Livin’ it up at the Hotel California (October '18) Day 4 - Allergies, Whale Watching and Burritos!

[oh_darling]

Livin’ it up at the Hotel California (October '18)

‘You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!'

Day 4 - Allergies, Whale Watching, Burritos and Breweries!

We were up early again today as we had a busy day planned for our last day in SF! I started getting ready and mentioned to Benj that my face felt really hot and the tops of my ears were burning. The day before I’d felt that too when I woke up, and it reminded me of when we stayed at the Clarion in 2015 and we thought I had an allergic reaction to some old sun cream we were using. I can’t remember if I mentioned it in the previous days trippie but I had had really really itchy arms and legs and couldn’t stop scratching them all day, at the Walt Disney Family Museum it was driving me nuts because I had skinny jeans on and couldn’t scratch them enough! My arms had red bumps all over too; we weren’t sure what it was but I wasn’t too worried for some reason, I think I was just having such an amazing time that I wasn’t really addressing it!

Fast forward to this day, I then went into the bathroom to put my lenses in, and realised that my face was all swollen including my eye! All down one side of my face it was all swollen and blotchy, plus my ear was really red, and my eye in particular was all fat and swollen! I was so gutted and upset and didn’t know what had caused it I mean my arms and legs was one thing, but it was my face! We discussed what it could be and the only thing we could think of was that I must be allergic to something in the bedding, like the detergent they use or something? As it was obviously quite a cheap hotel as was Clarion, so maybe they used the same stuff? I got really upset because I couldn't stop scratching and I was Googling bed bugs etc but there was literally no mention of bed bugs on Tripadvisor for the hotel and obviously Ben was fine! So it must have been the sheets, it was just weird because I don’t have sensitive skin or anything and just slap whatever on my face normally! Never had anything like that happen before! Apart from at the Clarion obviously haha! It made sense though because it was one side of my face which was probably the side I slept on, plus it wasn’t on my body and I had short PJs on, it was my arms and legs which were obviously exposed. We came up with a plan of action to go to CVS and buy some cream and pills that Benj had Googled bless him, and we got ready quickly so we’d have time to do it all before our whale watching tour at 10.

We Ubered to CVS at Fisherman’s Wharf and bought the pills and cream, then I nipped to the restrooms on Pier 39 to apply the cream. I got a bit upset again while I was in the cubicle because it was horrible trying to rub cream on my arms and legs in a public restroom And I felt so self-conscious about my face because to me it was sooooo noticeable but obviously no one else would know haha! I had put hardly any eye-makeup on and ZERO face makeup which made me feel even more self conscious, but it was so hot and swollen, it was quite painful! I popped a pill and came back out to meet Ben and he gave me a big hug, awwwww.

We paused to see the sealions to cheer me up

With all my medicinal needs taken care off, we walked over to check in at the Whale Watching stand and were directed round the back of the pier where we joined a queue of people. I booked our tickets for the Golden Gate with San Francisco Whale Watching Tours before we left, and paid about $46 each for the 3 hour tour. We were sooooooo excited, seeing whales in the wild has been a dream of mine and I was so excited to find this company after we realised we couldn't go to Monterey on this trip.

The queue was crazy and it was stressing me out, it was just really unorganised and 10am came and went. Eventually a woman showed up with a clipboard and started checking names, and then we were directed through a gate, across a long wooden walkway and onto the boat, yay! There was a crazy rush for seats but we managed to get 2 really good ones which were facing out to the sea. Ben popped our bags into a little container and then we sat down on our bench.

Bench selfie

There was a crew of about 4 plus the driver, and the woman talked us through what we’d be seeing today. It all sounded great but I was a bit disappointed they don’t use sonar or any technology or anything to locate the whales, it’s all just done on visuals! Which meant we had an hour of her shouting out ‘IF YOU SEE A SPOUT, SHOUT IT OUT!’ as we cruised out to sea hahah! It was exciting though and the air was filled with anticipation as we all looked to try and see a whale.

Cute boat decor

After about an hour or so someone shouted out that they’d seen one! So we all walked to one side of the boat and there it was, an actual whale, in the wild, in front of us. The moment lasted seconds and there was only one, but we saw his dorsal fin and I burst into tears because it was honestly a dream come true! Even with all the people on the boat, me and Benj just held hands and it was a special moment.

We then turned around and headed back to SF. The way back was quite rocky and we got really wet, plus someone was sick hahaha which took the shine off a bit! We luckily didn’t feel sick, but i must admit to feeling a bit queasy towards the very end because it was soooo rocky and the knowledge that someone had been sick near me was stressing me out! The mood was much more subdued now and we just sat looking out to sea, I actually fell asleep a little bit which I think was pretty impressive haha!

We got back to Pier 39 at about 12.40 and I took a photo of our boat to remember it

I headed straight to the loo, and then we regrouped to discuss our plans. As we were a bit later than we’d thought and we had a few different bits we wanted to do this afternoon, we decided to switch our plans up a bit. We’d planned to Uber to the Mission district to explore a bit and get a burrito at El Farolito - often top of the ‘best Mission-style burrito in SF’ and somewhere we’d selected after a LOT of research haha! However, time was getting on and Benj, genius that he is, realised there was another branch of El Farolito literally 5 minutes round the corner! We decided that it made sense to go there and hopefully still experience the iconic SF burrito, just in a slightly different location, and save the Mission for another SF trip!

So with this new plan in mind we Google mapped it over to El Farolito, yay!

Once in we queued up and ordered our lunch. I got a steak Super Burrito and Benj got a Veggie one, and in an unusual move we both got beer! I never drink beer so was going to order a diet coke but then I decided to get a Corona! When in Rome haha! Lunch came to $30 and we got chips too, with access to a salsa bar (which were all way too spicy for me haha). We grabbed a cute booth by the window and waited for our food. When it came it did NOT disappoint...flippin eck, these were serious burritos.

Mine was absolutely delicious; super hot and you could tell all the ingredients were really high quality. I was so impressed but could only eat about ½ Benj loved his too and managed to finish it, what a man.

Cute taqueria decor

It was such a run-down looking place but it was super clean and everyone was really friendly, and it just felt really authentic and local. There were no other tourists there, just us! We really enjoyed our lunch and I’d 100% recommend either this location or if you have time, the OG in the Mission.

After lunch we got an Uber to the Haight for some hippie explorin! We’d been excited to do this since driving through on our bus on Day 1 so it was great that we managed to make time to visit properly. Benj wanted to go to Amoeba Records so we headed on in and had a little browse.

Ben bought a t-shirt but we didn’t see anything else that took our fancy. We then dipped in and out of the shops lining the Haight-Ashbury intersection and took photos of the famous sign We’d watched so many YouTube documentaries about the Summer of Love and all the cool things that happened here so it was really fun to actually be there. We did think it was a bit gentrified these days though, with lots of pretentious looking, expensive shops, more so than the original hippie shops which was a shame. But I guess that’s to be expected as it’s a very desirable area to live in now! Ben wanted to grab a drink at Magnolia Brewing which was a tiny brewery/pub that the Grateful Dead used to drink at, so we headed on over and ordered a fun IPA for Benj and a blackcurrent cider for me which I was chuffed was the special of the day! We managed to snag a table out on the street and we enjoyed 20 minutes or so just chilling and people watching with our drinks I have such fond memories of this! It felt like we really were in such a historic place and we chatted about what took place here and how it impacted the rest of the world. Very cool!

We decided we’d seen enough of the Haight now, so Ubered to our next destination, the Mrs Doubtfire house. I’d been in 2 minds to do this as obviously it is someone’s home now and we didn’t want to be annoying, but Robin Williams was my favourite actor and I really felt like I wanted to go there just to pay my respects and have a little moment. We walked a little way from where the Uber dropped us off and then there it was, the famous house. It’s different now to how it looked in the movie as the owners have made some changes to the front, but it was still so familiar

We walked over, there were a couple taking selfies and the girl was standing in front posing for photos and I’d already said to Ben I didn’t want to do that because I felt it was a bit disrespectful. We waited for them to move on and then walked over, and I spotted the tree that I knew had become a sort of shrine to Robin Williams. There were etchings and carvings all over the trunk and branches and as soon as I started reading them I started crying

There were so many lovely things written there and I just found it all really emotional. His death had a massive impact on me and while it’s strange how you can miss someone you never met, I grew up with him and his movies and they were a huge part of my childhood, and so it sort of makes sense. As I get older and think about how deeply sad he was and all the things he was struggling with, despite his public persona, it just makes me feel even sadder….oh Robin I took some photos of the messages, we had a little cuddle, and then we walked away back down towards Lombard Street. I was so happy that we’d been and even though we weren’t there long, it meant a great deal to me.

