Day 2- And the sun shines on the bay...

Today, I learned the priceless value of google maps on the iPhone. For about a week before making my pilgrimage, I was worrying about the transportation, from the Bart to the Muni to the CalTrain to aggghhhh. (Originally, I thought San Francisco only had a transit system known as Bart. When I realized there was more than this Bart thing, I panicked). Luckily for me, I have a smart phone that is actually living up to it’s smartness. Who knew you could hit the little “bus” in between the walking man and the car, and poof, here are your exact routes, walking distance to such routes, updated departure times, etc. Yes, I have happily received this manna from Heaven and will be utilizing this throughout my trip to SF. I am definitely not in Florida anymore, where the only method of transportation is car.

So I began my day in awe of google maps, and my awe continued in to the ease of mass transit, the beauty of every part of this city, the eclectic-ness of this city, friendliness of residents and (most) tourists, and so on. I did miss my stop once on the Muni, luckily the next stop was only a ¼ mile from where I intended to go. This was at Pier 33 and Pier 39. I arrived at Pier 39 and decided to take some lovely pictures while there as well as pick up my City Pass. Another fabulous feature of my journey: City Pass… It gives me 7 days on Muni, entrance to 5 museums, and a bay cruise for only $63 (usually $69, but discounted rate because I have a citi card). I have yet to go to the museums or cruise, but I did visit Alcatraz today and came back to stroll Pier 39. I cannot even explain how cool both are. I enjoyed Pier 39 more than Alcatraz. I will definitely go for a return visit.

After 7 hours, 13,760 steps, 5.30 miles, I was ready to return to Inner Sunset. Instead, a friend and former supervisor took me to dinner (I would not take this back at all, worth every bit of time and distance). We went to what is known as the best Thai food in SF. Surely, I have nothing to compare this to, but Koh Samui & The Monkey is the best Thai place I have been to in my life. Highly recommended to all. I had scallops with bak choy, yellow curry, sticky rice… NOM. Amazing.

Speaking of food, I did not have the pleasure of writing about last night’s meal, my first in San Francisco. (That is one thing about this journey, there will be much talk of food… it’s definitely a foodie city… actually, I could write a whole blog on this alone) Last night’s fine dining was Park Chow. Biano pizza—white pizza, sunchokes, cauliflower, leeks, oh my. That wasn’t even the best part. Yes, you guessed it, dessert! I was curious about this ginger cake. It sounded odd, but the pumpkin ice cream on the side drew my attention. It was like ginger bread, but almost fried, with crispy edges, pumpkin ice cream, whipped cream, and caramel sauce. Whoa. Best dessert I can recall ever having. In my life. (Sorry, mom, you’re cooking/baking is great, but whoa) So that was my first night and San Francisco. And tonight was my second. Definitely the best city for all things food.

Also, the best city for photography, more on that later. For now, I am going to soak my soreness, and have a movie night with friends.

Day 2- a success.