Mr and Mrs T. Our West Coast adventure May 2016 - Wednesday, May 25 Napa Valley or not!

[TractorBoy]

Not a great nights sleep for me after the camera issue yesterday. Had an early start today as we were going on a Napa Valley wine tasting trip – or so w thought!

After Elaine had gone to the Club Lounge for breakfast – I had lost my appetite – we made our way down to the Grayline offices at the corner of Taylor and North.

Handed in the voucher we had printed out before leaving the UK. Guy behind the desk spend a fair while tapping away on his keyboard before telling us that in fact we were booked for the following day.
Problem with that was we had booked the Hop on Hop off tour for that day as well!

He did offer to put us on standby but we asked if we could swap the Hop on Hop off to today. No problem so as we had a bit of time to kill we walked back to the hotel and sat in the lobby ready the paper.

Returned at the allotted time and waited for the bus. It was a rather chilly day so when the bus arrived we opted to sit downstairs. Boarded the bus, found seats and off we went.

We had decided to do the complete loop which takes just over 2 hours, stop for lunch and then get on again and take it from there.

We had initially thought that our ticket only entitled us to a stop at the Golden Gate Bridge but to our surprise the bus went over it which we were really pleased about as we had never crossed it before.







Found doing the loop really interesting, helped by the very knowledgeable guide, a young guy who knew his stuff. We got off at Pier 39 where we would return later to get on again.

Went into Boudins for lunch. Both had sandwich and chowder and it was delicious although it was cold sitting outside eating it.

Back to Pier 39 for the bus pick up and when a bus turned up it was a smaller one with only a top deck! And it was cold!







Set off and our driver was a nutter. His name was Willie, he knew his stuff, but wow he was on another planet. We nicknamed him Willie the wild man. He was funny though.

Again we went over the Golden Gate Bridge where this time Willie stopped at a pull in to allow us hardy fools to take pictures across the bay.





Back onto the bridge and Willie was doing 45 mph across it and it was so windy. We decided to get off at the stop opposite the Chinatown arch. Thanked Willie and gave him a good tip. It had been fun!



Leisurely stroll through Chinatown before reaching the front not far from the Bay Bridge. We walked the rest of the way back to the hotel. The sun was out but it was chilly.

Rested up after what we had sat through the last few hours. It is a great way to see the city but the buses are not that comfortable, some of the roads are not exactly smooth, which means your back takes a bit of a hammering. But we would really recommend it.

We decided to seek our Lori’s diner for tea. Walked down to Ghirardelli’s Square and were seated straight away. Helped by the fact we were the only ones in there!

The food was very good with lovely views over the bay. Elaine had hot tea but I had a strawberry milkshake. A proper milkshake as well! It was to die for. Seriously good.

Slow stroll back to walk off the milkshake before getting things ready for the Napa Valley trip tomorrow.

[mick]

A good day we enjoyed our time in San Francisco and did many of the things you did

Joan

[orlandosgr8]

I am a real fan of the bus tours especially if you are only visiting somewhere for a short time, sounds like your tour was great