The Trouteholes go Californian- Episode 1

We were tired our first night in San Francisco but we were eager to sight-see -- and eat. So we hopped a cable car to Chinatown for dinner. The cars are much less crowded at night (Brian and Josh rode outside, not because they had to but because they wanted to), which was great. 

The rides are crazy expensive ($10 per person one way) but NOT riding them when in San Francisco is like going to New York without going to see the Empire State Building. 

By default (late in making our vacation plans) we ended up booking a hotel in San Francisco's core, near the infamous Tenderloin district. Just a few blocks to the west, neighborhoods were dicey but where we were wasn't bad. The hotel was bizarre -- it had been  a typical mid-century motor hotel, then, when the neighborhood turned into a Little Saigon in the 70s, a Vietnamese restaurant/hotel. More recently, a boutique chain bought it --it's called The Phoenix --and redid it all eclectic retro early 60s. It was actually pretty fun, and most importantly, the teens thought it was 'cool', which makes us cool parents by default.

Chinatown turned out to be more interesting --and dirtier-- than expected. We had a fun, and expensive (the Trouteholes love tea) visit to a tea shop, a bizarre episode in a fortune cookie factory and great sightseeing. We dined a a hole-in-the-wall cafe where Jess ate a steamed bun that looked like a dead jellyfish (but she loved it) and my trip to the bathroom took me into the kitchen and up three flights of stairs.

Funniest moment -- the reaction of the kids when they finally noticed all the shops with explicit sexual figurines in their display windows. 

A little culture never hurt anyone,

Fisherman's Wharf was not really how I remembered it. It's still very much about food, mostly seafood, but it's turned WAY more touristy, like Atlantic City or something, We ate great seafood and sourdough (now wish I had room in my luggage for 10 more loaves), people-watched like crazy and bought cheesy souvenirs. 

It was foggy when we went to see the Golden Gate, then cleared as we toured the surrounding area, so we were able to see it at its best -- both ways. We walked to the center, which I highly recommend. It gets you past the all the wimpy tourists and has wonderful views. We had considered renting bikes to do the same but were glad we didn't. There were so many tourists on the walkway it would have been more trouble than it was worth. 

 One of the last things we did in the City was visit Japantown, a decidedly understated visit compared to Chinatown. But it was interesting in terms of history and culture -- and consumerism. An amazing mall filled with items Japanese buyers are likely to want captivated for quite a while, along with some great ramen.