It was only half a mile back to our hotel so we were back in no time. There was a bit of a party atmosphere with lots of people queuing to get into an outdoor bar and everyone was having a grand old time in Cow Hollow! It was a Sunday night but we think it was a holiday weekend. It was a fun atmosphere, though! We got back to the room and freshened up, splitting Ben’s remaining IPA as we got ready!

Tonight we were headed to Ghirardelli Square as we hadn’t had a chance to visit there yet. It is sooooooo nice! I was gutted we were only going on our last night! There were fairy lights everywhere which are just my favourite things, loads of cute shops and restaurants, and a lovely outdoor bar area.

We popped in a few of the shops for a browse but didn’t buy anything, but I really wish we’d got this poster Note to future holiday Lib - buy stuff you like when you see it!

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this but I saw a lovely arrow necklace in San Francisco (in a shop called Mulberry and Grand) and for some reason didn’t buy it, then later in the holiday once we got to Disneyland I bought it online and had it shipped to our hotel haha! Such a faff when I could have just bought it right there and then

After browsing the shops we decided to grab a drink at the cute outside bar. I ordered a drink that sounded right up my street but when it arrived I didn’t like it It was too sour, made with a sour beer which was gross. Benj helped me with it and I sipped some of his haha!

We had reservations at the Chart House which I’d managed to snag the day before on OpenTable, and I was so so excited to eat there but we were both feeling super tired After MUCH deliberation (fo reals, I could not make a decision) we decided we didn’t need to spend that money as we were feeling tired already and the reservations were 8.30, and instead head back and order more yummies via Uber Eats. I did feel like we’d made the right decision but it was tough as I’d had my eye on a crab melt at Chart House Never mind though! We walked back to the hotel after finishing our drinks and packed all our stuff ready for our early start. I also reapplied my rash cream! We then got all cosy in bed and ordered 2 x pizzas and garlic cheese sticks via a yummy sounding pizza place on Uber Eats. It was only $30 so much cheaper than dinner would have been, and the guy delivered it rriiiiiiightttt to the door!

I actually didn’t enjoy my pizza that much which was pretty devastating; it was a white pizza with sage, walnuts and lots of cheese and it was just a bit much sadly! I just found the description to share with you all...I’m sure you can see what I mean!

HOLY COW
Swiss, fontina, gorgonzola, mozzarella, roasted walnuts and fresh sage (tomato sauce upon request, no charge).

And we shared these too:

EXTREMELY TWISTED STICKS
Baked dough “twisted” with a blend of Swiss and fontina cheeses, garlic and herbs served with choice of ranch or tomato dipping sauce.

What a time to be alive. Ben let me share a bit of his pizza though bless him (Sensing a pattern here haha! ) It came at 9pm and I was asleep by 9.45pm! Alarms were set for 5am, ready to bid farewell to SF

[Nesbits]

Hope your rash clears up when you move hotels. You’re still beautiful Libby.

Love San Francisco, you’ve given me some more places to add my growing list, burrito looked amazing.

[smithlane]

I completely sympathise about your rash. I have super sensitive skin so come out in hives quite often, it’s miserable ☹️. You really wouldn’t be able to tell from the photos though!
Haight Ashbury looks like such a cool part of town.
Robin Williams was my favourite actor too so I completely get where you’re coming from. He was such a huge part of my childhood I don’t think there’s one film I don’t love of his so I know I’ll be an emotional wreck seeing Mrs Doubtfire’s house!
How annoying about the poster, I’ve done that loads of times before but I’m more than happy to pick one up for you when we go as I quite like it for my house too!

[princess allie]

Just caught up with this. Can’t believe I hadn’t seen it before now. Really enjoying it, thanks for sharing.

[Pussycat Doll]

Sounds like you’ve had fun in SF, we love it there, may be time to go back! X

[disneypars]

Hope the rash cleared up quickly. Another great day glad you managed to see a whale in their natural environment so much better than Seaworld. Robin Williams was an absolute legend I remember him from Mork and Mindy. So sad no longer around.