vacation update part deux

ok. so we're back in the windy city. and windy it sure is. and we thought san francisco was cold! and today's the first day of spring...*sigh*...

alrighty. so where did i leave off? oh yeah...here goes...

TUESDAY: GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE and EXPLORATORIUM

if you're like most people, the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions san francisco is probably the grand old golden gate bridge. i'm not sure why they call it golden gate. it's really quite red. whatever. it sure is quite magnificent up close and personal though. and you can't get much closer to the bridge without actually being ON it as you can at Fort Point, which is where we went on tuesday morning. unfortunately, cadence fell asleep before she could witness the magnificence of the GGB up close and personal for herself.

after Fort Point, we stopped by a marina across the street from the Exploratorium. cadence finally woke up and at least got a view of the GGB as well as alcatraz.

we spent the afternoon at the Exploratorium, which is a museum of science, art and human perception and is housed in the beautiful Palace of Fine Arts, another prominent San Francisco landmark. cadence (and her parents) really enjoyed all the hands-on fun and interactive exhibits.

WEDNESDAY: FRENCH BOULANGERIE, PIER 39/AQUARIUM-OF-THE-BAY and SUSET ON THE OCEAN...oh...and YET ANOTHER BREWERY

we found this really great bakery/cafe called LE BOULANGE de POLK. the pastries are delectable and they're cheap! they have these really yummy hazelnut madelines for only 75 cents! they could be selling that at the dollar store! we went there twice during our vacation, and that's saying a lot because in san francisco, you don't have to go anywhere twice if you don't want to since there are so many great eateries to choose from.

this particular boulangerie is in the russian hill neighborhood, on polk just north of green. i highly recommend it.

we spent most of wednesday at san francisco's biggest tourist destination, pier 39 on fisherman's wharf. the sunny, somewhat mild weather brought out the crowds, and the pier was bustling.

while we were there, we visited the aquarium of the bay, which has this cool hallway that's enclosed underwater so you're walking beneath the sharks and and skate fish and starfish...

after pier 39, we decided to drive down the coast because it looked like the sunset was going to be a doozie. i wanted to get to half moon bay for the actual sunset, but by the look of the sky, ted didn't think we'd make it, so we stopped at fort funston. when we got there, we saw people hang gliding along the shore. boy, were they whizzing by! it sure was beautiful with the sun low on the watery horizon and the graceful aerial display of the hang glider.

the coast to the south was so beautiful and serene. we didn't make it down to the beach, but the view from where we were was still quite lovely.

there's nothing quite like a sunset on the ocean, i say.

even cadence was pretty wow'ed at the beautiful sight.

after the sunset, we did make it down to half moon bay because we knew that there was a brewery down there, and far be it from us to get that close to a microbrewery and not stop in. oh, they have the best mac and cheese i've ever tasted at that brewery.

alright. more later.