put my quilted vest back on. I think it was more from the dampness. It had rained eight inches over the last couple of days. Thankfully the path was part boardwalk, part paved walkway. A few places had some muddy spots but were easily navigated without too much trouble. We had worried that our shoes would get muddy with not good way to get them cleaned again. (The laundry room had a sign saying “Do not wash shoes in the machines.”)

Just as we arrived at the park, Bob got a message that he could not get the prescription because it was too soon for a refill. This wasn’t really a refill, it was a new prescription for extra meds. Gotta love insurance. Though we had been told there would be no cell service at the park, he found he had two bars and made a call to the pharmacy. She said she would see what she could do and we said we’d pay for it if we had to.

The misty feel was becoming a little wetter but still not bad. There was a front moving in and by the time we arrived at Sausalito, a stop on our tour, you could feel the temperature dropping and the wind picking up. We were to have an hour in the little town area that had shops and restaurants before the tour would end back again at Pier 33. We had planned to take the ferry back to the Wharf from Sausalito and decided that we would leave sooner than later. Sausalito didn’t interest that much with the weather changing.

The ferry ride was smoother than I anticipated given the wind picking up as it was. The ride was scenic and would have been even nicer with a little sunshine. Arriving with enough daylight left and a shorter walk to the Walgreen’s who had texted the prescription was ready (and with no cost to us) we decided the plan for the rest of the day was the walk to the pharmacy, followed by dinner somewhere on the Wharf and then back to the ship.

It couldn’t have worked out more perfectly. We made it to Walgreens, picked up the meds, passed on buying the sundries on our list since most of the things were under lock and key. Things I would never expect people would want or could shoplift. It would have taken forever to have someone follow us around and unlock everything we needed.

Serenaded our dinner

We found a wonderful Italian restaurant on Pier 39 for dinner. Bob had seafood pasta that was loaded with more seafood than I’ve ever seen on that dish before. I had a heaping plate of ravioli with a meat sauce that was excellent. And to top it off was a side order of tasty garlic sourdough bread that was the real deal.

I was glad we had about a fifteen minute walk back to the ship. It was a chance to walk off the huge meal. We both ate more than we should have but it was so good.

Back on the ship, I gave in to my legs and knees and back that were protesting all the walking we’d done. When I checked my phone it showed over 10 miles for the day’s walk. I took a hot shower and plopped into bed while Bob went on to see the evening entertainment. What stamina.

This post is too long to contain the second day of fun in San Fran. So I will have to do up another. Tune in for some amazing modes of transportation in the next post.