S F Trip Mon thru Friday

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Monday: Started out with Dylan's Tours and he was truly amazing. I truly recommend his tour. He will only take 10 people so you see a lot and get personal questions. Started off by going down Lombard St. His van doesn't look like a tour bus which are not allowed but occaisionally he'll break the rules and go for it. I was so happy as I wanted to really do this. At the bottom we got out to take pics. He took us to great lookouts, and all the neighbords, mission, castro, haight-ashbury, twin peaks, china town and so on. . We were actually able to get out and take pics. Much more so than most tours. We also crossed the bridge & went to Muir Woods ( in the pouring rain) and Sausilito where we had a choice to stay there and go back on the ferry or continue on. I'm glad I continued on as we went to the Marin Headlands and I got some awesome shots. I tried to walk Muir Woods but only did a small circle of bridge 1 & 2 and my leg hurt so didn't try any more. I have learned my limit. Most others did all 4 bridges.

Left off at Fisherman's wharf as requested where I did the Bay cruise. Got some good shots from there. Met a Chinese family who could not speak English but they were taking a bunch of pics. I had to laugh. I touched their camera & pointed me taking their pic. They were so happy. A little later she grabbed me & they took our pic together so I gave them my camera and they took one with mine. It was actually quite fun to communicate witout words.

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Tuesday: Art Museum & Wicked

Slept in late again . By the time I got to Golden Gate Park it was to late to do the CA Academy of Sciences so went across the street to the Art Center & the Japanese Tea Garden . The tea garden is not wheelchair friendly but I walked it without any problem. Just took my time. Kelli was good about pushing me around as she knew we had Wicked later that day. For a late lunch we ate at the Cheesecake Factory . We split fish & chips and each of us had our own cheesecake. Kelli had red velvet & I had banana creme.

Because of the wheelchair we got awesome seats in the center section without having to pay a gazillion $$. I think it was around $82 for 2 tix which is less than one regular. Kelli was really captivated . She really loved it and so did I. It was another highlight of the trip. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. The only thing open after the show was Burger King (that was twice we had to eat there. No choice!! I broke my cardinal rule, no eating where we can eat at home.

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Wed: Another SF tour/ Beach Blanket Babylon

Started out at Union Square where we watched the cable car turnaround & Kelli wheeled me to the Half/Price Tix booth where we got tix to BBB. I tried to get on the Gray Line hop/on hop/off bus but because I had to start off at the Fisherman's Wharf they wouldn't let us on. I was pissed but another tour bus let us own and let us off at FW where I started my hop on hop off. By them it was 2:30. To my dismay they only stopped at 2 places, Union Sq & the Golden Gate Bridge. I was really po'd as I had planned to use them to go to different places to sight see such as GGPark. This was like no hop on/hop off I'd ever been on. Made the most of it and since I was on the 2hr tour I just rode it. Believe it or not we saw different things than the other 2 tours & I enjoyed our guide Igor who was from Russia. He certainly made it clear he was no fan of Arnold & his policies, esp when it came to the homeless. We had 20 mins at the GGBridge which was enuff for me to buy another trinket & take pics. When we got back to FW I hopped on another tour bus that was about to leave & got off at Union Square where we went to the North End & had had great pizza at Tony's Pizza. He is the one who won the pizza contest in Italy on his first try. It was awesome. Went to pay with travelers checks & found they don't take them!! I was shocked as I now had no cash, just travelers checks. I had just enough time to make it to Wells Fargo where they happily cashed it as I was a Wachovia/Wells Fargo customer. They explained their was a lot of fraud so a lot of places weren't cashing them. Afterwards we went thru China Town, then ended up at the dog park across the church where Joe & Marilyn posed for pics. ( They got married at city hall) We finally saw a pug and Kelli went nuts (she was really missing the girls). It was a brindle colored pug named Winston Churchill and was absolutely beautiful. I had never seen a brindle pug (they are rare) I can only imagine how much that one dog cost.

Afterwards we went to see Beach Blanket Babylon. They put up a ramp for the wheelchair and I didn't have to stand in line (first come first serve seating) as we were the first in & the last to leave. I am so happy that y'all recommended this as we had so much fun. The parodys were so funny & I laughed so hard I was crying. FABULOUS!!!!!!

It's hard to get a taxi with a wheelchair as you have to wait for a van but I finally made it home. It was a great day!!!

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Thurs: Golden Gate Park & In the Heights

Got up early & took the bus to GG Park to go to the Calif Academy of Sciences. I found out to late that there was a bus that was much closer than where we got off (8th ave) This attractions is 3 in 1. A planatarium which was great , the rain forest, ( a tuff push for Kelli ) & the aquarium. There is a living garden on the top floor, where I took some neat pics. Kelli thought it was all boring, but I liked it except for all the school kids. Afterwards she pushed me to the Conservatory of Flowers? Flowers my arss, it was plants. Not impressed. Kelli was exhausted and her legs were hurting so we took the bus back to the hotel and then ate at the Crepe place near the Inn. Got a taxi to a theater that started with a C (can't remember) Went to see the musical, In the Heights. The tix were only $30 each so a really good deal. Kelli loved it, I didn't care for it as it was a Latino, rap, hip hop dancing sort of thing. The singing was fantastic. Is anyone tired yet?

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Fri: Monterry/Carmel & a PO'D Shaggy

Again using the go San Francisco Card took a tour to Monterry/Carmel with a great tour guide name Leo (until the end) Picked us up right on time & as he pulled off I realized I had left my camera. We had only gone a couple of blocks so he turned around & Kelli picked up the camera. And this concludes the tour. (lol) We went to FW to get on the proper bus & pay tix. It was a nice day altho cloudy as we went down Hwy 1 . There were several places I'd like to stop & take pics but I wasn't the driver and besides we'd never get there if it was up to me. We did stop at a lighthouse where the grass was covered in wild moss rose. It was everywhere. Kelli went down the path toward the lighthouse & I was content to take long distance pics. I wasn't about ready to hike it, was sure I'd twist my ankle or fall on my arse.

On to Monterry where we all ate lunch at the Bushwackers ? bush something or other , I think the Bushwackers were an old wrestling tag team. :confused We had excellent clam chowder & fish & chips, much better than Aliotos and a third of the price. I wanted to go to the aquarium but didn't think 1 1/2 hrs was enough time . Leo said you should've gone I'd dropped you off & picked u up Now he tells me. Kelli didn't want to go as we had been to 2 aquariums already & I felt I would have been rushed. Did some shopping & took more pics.

Next stop was the 17 mile drive (awesome) & Pebble Beach Golf Course where I got my hairdresser a golf ball. The views from the lodge patio were awesome & I got a real kick out of listening to an old geezer , smoking a cigar, talking about his date with a gorgeous 24 yr old the night before. Can you say money? On the 17 mile drive we saw where the rich & famous lived and also stopped at the Lone Pine/Oak?/Tree. Anywho, it's the one that's so famous. I think me's getting tired & my brain isn't working. IT'S THE LONE CYPRESS. My brain is coming back since it's now am.

In Carmel by the Sea Kelli pushed the Cadillac around the shops until time to go.( I renamed the wheelchair the Cadillac) Leo thought I was looking tired by the time I got back.

We took a different route home and stoped at Garlic World where I picked up some more gifts and took a couple of pics of Kelli in the Garlic Bulb. Leo kept on talking, if he wasn't talking he was eating. I swear I think he talked for 10 straight hours. I learned more about stuff I'd never thought of about learning. When we went thru Santa Cruz he said all the restaurants had to be organic, including McDonalds & Taco Bell. I think he was giving us a load of shit but he sounded convincing. I also learned about strawberrys, cherry orchards & artichokes. A ll & all it was a great tour !!, THEN

I was getting hungry so he suggested I eat at Tony's Joint which had been in SF forever. He told me it was only 3 blocks from my hotel or about a $5 cab ride. He pointed and said see it's only 3 blocks away and it's all down hill!! I said great , leave me here. Liar, Liar, pants on fire!! It wasn't 3 blocks it was more between 8 & 9. !! After the 3rd block I said Kelli, does any of this look familiar? NO. Kelli was almost in tears as we finally made it back to the hotel. I was really mad , no I was furious & the bellboy said he just pulled a fast one on us , he knew it was a long way away. I don't know why he didn't just tell us to take a taxi as it was not a real walkable trek. I wouldn't have been upset at that at all as Tony's joint was my kind of place. Maybe I didn't give him a good enuff tip. There was only 8 of us on the big bus & the day b4 he had 54!! It was much easier on him and that's why we got to stop more but he didn't make much money.

I'm tired so if you don't mind I'll finish my trip home & final thoughts tomorrow. shaggy

[longtimer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close longtimer]

Wow - You've had quite the adventures. Sounds like you're having a great time. Enjoy the rest of your time there and have a safe trip home. (You and Kelli will probably sleep for a week to make up for all the running you've done this week!)

[CarolF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CarolF]

Your trips always sound so exhausting but lots of fun too. Sorry to hear about the last tour guide though, that was pretty tacky.