No more Chewing!: San Francisco

With DH's conference done we had to check out of the Argonaut Hotel. First though he wanted to try breakfast at Lori's Diner so we walked over to Ghirardelli square to eat and enjoy the view.

I was a little sad to check out of that hotel. It was so nice. Their lobby had a bunch of large squashy chairs, couches and throne-like velvety chairs. Some of them were around a fireplace which always had a fire crackling. Others were around small tables where there were board games laid out. The lobby led right into the adjoining restaurant - the Blue Mermaid. The bed truly was the most comfortable bed ever. It sat a bit taller than normal so it felt like a giant's bed. There was a small seating area off to the side with a couch and footstool. Our room faced the street at the back of the hotel and so each night we could hear the Irish Pub music but it was never loud enough to keep a person awake and never played very late. If you have money to burn when going to San Francisco - stay at that hotel. :)

After breakfast we took a taxi downtown to Union square where we were able to check into our new hotel - Hotel Palomar. Our room was on the 9th floor overlooking the Apple Store. On the reviews of this hotel, some people complained that the lit Apple from the Apple store shone too brightly into their room. I suppose it would .... if you didn't close your curtains at night. The curtains are thick though so if you pull them the room is pitch black. The room seemed a little older than the Argonaut room and somewhat off center. Some of the drawers would not stay closed. The bathtub though was HUGE. Imagine one of those old style washtubs but make the sides look like normal tub material. Then make it DEEP, deep enough that if you sit on the bench inside - the water is up to your neck and you can stretch your legs all the way out. For a finale - add jets.

At 1:00pm we were picked up for our Muir Woods/Sausalito tour through http://www.bestbayareatours.com/

It was a cozy tour - picked up in a large van to join the 6 others waiting inside. On a speaker system our driver told us some things about the city and about Muir woods/Sausalito. Over the Golden Gate and down the road to Muir Woods. We drove around a creepy twisty/turny road that had a section blocked off because it was crumbling down into the abyss below. Our driver told us that someone had mistakenly driven off the edge on another section. Lovely. Once we survived that trip, DH and I chose to walk one of the longer trails through Muir Woods. It was a great walk - very beautiful.

Once we were all back from the walk we got back in the van and re-drove along the road of death. I would have taken a photo but I was too busy staring the other way and pretending I wasn't there. We then drove into the town of Sausalito. We then had to make the choice if we were going to return with the guide or make our own way back to San Francisco via the Ferry. We chose to take the ferry.

We then walked the streets and shopped the shops in Sausalito. It seems like a little beach town with lots of quirky things to shop for. I bought the best coffee mug - it looks like a camera lens! We stopped to share an appetizer at the local burger shop. See if you can figure out what it was:

There are nachos...but instead of chips - they are waffle shaped french fries. They were tasty but I couldn't get past all the cheese on them so didn't eat very many.

Back to the ferry and the beautiful view at the docks: