San Francisco Neighborhoods and Trivia

What are these ladies making?

Today we spent our day in three famous San Francisco neighborhoods.   Can you guess where the first three pictures were taken?

Where's Waldo (I mean Deb)? 

What caption would you give this picture?

This picture was taken from a very famous hill in San Francisco.   Do you know what it is?   In case you are wondering what the picture shows...It's the home stretch of the America's Cup final race.    Yahoo Oracle.   An amazing and record-breaking comeback.   Some are saying the greatest comeback in sports history!

Well, this one is pretty easy...Especially for those of you with gray hair and a bit of "hippie" blood in you.

Just in case you are wondering where we were today:   Chinatown, Telegraph Hill, and Haight-Ashbury.   It was a great day.  We just finished our dinner of lasagna, salad and a whole bottle of Korbel champagne.   Life is good.   One more full day in this amazing city.   It has been so fun.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Bob and Deb

More Sights on Tuesday

We never would have imagined that the America's Cup sailing race would still be going on when we reached San Francisco.   New Zealand had such a big lead, that everyone thought it would be over last week.  Well, the Oracle has won 7 races in a row!   It was a thrill to see it yesterday, and amazingly, we got to see two races again today as we toured Alcatraz.   In the picture at the right, you can see just how close they came to the short of the island.   It would have been cool just to see the race, but it was way cool to see the Oracle win again...both races!    The whole shebang is now tied at 8.   The final is supposed to be tomorrow.   Hmmmm, wonder where we will be.

After we finished our Alcatraz tour we headed to Pier 39, one of the most famous on Fisherman's Wharf.   People, shops, sea lions, and some pretty darn good shrimp and crab chowder!

We returned to our apartment and had a quick supper.   Then hopped on the local bus to head to the area called Land's End.  As you can see above, we made it just as the sun set.   The waves were crashing on the rocks below us.   The beauty and the power of the ocean are always amazing.

We are now settled back in for the evening and it is time for our tea.   It was another great day on the Bay.

Hugs,

Bob and Debbie

Alcatraz

After breakfast this morning we headed back into the city for our scheduled tour of The Rock.   The picture at the right was taken as we waited to board our ferry out to the island.    As you can see, it was another beautiful day.  The biggest difference is that the wind picked up considerably.   You can see the whitecaps beginning to form on the water behind Bob.    The picture at the top left is taken as we started our tour.   Alcatraz began as a military encampment during Civil War days, and stayed a military prison for many years.   But when it became a federal prison in the 1930's,  Alcatraz must have been quite a place.   We were given headsets with audio commentary as we walked through the corridors of the main cell block.   It was so creepy.   It has been left very much as it was the day in 1963 when the prison was closed and all the prisoners left.   In 1969 a group of American Indians took over the island in protest of their treatment by the United States government.   Some of them stayed on the island for more than a year.   Once they were removed, the island was taken over by the national park system.

The tour and our walk around the island was most interesting.  We learned about some of the famous "guests" at Alcatraz, like Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and the Birdman of Alcatraz.   We also were told stories of the handful of escape attempts, most of which failed.  It was where the worst of the worst were sent.   One quote on the wall summed it up.   It went something like this, "When you don't follow the rules, you go to prison.   When you don't follow the prison rules, you go to Alcatraz."

It was a most interesting visit.  

Great Day in the City by the Bay

 Monday dawned beautifully clear.   We had a leisurely breakfast and then hopped on the bus heading to the Golden Gate Bridge.   We had decided that we wanted to walk the bridge today since it was predicted to be very windy on Tuesday.  Another reason is that Bob knew that New Zealand and the United States were going to be racing today right in the Bay in the America's Cup race.   It took us about 40 minutes to cross the bridge along with many, many other walkers and bikers.   Quite an experience!      We reached the other side and settled in for our lunch at Vista Point.   We had planned to just have a short stop here and then head back across the bridge, planning to stop and watch the race from the bridge itself.   As it turned out, our views of the race course and the two boats preparing for the race, was fantastic.   So we just stayed put.   In the picture below you can see the two boats at the start of the race with the city skyline in the background.   It was really quite a sight.    The Oracle, the USA boat won handily and has now closed the gap between itself and the New Zealand boat.   There is another race tomorrow.   Go USA

We then made our way to Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower.   The picture above is taken from the top of the tower.   It is 210 feet tall and the highest point in the city.    Then it was off to Fisherman's Wharf for some yummy crab sandwiches on sourdough bread at the famous Boudin's Sourdough Bakery.  

When we finished supper, we headed for our first cable car ride.   You can see that Bob even braved riding just holding onto the grab bars along the side. It was amazing going down those steep streets!

We got off the cable car and hopped back on our bus to head home.   We are now sitting in our apartment 12 hours after we left with very sunburned and windblown faces and arms, but with some wonderful memories of our day.   Bob is treating his sunburn pain with a cup of tea laced with some Korbel brandy we bought Saturday at the distillery.   Deb is treating hers with a cup of green tea with a wine chaser!    Tomorrow we will remember to bring our sunscreen.  

Toodles to everyone.   Wish you were all here:)

Bob and Debbie    

Day 1 in San Francisco

 We made it!    We left our hotel this morning near Berkeley at about 11:00.   We would have been on our way a little earlier, but we discovered the Packers were on tv so watched for a bit.

We returned our rental car a few miles away near the Amtrak station where we arrived on Wednesday.   We then hopped on the free Emeryville Go Round shuttle which took us to the BART station  (Bay Area Rail Transit).   That took us quickly into the city where we got off at a station near the bus line which took us out to our apartment. We dropped off our things, had a few light snacks, and then headed to Golden Gate Park just a couple blocks away.   The two pictures of Bob were taken in the park.   It is quite amazing.   It is HUGE.   It is so hard to believe there is such an immense green space right in the middle of the bustling city.   We just got a short taste of it today until our walking legs gave out on us.

We  headed back to our apartment and stopped at a small market on the way to buy a few things for supper.   Only problem was that it was in the Greek neighborhood, so we had no idea what most of the things were.   We settled for some ramen noodles and bread.   Stopped at the nearby Chinese take out place for egg rolls.   We topped it off with some wine and aged goat cheese we had purchased in Napa.  Not too shabby.

We are now starting to droop.   Since it isn't even 9:00 yet, we are trying to keep our eyes open, but not having much luck.   May just cash it in soon.

Our plan for tomorrow isn't firm yet.   Lots of possibilities, including venturing over to the Bay to take in the America's Cup sailing race.   We thought it would be done already by this time, but apparently the US is making a contest of it.   We also plan to head back to Golden Gate Park to take in the de Young art museum and Japanese tea garden.   We have also talked about walking across the Golden Gate Bridge and then taking the ferry back.   Isn't traveling wonderful??

Good night to all.   We can't wait to let you know of our adventures.

Bob and Deb

The Napa Valley

  

We woke up this morning to rain showers.   We decided after breakfast to just sit tight at our hotel in Santa Rosa till the weather cleared.   Worked out perfectly as they had a guest laundry, so we were able to wash some clothes.    The weather has thrown us a curve-a good curve.   We haven't even used a single long sleeved, cooler weather item!   We certainly could have saved some room in our suitcases!    

We left Santa Rosa about 11 and made our way over the hills from the Sonoma Valley into the Napa Valley.   Our first stop was in the charming town of Calistoga at the Twomey Cellars Winery.   It was a rather unassuming place, but the wines were so amazing! The sun had broken through, they had amazing cheese and bread to pair with the wine and needless to say we were feeling awfully happy when we left.   Headed to a little park in Calistoga for a picnic lunch and then crossed over to the Silverado Trail.   We stopped at several more wineries as we worked our way south.  As you can see in the picture below, many vineyards in the Napa Valley were still heavy with grapes.   So beautiful with the green vines, purple grapes, blue sky, and trees turning color.   Heavenly.

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We worked our way back over to the main highway going south toward Napa.  We passed by so many famous wineries.   Mondavi, Cakebread, and Menage A Trois to name a few of our favorites.   We decided to make two final stops.   First one is pictured at the left.   The Beringer Winery is one of the oldest in the valley and this is their original home. The property was beautiful.

Our last stop took us off the beaten path up into the hills to the Hess winery.   It too was quite amazing and the views down into the valley were wonderful.

We are now settled in our very unassuming Super 8 hotel in Berkeley.   It is not fancy, but serves our purpose as it is close to where we will turn in our rental car tomorrow morning and make our way into San Francisco.   We are looking forward very much to seeing the city.   Our suitcases are a bit heavier with our wine purchases, so we will be enjoying some of that each evening during our stay in Frisco.

Toodles to everyone.   Heard the UW won their football game today.   Go Badgers!   We already have our Packer shirts out to wear tomorrow to hopefully give the Packers our good luck.  

We are California Dreamin'

Bob and Deb

Wine Tasting Day 1

 Well, we figured out our blog issue.   Apparently I hit "zoom 150%" without realizing it.   Seemed fine when it was online, but it was sure strange on the computer screen.  Anyway, all is good now.

At the right is the courtyard area of our lodging in Guerneville.   So charming and well-maintained.   We wished we could stay two nights.

But that was not to be.   By 10:30 we were swigging Korbel California champagne!    We figured it was 12:30 back home so we were ok.   This is such a historic place.   They Korbel brothers started their undertaking in 1886.   In fact, the building at the right was one of the first they built.   They had to clear acres of redwoods to create their vineyards and they had to leave those huge stumps until their was technology to clear them in the 1950's.    They just planted the vines around them.     They are most famous for their champagnes, but also make several wines (not that good by our standards) and of course, brandy.   Every step in the process takes place on their property here in the Sonoma Valley.

After a couple other winery stops, we headed for our lodging tonight in Santa Rosa, California.   Checked in, relaxed a bit, and then headed for the downtown.    At right, you can see me by a statue of Charlie Brown.   He is everywhere in Santa Rosa because this is the home of Charles Schultz and there is even a Charles Schultz museum here.   We strolled the streets of the old town and ended up having supper at a neat brew pub.   Who knew beer was big in wine country?!?.   Just fine with us.   We sampled six different beers and had some great fish and chips and sliders.

Back in our hotel room now.   Relaxing, reading, and planning our day tomorrow.   We are heading a bit west to the Napa Valley.   We will work our way south through that area and end up staying in Berkeley tomorrow night.   We will turn in our rental car on Sunday morning and head into San Francisco for part two of our California adventure.

Hope all is well with everyone.   We have been thinking about Scott and Sam and wondering if they are sleeping in their new house tonight.   Also thinking about our other two kids as their two families are together in Green Bay for a visit.   Hope brother John is recovering from his broken ankle and brother Ralph is doing well in his stroke recovery.   Great big shout out to everyone else as well.

Hugs,

Deb