Travel Alphabet History (B) Bus
In 2006, I went to Monterey with my boyfriend at the time to visit his parents. From there we took a one day tour bus to San Francisco. It honestly meant we were only in the city for a few hours. We ended up taking the same tour again in 2007. It was honestly kind of a tease. The bus stopped in three places so that we could get out and take pictures. It dropped us off at Fisherman’s Wharf where we had lunch. I had a sourdough bread tuna salad sandwich at the Boudin bakery. I remember it being amazingly good. The best tuna salad sandwich I ever had. The inside of the bakery was really neat. Baskets carrying bread were on a track hanging from the ceiling and made their way around the entire bakery. The bread came from one end of the bakery where it was baked and went all the way to the sandwich makers. We hung around the wharf a little longer and then it was back on the bus. It took us over the Golden Gate Bridge to a rest area where we got out and took pictures. Then it was back on the bus.
The bus drove all around the city. Our tour guide gave us info about all the different buildings and landmarks we were seeing. Sights we were seeing through the bus window. There was one more stop on the bus tour. It was at an overlook above the city. I’m not sure if it was the Twin Peaks or not but we could look down on the whole city. At the time I loved the experience and having gotten to see San Francisco, even it was such a short period of time.
This past year, 2011, Joe and I finally went to San Francisco and stayed for a three day weekend. I was so excited to finally be in the city walking around, I didn’t plan anything. I let Joe decide what we were going to do and see and where we were going to go. All I wanted to do was walk around everywhere. And a ton of walking we did. Our hotel was near the wharf, so we walked down there for lunch. I had another sourdough bread tuna salad sandwich from Boudin. It was as good as I remembered. It was really cold, but we fortunately got to sit by an outside fireplace at the Boudin eating area. We had time to hang out at the wharf throughout our visit. We took the tour to Alcatraz and got a sundae at the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory.
The next day was even more walking. Joe picked our exploratory path. We walked from our hotel to the Palace of Fine Arts. We ended up walking along the beach with a neat view of the Golden Gate Bridge visible through the fog. We walked all the way down the beach to Fort Point underneath the bridge. Then we decided to walk across the entire Golden Gate Bridge. And we did. By the time we got to the other side, I was so exhausted, I insisted we board a tour bus to take us back. There was no way I could walk back across the entire bridge. So we got on a hop on hop off tour bus. I was just really grateful for the seat.
We rode the tour bus to Chinatown where Joe wanted to have lunch. I suggested Dim Sum. He wasn’t sure what it was, but in basic terms I told him it was the Asian version of Tapas. We ordered a ton of food and had an amazing meal. We tried to do some more walking after that downtown, but I was again very tired. We ended up taking a bus all the way back to our hotel. The bus system is pretty amazing there. They run on electric cables and have zero emissions. I kept asking Joe, why doesn’t every city have this?
Our 24 hour hop on hop off bus ticket didn’t expire yet. It was funny because we ran to catch the bus at Fisherman’s Wharf hoping our tickets wouldn’t expire until after we boarded. Our plan was to just ride it to Golden Gate Park and get the rest of our tour in. The wharf was actually the last stop for the bus so it literally went in a circle, parked and we were told to get off. I was kind of bummed because I had a great seat and I was worried they wouldn’t let us board with our tickets on the brink of expiration. We were actually able to get back on the next departing bus and did take it all the way to the Golden Gate Park.
We had a really great time in San Francisco. I was even glad we made such use of the tour bus. It seemed odd considering how last time I was there I had honestly felt a tour bus didn’t do the city justice and I was missing out.
The bus drove all around the city. Our tour guide gave us info about all the different buildings and landmarks we were seeing. Sights we were seeing through the bus window. There was one more stop on the bus tour. It was at an overlook above the city. I’m not sure if it was the Twin Peaks or not but we could look down on the whole city. At the time I loved the experience and having gotten to see San Francisco, even it was such a short period of time.
This past year, 2011, Joe and I finally went to San Francisco and stayed for a three day weekend. I was so excited to finally be in the city walking around, I didn’t plan anything. I let Joe decide what we were going to do and see and where we were going to go. All I wanted to do was walk around everywhere. And a ton of walking we did. Our hotel was near the wharf, so we walked down there for lunch. I had another sourdough bread tuna salad sandwich from Boudin. It was as good as I remembered. It was really cold, but we fortunately got to sit by an outside fireplace at the Boudin eating area. We had time to hang out at the wharf throughout our visit. We took the tour to Alcatraz and got a sundae at the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory.
The next day was even more walking. Joe picked our exploratory path. We walked from our hotel to the Palace of Fine Arts. We ended up walking along the beach with a neat view of the Golden Gate Bridge visible through the fog. We walked all the way down the beach to Fort Point underneath the bridge. Then we decided to walk across the entire Golden Gate Bridge. And we did. By the time we got to the other side, I was so exhausted, I insisted we board a tour bus to take us back. There was no way I could walk back across the entire bridge. So we got on a hop on hop off tour bus. I was just really grateful for the seat.
We rode the tour bus to Chinatown where Joe wanted to have lunch. I suggested Dim Sum. He wasn’t sure what it was, but in basic terms I told him it was the Asian version of Tapas. We ordered a ton of food and had an amazing meal. We tried to do some more walking after that downtown, but I was again very tired. We ended up taking a bus all the way back to our hotel. The bus system is pretty amazing there. They run on electric cables and have zero emissions. I kept asking Joe, why doesn’t every city have this?
Our 24 hour hop on hop off bus ticket didn’t expire yet. It was funny because we ran to catch the bus at Fisherman’s Wharf hoping our tickets wouldn’t expire until after we boarded. Our plan was to just ride it to Golden Gate Park and get the rest of our tour in. The wharf was actually the last stop for the bus so it literally went in a circle, parked and we were told to get off. I was kind of bummed because I had a great seat and I was worried they wouldn’t let us board with our tickets on the brink of expiration. We were actually able to get back on the next departing bus and did take it all the way to the Golden Gate Park.
We had a really great time in San Francisco. I was even glad we made such use of the tour bus. It seemed odd considering how last time I was there I had honestly felt a tour bus didn’t do the city justice and I was missing out.