So, we went down to San Francisco and had a great day touring. I was so excited to get out and go on an adventure… but neither Michael nor I had any idea how much an adventure it would be!
Alkatraz Entrance
In the morning we toured Alkatraz Island. It has gone from a “Thug Jail,” to an Indian gathering place, to a now tourist attraction. It is a little island just off the coast of San Francisco and it is only accessible by ferry. It was really interesting. We walked around with headphones and listened to all of the history of this unique place.
One of the "thug" cells. Alkatraz is an interesting place.
We then ventured around the big city and tried to find a parking lot for a reasonable rate. We spent a good amount of time driving around looking for a place that wasn’t too far or too expensive. We finally ended up finding a small garage and parked there. We then enjoyed the rest of the afternoon running around. We ate at a local Indian Restaurant, window shopped at the Piers, watched protesters in the square all the while pushing Lance around in the stroller.
It started getting dark so we found an authentic, local Chinese restaurant in China Town and ate there. It was raining and totally dark by the time we finished eating so we decided to head back to the car. It took quite a while to get there on foot and once we reached the parking garage it was closed. We were not told that it would close and that our keys would be locked inside if we didn’t come back by a particular time. So we were stranded. I was actually quite excited that we were stuck in San Francisco for the evening and knew that it meant more time with Michael (which is sometimes few and far between) and more excitement!
Lance loves being with his Daddy
Off we were to find an inexpensive place to sleep for the night. We bought a local map from a tiny “hole in the wall” convenience store, tried to get some directions with no luck, and started walking. No toothbrushes, change of clothes, diapers for Lance… but we were off! Michael knew the general area where all of the hotels were in the city so we started walking, following the map through what looked like the fastest way there. Hours passed and we were going through neighborhoods up and down the hills of San Francisco. That city is honestly either straight up, or straight down; the hills are very steep. Michael pushed Lance most of the way in the stroller until we finally found the street we were looking for.
An example of the big hills in San Fransisco
There were tons of hotels and motels ranging from 5 Diamond Hotels to places that looked pretty scary. Of course Michael, being the deal finder that he is, was determined to find us a decent and inexpensive hotel. So he and I went from place to place asking what the nightly rental was until we found the cheapest one. We went to bed that night with our clothes still damp from the rain and grateful to not be walking up any more hills.
The next morning we got up, took a look around, and walked back to the car. This time we went a different way and took the main roads instead of the back roads through the neighborhoods. Surprisingly what looked like the longer route on the map took LESS THAN HALF the time to get back to the same place we were the night before! All of the hills made our journey a whole lot longer and we had to laugh that we spent so much time finding this little motel. We definitely took the scenic route. What an adventure!
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