California in 17 packed days!
Follow a family of four from Sydney to California. From research to reality, from the web to the world ... (formerly called "A Family's Journey to Disneyland". Our adventure became bigger than just theme parks!)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Friday, October 23, 2009
The Final Trip Favorites!
Seeing 'home' with fresh eyes!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Day 17 - the trip back home ... NOT!
Day 16 - San Francisco in One Day
Day 15 - Exploring Pier 39
Itinerary: Pier 39 & Fisherman's Wharf - a walking tour
'San Francisco is to Pier 39, as Sydney is to Darling Harbour.'
Start your day by walking to America's 2nd most crooked street along Lombard Street (Wall Street being the crookedest!). This way, the legs are still fresh and there is energy to battle the uphill walk. Note that to capture the zigzag in your photos, you actually need to have a number of cars traversing the eight sharp turns or 'switchbacks'. This is sure to be not an issue, as this part of Lombard Street is a tourist magnet.
Proceed to Pier 39 and spend the day browsing the nooks and crannies of shops and restaurants.
Things we did (not in order):
- browse books/CDs at the Barnes and Noble Warehouse at Taylor Street
- visit Boudin Bakery
- enjoy Dungeness Crab at Tarantino's
- have more Clam Chowder soup … We do not know when we can have clam chowder again!
- Lunch at Bubba Gump restaurant. We enjoyed reading the Forrest Gump news.
- shop at Hard Rock Cafe
- ice cream break at "Cold Stone Creamery" found at Anchorage Square
- take a 1-hour Bay Cruise (probably do this on a different day)
- we had no time for the Wax Museum and Ripley's Believe it or Not! Museum
- we didn't need to visit Aquarium of the Bay after Monterey
- there are ships and submarines to discover
Finally, view the ever-popular, boisterous and fat sea lions on Pier 39. Find younger ones
playfully nosing one another. Amuse yourself watching some of the sea lions perched half on and half off their floating platforms. Watch them from a vantage second floor view for a good 20 minutes. It is astounding to see so many of them!
Photos - the Dungeness Crab, Bubba Gump dish (with the Gump news used as plate), sea lions galore!