Day 3
Early bed in this case meant early rise. Which worked well since we wanted to spend some time knocking around San Francisco prior to our 12:45 Alcatraz cruise. In what would be a phenomenal trend, we had no hangover from our
Passport Day exploits. We had breakfast at a greasy spoon recommended by Haakee called Penninsula a few blocks from Suckers place in the heart of Palo Alto. Tasty stuff.
After breakfast it was with sadness that we said goodbye to the very hospitable Sucker and his sweet pad and went on our way.
As opposed to Day 2, where the weather was good but we had some spotty showers, Day 3 was essentially perfect. Sunny, 60 and a nice little breeze. We arrived at
Hotel Vitale around 11am. Our room was really nice and had a phenomenal view of the Bay Bridge. Here was where I really started to apprciate finally buying a digital camera prior to the trip starting (Canon SD800 IS).
We then took a little walk to the
Ferry Building across the street. They had lots of neat boutique shops. We also scouted out the dinner menu at
The Slanted Door, which is where we were to meet Tommy and his wife for dinner at 5:45. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to spend as much time as we would have liked here, as there were several really neat shops to spend time in.
After a little rest in the room, we walked down to Pier 33 where the
Alcatraz boat departed. The view from the boat was beautiful in all directions. The City behind, the Bay Bridge to the other side, the Golden Gate Bridge just to the front left and Alcatraz sitting dead ahead.
The tour was really neat. They basically give you free run of the island with several seminars and a radio tour of the actual penitentiary. We really really enjoyed it. There’s all sorts of cool shortcuts and little tunnels around too. I’m reminded of the penitentiary in Jean, NV just outside of the casinos. The only thing close to being in Jail and looking at a casino every day has got to be looking over the bay to San Francisco every day.
We then hopped on one of those bike taxis and went to
Pier 39 just to knock around for a bit and grab a quick bite to tide us over til dinner. Insert obligatory sea lion photo.
So a cab ride back to the hotel, a nap and a shower had us ready for dinner with Tommy and his wife. We absolutely love them both and really enjoy when we are able to spend time together. Dinner was great, especially the shaking beef. We ordered some Ponzi Pinot Noir and loved it, an opinion that would be validated later on in the trip. Also of note, their special ice creams of the day included a mint ice cream that was disgustingly good, and I’m no fan of mint ice cream. Thanks Tommy for a great time.
Feeling good after dinner with plenty of wine down the hatch, Clarkmistress and I headed back to the hotel to meet The Diablo for a few cocktails. The missus simply loves him and we really had a good time. The only awkward thing is that Diablo and I were sharing a barstool bench at the bar and I had a heck of a time getting comfortable. Of note was a particularly good Diablo anecdote regarding the wine party they went to after the wine tasting on Day 2. Cliffs notes: they pick an obscure cheap wine so as to not look like they were bringing in Beringer, but the plan works too well when another friend picks that exact bottle for them to drink citing "it was the only one I’d never heard of so I figured it couldn’t be that bad relative to the other swill that was available".
Dinner and drinks down the hatch, we called it a night and prepared to leave the San Francisco and start heading north.
