California & Las Vegas Road Trip Aug/Sep 15! Day 3 - Lombard St, Pier 39 & Alcatraz Night Tour

[Lolly90]

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Sunday 30th August 2015

We were awake at 7:00 today and decided to have the cheesecake from the previous night for breakfast as we had a bigger lunch planned today. We left around 8:00 and headed to Walgreens, for a Starbucks S’mores frappucino and some water.

From here we got the no. 19 bus up to Lombard Street. This dropped us off fairly close to the crooked part of the street; we just had a steep hill or two to walk up before we arrived at the top.

It was still quite early but the area was still busy, lots of cars queuing to drive down. We took some pictures from the top and bottom of the street before moving on.

Next, we decided to walk over to Ghirardelli square, which took about 10 minutes. The weather was much nicer today, sunny and warm. We had a look round the chocolate shops; we liked the look of so many of the ice creams but didn’t want to spoil our lunch. I had intended to buy some chocolates to take home, but we found them to be much cheaper in Walgreens.

We walked down to Hyde Street Pier for a little look at the boats before heading to Boudin Bakery.

I had been looking forward to trying a sourdough bowl for a while. I went for clam chowder and Mark got a chicken pesto sandwich, with a pink lemonade to share. We sat in the cafe part, rather than getting seated upstairs. We both really enjoyed this, it was really filling and good value at $17.07. I’d definitely recommend it.

We slowly continued walking along Fisherman’s Wharf, stopping for photos of Alcatraz along the way. Next stop was Pier 39, in search of the Sea Lions.

We stopped here for a while watching them push each other into the water, which was quite amusing.

The next hour was spent just wandering the pier. There are lots of lovely food places here and we also spotted Bubba Gump where we would be heading that night.

We picked up a Ghirardelli chocolate mocha each from Biscoff coffee corner, which came with a free Biscoff biscuit. This was a little disappointing, I think I was expecting it to taste of Biscoff biscuits but it didn’t

We headed along the Embaracedero and spotted Alcatraz landing for later before crossing over, heading for Coit Tower. There are literally so many stairs to climb before you reach the tower, we did struggle a little I was certainly grateful to get to the top.

Eventually we got there and paid up $8 each to go to the top of the tower. Thankfully there is an elevator, so no more stairs. It’s quite small when you get to the top and very windy. The views are really great but we didn’t stay here for long. It was quite busy with everyone trying to get a look through the narrow windows.

We headed back down and got a bus back to our hotel around 14:30. We wanted to make sure we had enough time to eat before heading for Alcatraz, so we got ready and left an hour later. We took the F bus over to Pier 39, getting to Bubba Gump at about 16:00. There was a half hour wait for a table but we didn’t want to risk being late for Alcatraz, so they offered us a seat at the end of the bar where we could eat. We each got a Forrest’s Seafood Sampler, which we tried and loved at the London Bubba Gump and a diet coke. This was just as nice as we remembered, the prawns are my favourite. The bar staff were also really lovely here.

We decided to pick up an ice cream, from Dreyer's along the pier, on the way to Alcatraz. Mark had mint choc chip in a waffle cone and I had birthday cake in a tub. This was really good, sickly but very tasty. Glad we only got 1 scoop or we wouldn’t have been able to finish them.

We arrived at Alcatraz Landing (pier 33) and started queuing for the boat at 17:25, leaving at 17:55.

We ended up being the last group off the boat and headed up for the audio tour. This was amazing, definitely my favourite thing we done in San Francisco. We watched Escape from Alcatraz just before left, so it was good to see things we recognised from that. I was glad you got to take your time going round too.

The hospital was open while we there, which was probably the most creepy part for me.

After the audio tour we headed outside for a talk about famous inmate, Machine Gun Kelly. This was actually really interesting and you head down towards the dock while the talk is being given. It was good to do something on the outside or we wouldn’t have really seen much of it.

We had some time left before the last boat so went back inside for the opening and closing of the cell doors. Mark loved this part. They did it so you heard exactly what the inmates would have heard first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It was pretty loud.

Now it was time to leave. Our time here went so quick, so I’d recommend waiting for the last boat and making the most of it. I think we were lucky too, as it wasn’t as cold as usual the night we were there. We left at 21:25 and took the bus back to our hotel, to bed.

After today, we both decided we much preferred the Fisherman’s Wharf area to Union Square. We spent more time here too, so it would’ve made more sense to stay here. If we ever make it back, this is definitely where I’d stay.

Next: Day 4 - Twin Peaks & Arriving in Yosemite

[abiknox]

Great day again, i loved Boudin bakery and the Alkatraz tour is amazing isn't it. Have to agree about Fishermans Warf being nicer than Union Square, if we ever make it back, we will be staying there instead.

[Lolly90]

Originally Posted by abiknox

Great day again, i loved Boudin bakery and the Alkatraz tour is amazing isn't it. Have to agree about Fishermans Warf being nicer than Union Square, if we ever make it back, we will be staying there instead.

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Yes, if we go back, doing Alcatraz again would still be top of my list! It's more expensive to stay in Fisherman's Wharf, but worth it IMO.

[lovedisney89]

Another great day! Alcatraz is so interesting. We preferred Fisherman's Wharf too, luckily we chose to stay there.

[Enchanted]

Fab day! Boudins and Alcatraz are both on our list
FW area was out of our budget so we've chose to stay on Lombard Street - should only be a 15-20min walk though so looking forward to doing the Pier and seeing the sealions.

[k4ti3-x]

We never made it to Boudin's in San Fran instead went to the one in Disneyland instead not quite the same. Another great day Alcatraz was one of my favourites too

[Pussycat Doll]

Great day, we walked down the steps from Coit Tower, much easier going down! Pussycat

[Lolly90]

Originally Posted by lovedisney89

Another great day! Alcatraz is so interesting. We preferred Fisherman's Wharf too, luckily we chose to stay there.

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You made the right decision with Fisherman's Wharf

Originally Posted by Enchanted

Fab day! Boudins and Alcatraz are both on our list
FW area was out of our budget so we've chose to stay on Lombard Street - should only be a 15-20min walk though so looking forward to doing the Pier and seeing the sealions.

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That's what put us off FW, was the price. Lombard St seems like a good choice, 15-20 min walk isn't too bad

Originally Posted by k4ti3-x

We never made it to Boudin's in San Fran instead went to the one in Disneyland instead not quite the same. Another great day Alcatraz was one of my favourites too

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Haha I'm sure the one in Disneyland is better than nothing at all!

Originally Posted by Pussycat Doll

Great day, we walked down the steps from Coit Tower, much easier going down! Pussycat

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I can imagine going down being much easier but I was more than happy with no more steps

[mrmoo123]

Great day. Have always wanted to visit Alcatraz. Thanks for sharing

[summersun]

great day x