San Fran Trip - City Tour and Alcatraz

 

Tuesday morning we kicked off the morning with a hotel breakfast. Some of us multiple breakfasts ;) hahaha 

I talked about where we stayed in this post and shared that one of the selling features was the complimentary breakfast buffet and this right here is why ;) hahaha 

We had a much later start than our Yosemite day and were picked up outside our hotel at 9 am by the CUTEST TOUR COMPANY EVER!

CAN YOU EVEN??? Apparently Luke can not ;)

While researching San Francisco I knew that there were TONS of different neighborhoods to explore and we wanted to see them all... but we didn't want to mess with having a rental car and figuring out where to go on our own and all of that so I decided to book a private tour with Painted Ladies Tour Co and it was even better than expected!

Our guide took us literally everywhere - all over the city - and pointed out things that we never would have known to look for like these hearts that are part of a public art installation and then auctioned off... we spotted several in various spots which was super fun.

He took us to Clarion alley in the mission district and we got to walk through and see the murals which was one of my personal highlights of the trip...

We even got to see one being painted which was super cool.

One of the things that I didn't know about and that I LOVED was the art literally everywhere. I felt like you couldn't turn around without seeing another mural.

I wish I remembered what this viewpoint was called - but we went to a point way up on a hill where you could see so much of the city. There was fog ;) but it was still so cool to see.

We got to go see the painted ladies made famous by the Full House intro...

And yes.... we had to watch the intro to jog our memories ;)

We stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts...

A Golden Gate Bridge viewpoint (YAY FOG! hahahhaa)...

... we got to drive down Lombard Street...

... made a stop at Coit Tower...

... and instead of ending the tour back at our hotel asked our guide to drop us off in North Beach for lunch ;)

Our guide recommended The Italian Homemade so that's where we landed and it was SO GOOD!!!

Homemade pasta and meatballs? SIGN US UP!

We ate, played cards, and people watched and declared ourselves stuffed.... and then we stopped for gelato ;) hahaha

We wanted to walk through Chinatown and on the way saw this deli serving gelato and couldn't resist.

We shared the gelato and then got to walking and taking it all in. SUCH A cool part of the city and so much to see!

Mason takes the pics and I take pics of Mason taking the pics ;) 

We stopped in at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory...

... where we got to sample some of their flat wafers, see the process and just attempt to take it all in (there was A LOT to see!)...

We bought a couple bags of cookies...

... took a few more pics...

... and headlocked each other while we waited for an Uber to take us back to Fisherman's Wharf ;)

Back at the wharf we had to check out a few of the squishy stands (duh!)...

.... and we popped into Musee Mecanique...

... where we realized we had no cash. WHOOPS! So we decided to walk back to the hotel and chill for a bit before coming back with cash to use for quarters.

Mason with a camera is my FAVORITE!

Back at the hotel and found this cute scene thanks to housekeeping...

... and then it was time for some quick naps. I honestly considered hopping in an Uber and going to check out the SF Museum of Modern Art BUT ultimately decided just to chill ;)

With cash in hand we headed back to Musee Mecanique and turned about $30 into quarters. Musee Mecanique houses one of the world's largest collections of antique coin-operated mechanical musical instruments and vintage arcade machines and it was the perfect way to spend about an hour.

Honestly this felt like a museum that you could play in - the fact that there were SO MANY antique machines that you could play with was so cool!

If you're a Princess Diaries fan this is where they went in the movie!

Admission was free and we spent about $30 on quarters and it was PERFECT! We could have stayed longer but we had to walk a few piers down to get on our tour to Alcatraz.

But first we checked out the WWII Submarine docked outside...

... rolled around in these chairs for a bit...

... and did whatever this is ;) 

I booked the night tour to Alcatraz using this company and the website mentioned it being cold on the ferry over and the website was correct ;) hahaha The ferry was only about 20 minutes but the wind was CRAZY!

Once we docked we walked up to the prison...

... and y'all... it was CREEPY ;) hahaha Maybe creepy isn't the best word... maybe eerie? 

Our tickets were for the audio tour which I HIGHLY recommend. The tour is narrated by actual former correctional officers and formerly incarcerated men who lived and worked on the island during its time as a federal penitentiary and was REALLY well done.

The audio tour guides you to certain cells and tells you what to look at while playing sounds of cells closing, chains clanking, etc. It was a vibe for sure!

We got to see "the yard"...

... solitary confinement cells...

... and the library.

 

This tour was a highlight for all three kids and I Dave and I really enjoyed it as well. 

We got off the return ferry and it was 8:15ish and most of the restaurants around the area closed at 9 p.m. I hadn't done any research beforehand on where to eat because I just assumed we'd be able to stop it at any of a ton of places close to our hotel so we kind of had to scramble. Luke and I grabbed sandwiches from Bousin, Mason and G grabbed burgers from this Nations and Dave made an In-and-Out Run ;)

We grabbed everything to-go and ate everything cozy in our hotel beds. AMEN.

This day was my favorite of the trip - I loved literally everything about it!

If you have any questions feel free to drop it in the comments or shoot me an email!  HAPPY Wednesday, friends!!!