Save Me San Francisco – Day 2

I’ve been high, I’ve been low, 

I’ve been yes, and I’ve been oh, hell no!

I’ve been rock ‘n roll and disco,

Won’t you save me San Francisco?”

~ Train

Save me San Francisco is one of my favorites song from Train.  We were only in San Francisco for 48 hours and we experienced both highs and lows (literally and energetically).  Our goal was to see as much of San Francisco as possible in a very short time period.    And we certainly did that.

Day 2 started out with a visit to the incredible giant redwoods of Muir Woods.

Muir Woods is located just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge.  This is a national forest and very protected.  The Park Service recently changed the rules on visiting Muir Woods to limit the daily traffic to better protect the trees.  So visiting Muir Woods can be a challenge.   If you are going to drive your own car, you must make reservations in advance for parking.  That’s correct, you don’t need reservations for the park itself but you do need reservations to park.  So plan ahead if you intend to drive as these sell out quickly.

Another option is to take a shuttle that leaves from Sausalito.  The shuttle runs every day during the summer, again requiring reservations.  However, after August the shuttle only runs on the weekends, so this also was not an option for us.   We really wanted to see these majestic trees, so we decided to Uber there.   We got there just fine, and one of our party had a national parks pass which covered the entry fee for four of us (regularly $10 each).  Score!

Nothing can really prepare you for the incredible giant redwoods.  The air smells purer.  The temperature drops.  Be sure to bring warmer clothes, gloves, etc.  But the air is crisp and clean like you have never breathed before.   We spent several hours in the woods exploring, hiking the trails, and reading about all the redwoods.

 

 

The main problem that we encountered at Muir Woods which didn’t cross our minds until we were there.  There was no cell signal inside the park, which isn’t a problem unless you need an Uber to get back to town.   There were four of us each with different carriers (Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon).  When it was time to go, we turned on our cell phones and walked the last mile of the paths just praying for a signal.  Finally, the AT&T phone found a one bar signal.  This wasn’t strong enough to order an Uber, but it was strong enough to send a text to a friend in San Fran who ordered us a Lyft.  We were eternally grateful.  This is definitely something to think about if you are gonna rideshare to Muir Woods!

After leaving Muir Woods, we decided to stop down in Sausalito for lunch and shopping.  We ate at Bocce Bar which was on the marina, had outdoor seating, and served some eclectic dishes.  They are known for their pizzas and we tried this amazing pear and gorgonzola cheese pizza which was exquisite.  We followed up with shopping the incredibly quaint and cute shops of Sausalito.

A great opportunity to get back to San Fran from Sausalito is the Ferry.   It was only $7 and this gave us some great views of the Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, Treasure Island, and the Golden Gate Bridge.  There were some very friendly stewards on board that we very willing to share information about the ferry, the islands, and such.   There are a lot of bikers that ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, then eat in Sausalito and take the ferry back, so buy your ferry tickets early and be sure to line up in the people line, not the bike lane!

The ferry let us off back in San Fran at Pier 1, the Port of San Fran.  We did some sightseeing around the terminal building and found a great little wine shop which we took advantage of.  We bought a couple of bottles of wine, some to-go glasses, and bought our tickets for the San Francisco Big Bus.  These are the big red double-decker buses you see running around town.  The tickets were $50 each, but we really enjoyed the tour around town.   The bus makes a journey all around San Francisco, making over 20 stops at the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Chinatown,  Haight Ashbury, Fisherman’s Wharf, Union Square, Pier 39, Civic Center, and Lombard Street.

We were so tired we decided to stay on the bus for the full journey and drink our wine.  The rules say no “food or drink” but no one seemed to mind.   However, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in an open-air double-decker bus drinking wine was a bit tricky.   We made the complete rounds and ended up back at Pier 33.

We walked along the pier area relishing our time in San Fran and deciding if we could fit any more activities into the day.  As we were walking we were lured into the San Francisco Dungeon adventure.  This is a very silly thrill adventure similar to a haunted house, which you can learn about the history of a city.  It includes a short thrill “drop” ride.  I had visited the London Dungeon and it was fun for some history and some cheap scares.  It’s kinda cheesy but we decided we needed some cheese.  We bought a package deal for both tours, San Fran Dungeon and Madam Tussad’s.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed Madam Tussad’s.   You are invited to take pictures with all the figures, and they had a lot of great ones.  We had the most fun playing and taking pictures.  As you can see, there are many folks here that you may recognize.  A great way to have fun and make memorable pictures at the same time.

 

 

Our last adventure for our 48-hour whirlwind trip was dinner.  We used TripAdvisor to help us find a highly ranked restaurant in the area.  We decided on Surisan.  It was rated #21 of 4,762.  It was a delicious Korean Fusion restaurant a couple of blocks from the wharf area.    We started with the Millionaire’s Bacon and it was outstanding! I also had the Sweet Soy Glazed KFC, this is a definite to try.   We also tried the Osake warm sake.  Definitely would recommend this restaurant!

We finished Day 2 with over 14,000 steps but we felt like we had seen so much! If you have the ambition, and good shoes, you can definitely see San Francisco in 48 hours.   Give it a try!

And if you missed our Day 1 adventures, you can read about those at Save Me San Francisco – Day 1.  Follow and subscribe to the blog for more adventures like this.

Big Love and stay Prosperous on your journeys.