Monday – July 20, 2015
Since today was our last day in San Francisco, we wanted to finish our “to do” list of activities. We had a relatively quick breakfast at the hotel and walked to Ghirardelli Square to catch the tour bus.
What a difference a day makes! Yesterday’s heavy traffic was gone and very few vehicles were on Route 101 northbound. We held our breath through the tunnel after yesterday’s experience, and we had a glorious smooth ride across the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge!
San Francisco Bay glistened in the bright sunlight and the city looked majestic. Our bus drove around the loop near Sausalito and returned to the Presidio with a full view of the Pacific Ocean to our right.
Today we planned to use the bus as transportation to Golden Gate Park and we got off at the California Academy of Sciences. We were very pleasantly surprised by the wonderful exhibits.
We began with the enclosed Rain Forest exhibit and walked the circular path from the ground floor up to the high canopy where butterflies fluttered around freely.
Afterwards, we followed signs to the aquarium and were totally captivated by the incredible displays of aquatic life from all over the world.
The Earthquake exhibit caught our attention. After a while, we enjoyed a tasty lunch outdoors on the terrace of the cafeteria at the Academy of Sciences. Then we browsed the gift shop before we walked across the Golden Gate Park to the Japanese Tea Garden.
We strolled along the paths of the manicured garden, admired beautiful plants, and took photos in the afternoon light. Our destination was the Tea House to sample varieties of green tea. The Girls ordered Sencha and I had Jasmine Tea. We also shared a sample of Kuzumochi – sweet rice cakes.
It was getting late so we caught the tour bus again and rode through the city for the last time on this trip.
Near the Union Square business district, we left the bus and walked to Market Street to get the F Tram back to Fisherman’s Wharf. It was the long way around, but it was fun to see San Francisco one last time.
We ended the day with a delicious seafood dinner at Scoma’s for their garlic infused Cioppino and did some final souvenir shopping. We enjoyed a wonderful week with The Girls visiting one of our favorite cities. We’re looking forward to many more great adventures in the future.