After a sneak peak of San Francisco last night, the Grand Western Tour crew was pumped to explore more of the city today! We started early with a step on tour guide, Martina, who is a San Francisco native and has lived in the area her entire life. Clarence proved his driving expertise once again by navigating the tight turns, hectic traffic, and the steep hills of the Foggy City.
Our tour began at Fisherman's Wharf and we zigzagged through the financial district, Little Italy, Chinatown, Union Square, the Haight Street district and Golden Gate Park. Martina was quick witted and full of San Francisco trivia. She claimed that San Francisco should be nicknamed "The City of Unaffordable Housing." The average rent for a one bedroom apartment is going for $3,000 and a two bedroom for $4,000-5,000!
San Francisco is a mere 47.9 square miles with a dense population of over 850,000, making it the fourth largest city in California. The city is certainly booming and is home to several big name companies including Twitter, Yelp, Uber, Craigslist, Reddit and FitBit.
The tour ended with a chilly walk across the famous Golden Gate Bridge. It's definitely a bucket list experience! Our 1.7 mile stroll gave us the perfect opportunity to see a great view of the city, count the sail boats passing by, and spot a whale!
The bridge was completed in 1937 and cost 35
million dollars at the time. It's color is not golden but titled "international orange." The bridge is actually named after the Golden Gate which is a straight that connects the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.
After the tour with Martina, we made a quick pit stop in beautiful Sausalito for a restroom (ice cream) break. It's crazy how different the weather can be just across the bay!
The Grand Western Tour kept up with its usual full schedule and immediately headed to Oakland for an afternoon major league baseball game. The Oakland Athletics played the Chicago White Sox and won 7 to 4! Go A's! The kiddos enjoyed the stadium atmosphere especially during a home run or while singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Between innings, we witnessed a "Hall of Famers" race, a pie eating contest, and our group dancing on the Jumbotron!
After a long day, the crew was eager for some authentic Chinese food from the creatively named "Chinatown Restaurant." They served a variety of family style dishes like spring rolls, shrimp, sweet and sour pork, honey chicken, fried rice, vegetables and green tea ice cream for dessert.
The group is looking forward to another great day in San Francisco tomorrow!
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