We decided to break up our trip into 3 parts: 4 nights at the Le Meridien in the Financial District with the days spent doing all the “touristy” stuff, then a day trip to Sonoma and a night in Napa, then our last two nights would be spent at the W, with our last day sort of open with no set plan, other than dinner at the famous Gary Danko.
We chose the Le Meridien for a few reasons since we needed to be close to Nick who was staying at a budget hotel, the Grant Plaza. We were also concerned about noise and we figured being in the Financial District would mean that it would be pretty quiet at night. But the real reason we chose it was because it had the most square footage in our price point. San Fran hotels are tiny!
We flew Virgin for the first time and loved it. We had an uneventful flight and took a cab from the airport.
We were very impressed with the Le Meridien—it was our favorite hotel of the 3. The room was indeed spacious for San Francisco standards, the bed was comfortable and we heard no noise other than a siren or two whatsoever. We arrived early and were allowed to check in around 10:30 am and were given a partial bay view room.
Note: this was our "partial bay view." I've learned now that "partial" anything means you'll be leaning way over and standing on your tiptoes to see it.
Since we were given such an early check-in, we spent some time unpacking and getting settled before walking to meet Nick and start our day. We started walking and encountered our first hill. I wasn’t worried about the hills. Ben and I are physically fit, hills, schmills.
Well, let’s just say I was woefully unprepared. I wish I had taken a picture of the hill but I didn't.
But this hill turned out to be nothing compared to what I would see (and walk) in the days to come. As we were walking, I turned and took my first picture, on the outskirts of Chinatown.
We stopped at the gate to Chinatown for a photo opp.
I loved Union Square.
Our first big touristy thing was to ride the Trolley to Fisherman’s Wharf. The line was long but it was a beautiful day so we waited easily.
We were able to score places on the outside where we could literally hang off the trolley. Nick said on his last trip this wasn’t allowed but it is now. Ben even high-fived some passengers on an oncoming trolley (although I don’t recommend this). It was hairy to say the least. But it was fun and I’m glad I did it, although I wouldn’t do it again.
We walked around Fisherman’s Wharf to see the Sea Lions of course (there weren’t too many there on our visit).
It was getting close to lunchtime and I wanted fish and chips so Ben said we had to go to The Codmother which he had read about on Trip Advisor. We found it using our iPhone and had a nice lunch there and it was indeed tasty.
The next thing on the agenda was a boat ride on the bay. Since Nick had done it before, he let us go alone. I was worried that I would freeze to death—anything below 60 to me is cold. But I was fine, (although it was beginning to get cold on the way back). We saw the Golden Gate bridge for the first time and made a wish as we passed under it. We also got a great closeup view of Alcatraz. Well worth the $15. The boat was rocking and rolling though so if choppy water bothers you, be aware (you might not want to eat a lunch of fish before the boat ride in that case).
First view of the bridge:
After the boat ride we ended up in a place called the Musee Mecanique which was a museum of old arcade games, some as old as the 1800s. It was really cool and I wish we could have spent more time there. Next we walked to Lombard, the curviest street in the world. It was really fun watching the cars go down.
Back to our hotel, we walked up a street called Hyde and all I remember is that it was a really hard walk and I was cursing Nick every step of the way.
For dinner our first night, Nick chose Ryokos, a sushi place. We had a long wait even with a reservation—this was a Sunday night at 9:00 and the place was packed, something that would repeat itself during the week. But we enjoyed our meal. The bar Nick chose was called the Tonga Bar—he chose it specifically for me since the drinks are all tropical and fruity, which is what I like. We had a nice time listening to the live entertainment and watching people dance.
Ben and I with our huge Scorpion:
Day 1 ended around 11:30 (which was 1:30 am our time).
