Wednesday 28 January 2009

Day Nineteen: San Francisco


You may not believe this and actually think it is impossible but I am typing this with my eyes closed – that is only a slight exaggeration, believe me I have Victor Mature eyes for those that remember him. Most of this is because I am so tired that I can’t keep them open and the rest is due to a dose of the sniffles. We intended for the alarm to go off at 5.15am this morning so that we would be up and about when we went under the Golden Gate Bridge at 5.45am. But I woke at 4.00am and couldn’t get back to sleep and wandered around both the cabin and the ship looking for suitable places to take video and pictures. Hilary wasn’t far behind me and together we did see the ship safely under the bridge and berthed at Pier 35. This is an incredible location right in the heart of San Francisco, literally only a few hundred steps from the main wharf area where the sea lions reside at Pier 39 and where you can find the best sea food in America.

Before we could get off the ship we had to go through the dreaded immigration and our alphabet group was timed for 10.30am, as it turned out we were about 15 minutes before that and our Green Cards were not questioned. We can wipe the sweat from our brows once again; they are good for another year. We came off the ship before 11.00am and were soon heading for the shops, we were determined to find a Walgreens and a hair dresser and it wasn’t very long before we found both of them nearby. While Hilary had her hair cut I popped into the shops and got my Tylenol, Starlight Mints, Suave Shampoo and Conditioner, Dove Soap, AA batteries, Lay’s Potato Chips and a couple of bottles of Yellow Tail. Before long I was high tailing it back to the ship to drop off all our goodies while Hilary looked for Ross Dress for Less. As it turned out it was too far to walk so after we met up again we got our cable car tickets and took the tram from the water front right into downtown. Here she was able to get a couple of tops and a couple of skirts, I was more interested in the fish filet with French fries. We wandered downtown the caught the cable car back to the water front, videoing all the way of course.

A few more tourist stuff including watching the sea lions, writing postcards and taking more pictures and we settled for a super fish supper on Fisherman’s Wharf. By now it was 6.30pm and we were whacked so we walked back to the Oriana which looked magnificent all lit up in the middle of this lovely city. Back on board we settled for a cup of tea and I guarantee that we will be in bed and asleep by 8.30pm, there is absolutely no chance that we will be awake for the sail away tonight. That’s it, enjoy the pictures and here’s Hilary…

Tiz I. I have a lovely picture taken inside the shopping mall with Sam sitting on a bench surrounded by his shopping and looking highly delighted! Candies and Lays potato chips! The temperature outside today was about 55F so it was cool but it was the sunniest of days which is unusual for San Francisco which is famed for its mists and fogs. I was amazed at the immigration process – absolutely everyone on board had to be screened even if they were not going ashore. No-one was allowed ashore until the process was completed. At least we know that the borders of the USA are being protected! Teddy bear went ashore and had his photo taken beside the sea lions and in the restaurant, he is getting to be a famous bear. We had a lovely day just doing our thing and seeing what we wanted to see. Now we are very tired so I will write more tomorrow when the brain, hopefully, will be back and working! God bless.

3 comments:

Julian said...

Hi glad to hear you enjoyed San Fransisico. I can remember all the places you talked about and you must have walked passed the hotel we stayed in to get to the cable car. Nice to know that Walgreens is still around and that Dad managed to buy everything he wanted. The new UK Border Agency is modelling itself on American Homeland Security so expect a similar experience of ' officialdom' over here sometime in the future! Enjoy your days at sea as you head to Hawaii, we are not at all jealous!!

jeff said...

As a Lousiana boy, I must take exception to the "best seafood in America" line. No way. That's like me commenting on the best Yorkshire pudding in England.

At any rate, glad you enjoyed it.

I got Sam to the airport at 4:00 AM and she is on her way to China as I write this.

Sharon and Georgia said...

Hi,
So glad you had an enjoyable day in San Fransisico. I would love to visit there one day. Did you get any shots of the sea lions?

Sam, wishing you a great time in China. Thank you for your supportive words re mortgage. Much love to you both.

Enjoy the next leg. we are all enjoying the adventure with you. Love to you both Sharon xx