This post simply contains a few photos of the evening we spent in San Francisco before we’d be boarding our cruise ship the following morning.
In the previous post in this Ruby Princess cruise travelogue series I covered the largely uneventful flight to San Francisco and our taxi ride from the airport to the hotel we’d picked. We’d selected a hotel in the Fisherman’s Wharf area of San Francisco as it would be walkable from there to the cruise port in the morning.
After a lengthy check-in and after our long day of travelling already we made sure to shower first then head out to see what was nearby. Neither of us were hungry but we headed to a CVS store near the hotel to start with because my wife was on a mission for a particularly large bag of sweets she’d once brought back from another trip to the US. We could see the spot on the shelves where they should have been but they were out of stock so that wasn’t to be.
It was a lovely warm evening to be walking around down by the waterfront and there were plenty of other people milling about the area. The first thing we encountered was a group of street entertainers – the sort who dance and crack jokes – and we made sure to stand well back from the onlookers because we’re very familiar with these sorts of things and how soon the hat comes around for tips. We’re not against that, by any means, but our problem was not actually having any cash on us at this point, it all being back in our hotel room, and us not wanting to appear unappreciative of the entertainment being provided. We’d figured on just strolling to take photos and using our cards or phones to pay if we had to.
We enjoyed the sunset views and seeing such sights as Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge just minutes from our hotel, and we knew we’d see them both again because the pier from where our cruise ship would be leaving the next day was right in this area too. We were also pleased to see the famous sea lions that haul themselves onto Pier 39. One in particular was very vocal.
We stopped to buy some soap from a store that was open on a pier, but otherwise most of what was open at this time were either restaurants or bars, and we didn’t need the former and didn’t really want to battle the crowds for the latter, so we ended up making our way back to the hotel with a quick drop back into CVS to pick up some water.
We were a little tired, even though it wasn’t that late – but, of course, we’d been up for over twenty four hours at this point – and thought that an early night might be sensible, but we had to pass the hotel bar on the way through to reception and we decided to see what it was like. Well, it was fabulous. Or rather, the barman was. After our first couple of very nice themed drinks (it was nearing Halloween) I thought I’d see how he did with an Old Fashioned and my wife asked if he knew how to make a Kentucky Kiss. He did, and went off to hunt down a strawberry to garnish it, and it was enormous. The drinks were great – not the best Old Fashioned I’ve ever had; that honour belongs to a bar in Crawley; but top three easily – and so we had to stay for just one more as well with my wife having another of her cocktails with mutant strawberry once more while I tried a Vodka Martini. We were pleased to see three olives. The mark of a barman who knows what he’s doing. Despite being British and despising the American “tradition” and expectation regardless of service, we did the honours and tipped accordingly and willingly when paying.
In the next post in this series we’ll actually walk down to the pier again, only this time with bags in tow in order to board Ruby Princess and begin a new cruise.