5 July 2017. There were a lot of sights I needed to see while visiting San Francisco and it was a beautiful day to be outside. After grabbing coffee from the local Starbucks, Natalie and I went straight downtown.
Our first stop: Alamo Square to see the Painted Ladies. A common misconception is that the Painted Ladies are where the Full House series is shot, but in reality, these beautiful Victorian homes are only used as a backdrop for the theme song.
The stunning street opened up as we came round the corner from where Natalie had parked, and thankfully, there weren’t that many people around so we could choose a photo spot at our leisure. I felt good knowing that it was the start of yet another good day.
Being a fan of Grand Theft Auto, it should come as no surprise that I was particularly excited about our next stop: Lombard Street. It’s funny because this wouldn’t be the first time I recognised a place from a game I played. Within 15 minutes of leaving the Painted Ladies, we arrived near the top of Lombard Street. I really didn’t expect to see Alcatraz that close up when I got to the top of the hill.
Since I had no intention of visiting Alcatraz (with all the construction that was going on at the time), this view was the best I got.
Lombard Street was absolutely packed with tourists, mostly Asians, who were not paying any attention to the traffic whatsoever.
As we walked down the left side of the street, I tried noticing every detail that I possibly could: the little driveways branching off into some of the houses, the manicured gardens with an endless amount of multi-coloured hydrangeas, the view of the city, particularly Coit Tower and the Bay Bridge, and what a nightmare it must be to live on that road. As beautiful as it is, I would hate the inconvenience of trying to get my car out of the garage every morning, and having dozens of people outside my window all day everyday. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but wonder what the rent of one of those homes must be.
After taking the slowest drive ever down Lombard Street (of course, going any faster wasn’t an option), we headed to Crissy Field, the place Alfredo had told me about when we did his ‘famous’ city tour. Crissy Field is formerly a U.S. Army airfield, but closed some 40 years ago and is now open to the public for those who want to have a picnic or just hang out in the company of the Golden Gate bridge.
It was a decent 15-20 minute walk from where we parked to the base of the Golden Gate, and I was elated that for the first time since arriving in the city, I could see the entire bridge.
I was a little concerned about the clouds behind the bridge though because they normally move in the direction that I was coming from, so I thought I should enjoy whatever limited time I had to take it all in.
As we got closer and closer to the bridge, it was as though a miracle happened…the clouds totally receded. As we were walking, I remember telling Natalie that I just keep getting happier and happier the closer to it we get. I was actually overwhelmed with a plethora of memories of growing up watching Full House and Charmed, especially the Whitelighter Leo standing on top of the bridge talking to The Elders. It sounds silly, but it was almost as though I could see him.
Natalie had been telling me about the crab sandwich from Nick’s ever since day 1, so after I took in as much of the Golden Gate that I could, we headed straight for the car and to Pacifica where Nick’s was located. Natalie has a sign on her car that allows her to park anywhere, so we parked practically inside the restaurant. I always found that sign to be super useful – I wish I had one, but I can’t really justify it (which I guess is a good thing).
Nick’s first opened in 1927 and is practically on the beach. It had turquoise blue couches throughout and I felt as though I had stepped into a time machine because it appeared to have all the original decor from back then. A friendly waiter got us both the iced tea we had ordered, which was absolutely nothing like what we get in South Africa. Honestly, I didn’t particularly like it at all, but it worked in quenching my thirst.
So how was the crab sandwich other than being really expensive at something like $25? Absolutely delicious. They cram so much crab into it that it becomes a really thick sandwich, so much that I could only eat half of it. We took the other half home which I never got the chance to have because we kept getting food from elsewhere. I really hope that Natalie or Alfredo had the other half so that it wasn’t wasted. Too bad I couldn’t take it home with me or as a snack on my way to Canada which was in a few days time.
On our way back home, it was as though we were running away from the fog that was rolling in. It was a typical San Franciscan afternoon – one that I would miss.
