1983 - Snow and QE2 7 January 1984 – San Francisco

Sunday 8 January 1984 – San Francisco

Had a very good night’s sleep last night. As I said to Rab it would have been very nice to have stayed a bit longer. Rob was on holiday so we could have done but we felt it wouldn’t have been right. We stirred lateish – about 08.00 and had a very nice, if unusual breakfast – a sort of quiche with raisins and date bread. Becky and Rob are very keen on good “healthful” foods. They are not fanatics but, like so many Americans, they are very aware of the ingredients of foodstuffs and what is said to be good and not good.

Heading off to San Francisco, Rob was driving our car with me and Matt while Rab went with Becky. The drive in was interesting although it was very foggy so there wasn’t much of a view. We had booked in to the Best Western Carriage Inn so we drove straight there. As soon as I saw it I knew what Rab’s reaction would be and sure enough she wasn’t keen. I couldn’t altogether blame her as it was in a pretty ropey part of town, just a block from the Greyhound terminus – always a bad sign according to Robbie.

So off we went to check out a couple of other hotels. The first one was the St Francis which is a magnificent looking place – very posh indeed. The room rates were between $130/180 a night and at Rob’s suggestion I asked if there was a discount available. The desk clerk said he could not give me a discount unless I telephoned – and suggested I use the house phone across the lobby. I did this and got an offer of a room for $85!! That certainly supported  Rob’s advice to never accept the asking price in the USA – a concept quite foreign to us.

On the basis of this, we thought we might check out the Sheraton at Fisherman’s Warf, especially as the St Francis wanted $12 per day for parking. The Sheraton had initially quoted $114 as a bare minimum on the phone, but face to face we got a room for $75 plus $5 per day parking. Since it is much more convenient to be down this end of town, we checked in and then left our car here and went off with Rob in his car.

A bit misty for a good shot across the bay

It was still foggy but we really enjoyed our drive. We went over the Golden Gate Bridge and on to Tiburon, a very arty area. We had a sandwich at Sam’s Bar – typically American, a meal in themselves at about $6/7 each. The bill for five of us including two beers each was $40. we tried a Mexican beer Dos Equis which is much darker than American beer – and much nicer. After that we popped into a coffee shop next door for sweets – and what a selection of cakes – with very nice coffee.

Golden Gate Bridge!

After having a stroll around we drove around the area looking at the houses and the cars! There must be more Mercedes per square mile than most places! We stopped to have a look at an incredible home being built high on one of the hills out of lava imported from Italy. As we drove around we spooked two buck, which was a bit of a surprise. As it was starting to get dark we went to another view point to see the city lights and then went on seeing the sights. One of these was “the most winding road in the world” which was a bit of a disappointment. We thought it would be a long and winding road but it was just a short stretch of highly banked curves.

Matt with a couple of local monsters

We stopped off at the Hyatt for a pit stop for Matt – what a place. It is built like a hollow pyramid and standing in the foyer you can see all fourteen floors above you. We took a ride in the glass elevator which was a bit of a thrill. As it was getting on a bit, we headed for food at Fisherman’s Wharf. Since it is against Robbie’s principles to pay for parking we drove around for quite some time before he found a free space. He took us to an expensive restaurant and while the food was good there was no doubt that we were paying for the situation. I am sure the food would have been as good at some of the smaller places on Pier 39.

When we came to pay the bill, for which I used my credit card, Robbie found that he had no cash on him, so we spent the next half hour driving round and round the wharf area looking for a Bank of America money machine. Eventually we asked at the cookie shop where we had stopped to get some emergency rations and they told us. However their directions were misinterpreted so once again we circled the area until Robbie finally succumbed and asked a gas station attendant. The machine was right behind the hotel. And it wasn’t working! So Robbie had to do what I had suggested all along – give me a cheque.

Supermarket shopper

Although it was after 22.30 by this time they came into the hotel for coffee and cookies and finally left at about 23.40 they are good company and we enjoyed our day with them. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.