San Francisco - USA Road Trip Part 6.2

The next day in San Francisco was our most packed - such a beautiful city, there was so much to see and experience!!

We started off the day at breakfast with our lovely friends Steph and Corrine - you might remember when we met up with them January 2012 when we were visiting NYC, now they have relocated to the West Coast so it was lovely to see them in their new habitat!


As we were already in the Mission District, we took the chance to check out the Mission Street Murals - so vibrant and beautiful, all with meanings and opinions, we spent ages there looking at it all.

From there we headed to the Mosaic steps - a loooong and steep staircase in the city with, not surprisingly, a mosaic of tiles on them, it was stunning, and the view from the top was breathtaking!

We headed up to the Twin Peaks - a must see, according to our Uber driver the night of the wedding. We weren't disappointed - you could see for miles up there! The city, the Bay, the houses, the bridges - it really gave us perspective of how big the city is.

The next bit of our day in the city was my personal favourite - visiting The Castro was such a highlight of the trip. I am a big fan of Harvey Milk, and loved the film 'Milk' where Sean Penn played Harvey, so was so excited to be able to see where he began the gay rights revolution.

We got to go into the site of Castro Cameras, which is now the Human Rights Campaign office - a great non-profit, we bought some swag and headed to another recommendation (this time from Steph and Corrine) - Hot Cookie. Sarah LOVES cookies so we were very happy to munch on them as we continued through the district.

We even got Bisbee a souvenir from there, a rainbow ring from an awesome pet boutique!

Hungry even post-cookies, we went to Chinatown, where we stumbled upon the oldest Dim Sum restaurant in San Francisco. It was just what we needed - delicious, and the staff were so friendly. We definitely recommend eating there if you are in the area!

With our bellies full, we decided to ride a cable car! Mum and Dad got on the back, and Sarah and I decided to hang off the side, which was slightly nervewracking but lots of fun! We took the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf, so were able to take in a stunning view of The Bay, Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz as we neared our destination.

We saw the sea lions at Pier 39, cute and noisy as ever - they will forever remind me of my childhood dog, Abby, who I swear looked just like one - and watched the sun set in the direction of the Golden Gate Bridge. I reflected on how lucky I was to be seeing these sights with my parents (as well as my wonderful wife!), as they had driven for two days from Idaho to spend this time with us!

We ended the most wonderful day with cocktails, appetisers, and THIS amazing dessert from Boudin's, which is a shop famous for their sour dough bread (my favourite!). We had parked in Chinatown, and as we headed through an urban park to our car, we were mesmerised by a group of about 40 older Chinese men and women, all practising Tai Chi, perfectly timed - it was so peaceful and magical, and a great way to end our day in San Francisco.

Next time, our final San Fran post - crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods, and Sausalito!