Beaver's 95th | San Francisco - Part 1

So, we have now arrived at our final point of call, and there is definitely mixed feelings in the family... A lot of excitement to be soon going back home and getting back to a normal life (well as normal as we are)...but also sadness knowing that it a few days we'll be back at work / school and not spending all day together.  But before that we've got 3.5 days here in beautiful San Francisco, which welcomed us (as all the US states have done) with clear blue skies (with this view from the hotel).

Our first afternoon in town we spent just wondering around the local area (Union Square & Nob Hill), seeing what we could find, being forced up the steep hills by dad.

We then explored Union Square (and some of the shops)...

Before resting for a while in the hotel and enjoying the lights.

Wednesday we started out the day with a mission of riding all the cable car routes (3) and getting out along the water...  After an initial breakfast on Market Street (which wasn't to the girls liking), we caught one of the heritage F Line trolley cars out to the water, for a second breakfast at the old Ferry Building.

From there, another short ride (on another heritage F line car), we were at Pier 39.

The girls liked the sealions, and we reminisced about the last time we were here...

We then explored the pier, which happens to start with something very sweet.

Claire posed for a photo at Chowders to show how much she's grown.

But this time around we tried the chowder from Boudin! (And dad got to try a grilled cheese - finally)

We then strolled down (or up) the piers to Fishermans Wharf, to try a fresh Beignet...

Keira was a little taken back by the icing sugar, but powered through them!

Just as we were leaving the water's edge, the famous fog rolled in the bay...

Then it was time to hit the first of the cable car runs!

Which took us back into town for a little more shopping... We've been noticing the "Beaver" gumball machines a lot...as dad has ordered one to take back to Sydney with us... when we saw this one we had to have a photo... Hopefully the one dad ordered isn't quite this big!

 Another Cable Car ride...

 This time to try fresh Oysters (mum and dad) and then Donuts (all of us)

 And yet another cable car ride back down the hill.  At this point, the girls were starting to feel cold, so dad and the girls went back to the hotel, whilst mum continued her shopping for a couple of hours.

You would think that the fact that it was cold would put the girls off, but the attraction of a hotel pool was just too much. (thankfully it was heated), and the hot tub was definately a nice way of relaxing away all the previous three weeks of walking!

We watched the sunset from our room (and the deep fog over the bridge)...

Before heading out on another Cable Car ride for dinner.

We tried Tacorea, a korean-mexican fusion place and we were surprised by just how quickly the food (which was massive) disappeared!

And then... you guessed it, another couple of rides on the cable car, achieving our goal of riding all the routes in one day.  This time we had a charismatic driver who the kids really enjoyed.  Their favourite bit was when we were about to go down the big hill, and he asked the passengers, 'Is this your first time?', and said 'because its my first time, better hold on tight'.
 

We ended up on the cable car till just after 10pm... which was a good time to come back to the hotel and crash for the night!