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Author Liz Tolsma

Christian Historical Fiction

Home / San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

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We were happy that we slept until 6:00 a.m., thinking that jet lag would have us up much earlier.

We got ready and went for breakfast with Mom and Dad. They had a nice selection. We caught the [10:00] shuttle for the airport. We found the BART station. Trying to figure out the system for purchasing tickets made us look like country bumpkins. Some nice man helped us out. You have to enter the correct amount of money for the ticket. They start you off with something like $10 and you have to add or subtract a dollar or nickel until you get it right. Very 90’s.

The train was partly above ground and partly below. We got off at the Powell Street station which was near the cable car turn around. The weather turned from cool and cloudy/foggy to partly sunny. We ran into Burger King for something to drink while we waited in line. Alyssa saw lots of shops she wanted to visit, but we didn’t know how long our wait would be. It ended up to be about a half hour or so before we boarded. We sat on the outside seats while Doug hung onto the side. He got some good pictures that way. They really pack the people on.

We got off in Chinatown and walked around a bit. It was similar to Vietnam in that all the food stalls were together, all of the shops together, etc. We just didn’t see “kitchen sink street” like we did in Vietnam! Compared to what China must be like, it had to be very tame. We saw Peking ducks and cut up fish that hadn’t been gutted.
Not being city people, we were surprised at the number of homeless in SF. Some played music or sang while some wanted hand-outs.

Doug led us right to Pier 39. Worked out perfectly! Much to our surprise, the Disney Wonder was in dock there. 
We walked down the Pier. As we got to the end, we realized there was a group of people watching the America’s Cup race. What perfect timing – we got there just before the boats passed by. We had a great view and saw New Zealand and the US. Those yachts are amazing. New Zealand won that heat. 
We got some snacks and watched the sea lions for a bit. It stank like fish and they were noisy. Several were playing “King of the Dock”. They were funny to watch. 
Alyssa bought a T-shirt before we headed toward Ghirardelli Square.

By that time, we were getting hungry and thirsty. The front desk at the hotel recommended one seafood place, but it was pricey. We backtracked a block to another restaurant we had seen – Lou’s. We didn’t want to sit outside because it was breezy, so they sat us upstairs where there was no one. It was great to have the place all to ourselves. Doug and I had salmon BLT sandwiches. Mom had seafood salad sandwich, Dad had a blackened snapper sandwich and the girls split a half pound hamburger. Everything was delicious, including the lemonade I had.
Refreshed, we headed to our destination. Ghirardelli Square was so pretty, with a park along the bay. There was a lovely building that looked like a ship – we don’t know what it truly was. We went into the Ghirardelli store.
 O.M.Goodness! Mom and Alyssa ate hot chocolate sundaes, Doug got a gigantic chocolate chip cookie and Jonalyn and I had brownies. All very good. 
While we were in the shop, Doug and Dad saw the SUV with some members of the US America’s Cup team. Our brush with fame! We relaxed by the water before going to catch the cable car.
This wait was even longer than the one in the morning. We overheard the people in front of us say they were from Holland. Of course, we started chatting about all sorts of things and I was able to write down my name and the title of my book for the woman. (I never seem to have my business cards handy when I need them.) That helped to pass the line. It was getting very chilly by the time we got on the car.
We then reversed the morning – cable car to BART train (we took the wrong train, but we only had to get off at one station and wait for the right one to come along), to hotel shuttle. After showers and Four Weddings, we hit the hay.

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