San Francisco Day 1

"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights, it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of the living." -- Miriam Beard

Today began my longest, furthest, solo journey. It is a little scary, but I am learning not to avoid doing what I want to do out of fear. So, California for the next two weeks, eight hotels, 501 miles; starting with San Francisco.

I began with the cable cars and learned a few important things quickly:
*Get an app called MuniMobile on your phone and buy a passport ticket for the number of days you need. This saves a tremendous amount of money. It's also easier to carry your ticket on your phone.
*The most popular boarding location is the Powell/Market St. turn-around. The line I got in was worse than a line at Disney World, mostly because it wasn't steadily moving. I finally figured out that if I walked down the "tracks" for just two blocks, I would cut my wait time by 1-1.5 hours!

I rode to Fisherman's Wharf and was extremely grateful for that cable car. The hills!!! I've seen them on television, but no tv show has done them justice. Walking some of these hills was NOT an option! The wharf is definitely a tourist destination. The area is full of restaurants, souvenir shops, ice cream shops (I saw a Swensen's on the way there! On my list for tomorrow!), candy stores, museums, and various other tourist magnets. I was satisfied just to stroll around getting my bearings.

The history buff in me could not resist the World War II ship, SS Jeremiah O'Brien. It was an really good deal. For $20, I got to tour the ship entirely on my own, visit the museum in the first hold, and watch a 45 minute film about the history of the ship. It was so much fun! This is the only surviving operating Liberty Ship from World War II. This ship took troops and supplies to Normandy and later transported bombs to the Pacific theater. It was so neat to be in the exact location those men were in! (The view from the top deck was cool too!)

I ate at a seafood restaurant on Pier 39 but was not super impressed. It was the Pier Market. Made my way back to the cable cars for an early return to my hotel. At that point, I had been up for 17 hours, and I have a big day tomorrow -- biking across the Golden Gate Bridge.

One more thing, and this is very unusual. Look at the sign below. I couldn't resist taking a pic. You don't see this in North Carolina!