Into the Heart of San Francisco

I woke up today (7/17) around 8 am and already had an adventure in mind. While I had visited the Presidio of San Francisco and explored a couple San Francisco streets, I hadn't gone into the true heart of SF. I decided that my goal for the day would be to visit the S.S. Jeremiah, Ghirardelli Square, Lombard Street, and Fisherman's Wharf. Although it didn't go exactly as I planned, but it truly was a grand and fun adventure! (Disclaimer: This is a longer post with a lot of photos. I have split the post into four parts to make it a little more manageable. I suggest reading a part and then taking a break before moving on. The title of every part is denoted with bold lettering and underlining: like this.)

BART and the First Steps

I decided that I would not be driving into the heart of San Francisco myself, because numerous travel sites warned of expensive parking fees and car robberies. Instead, I decided to park in Daly City and take the Bay Area Transit (BART) into the city.

Now for context, I've never really ridden public transit like this before. I've been on public busses and locomotive trains, but I've never taken a city train from place to place. All that in mind, I was pretty excited. I paid my train fee and loaded up onto the transit.

The train ride wasn't THAT spectacular, but it was kinda cool to do something that I'd seen in so many movies. Fortunately, my train was much cleaner and less cramped than those depicted on the big screen.

I got off the train in Embarcadero and headed for my first stop, the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien. It was about a 20 minute walk, and along the way I saw numerous cool art pieces and ships, like the one's pictured below.

Taking a pic next to this water fountain (under construction)

I was shocked by the mere size of this cruise ship (the picture doesn't do it justice)

Exploring the S.S. Jeremiah

After my sightful walk, I had finally arrived at the S.S. Jeremiah! To say I was impressed was an understatement. For a little insight, the S.S. Jeremiah was a Liberty battleship that was developed, along with hundreds others, to fight the axis powers in WWII. It not only held tons of supplies, but it also carried plenty of men. The S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien is one of the only two remaining Liberty ships built for the war.

First sight of the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien

You don't really understand the true magnificence and impressiveness of a military ship like the Jeremiah until you actually see it in real life. The ship itself was HUGE, and I was blown away by the amount of work and craftsmanship it would take to make a ship like this-especially one that would be under fire. Entrance onto the ship is $20 for an adult (and less for seniors, youth, and students). This is a more than fair price for the ability to explore the ENTIRE ship and the Museum that is within it. As I walked up the stairs onto the ship, I began brainstorming how I would possibly see the entire thing.

Sitting in the officer's mess hall

I started on the first level crew quarters, which contained a mess hall, a kitchen, and plenty of crew rooms. I don't know about you, but I'd have a really hard time taking a poop when my fellow seaman in barely out of view.

Restrooms on the S.S. Jeremiah

Just when I had finished looking into all the different rooms, I discovered a stairwell into the engine room. Let me tell you, it was HUGE. No pictures I took could do it's size justice... but it was still worth taking a few.

Going up one of the numerous staircases that composed the engine room

Engine cylinder block

The engine room is composed of at least four different layers, the lowest of which is typically closed off to visitors. Fortunately, the crew went down there to adjust some things and said I could take a look around while they worked!

Trying to decide which tool would be best for each job

Those are some big wrenches

Lot's of steam gauges in this ol' thing

I couldn't even comprehend how a human could keep that engine running with all the stairs and different gauges, but alas, I was content just dreaming about it. After exploring the engine room, I decided to move out onto the deck.

Establishing shot of the back end of the deck

Don't worry, I didn't actually mess with any levers

Trying to feel that seaman spirit while looking at the escape boat

Establishing shot of the front end of the deck

It may be cloudy, but it was still pretty bright!

Preparing to fight against any wayward scoundrel ships

I could write an entire post about the specific steps of my journey, but I would be a lot of "and then I...", so instead, I'll just say that I did see the entire trip, but the vessel was grand enough that one could spend an entire day checking things out. I had other things on my San Francisco to-do list, so I went through the entire thing pretty fast and didn't take everything in. Including the museum, which had plenty of great educational facts about the war.

Looking into the compass in the central control room

By the time I finished with the ship, it was nearing lunch time, so I looked for a place to eat. Many of the restaurants were crazy overpriced, but I happened to stumble into a Mexican restaurant called "El Farolito" with burrito's that were under $10. This was more than a fair price for what they were offering. The burrito was not only big in size, but delicious in flavor.

Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39

After filling up and feeling satisfied with my meal, I noticed that my phone battery was dangerously low, and I needed to find somewhere to charge it. After a quick Google search, I discovered that Pier 39 had a charging station within it's California Welcome Center. Lucky for me, Pier 39 was on Fisherman's Wharf, which was on my to-do list.

When I arrived, my sense where quickly assaulted by a gaint crowd of tourists. For context, Pier 39 is a huge tourist attraction, and I mean HUGE. I could barely walk from store to store without bumping into 4 different people going every which way. As cool as it might have been to attract all those tourists, I was on a mission and decided I wasn't gonna stick around this tourist mess. I found the charging station and looked around the California Welcome Center for about an hour, while my phone charged up.

Even though I was determined to get out of Pier 39, as quickly as possible, I decided that the least I could do was walk out to the end of the pier and look at the ocean. Alas, along by walk, I stumbled upon the sea lion resting spot!

The sea lions rest on those wooden platforms

Three sea lions on the boat launch

One loner on the resting platforms

While it would be an overstatement to see the sea lions were amazing, it was kinda neat to see a few in person. After taking a few photos, I continued my walk to the end of the pier. When I got there, I took a commemorative photo. I guess now I can say I've been to Pier 39

Photo at the end of Pier 39

After my photo and a quick rest, I departed Pier 39 with haste. My next stop was Lombard Street, but it was about a 20 minute walk through Fisherman's Wharf, so I had to take a photo.

Fisherman's Wharf crab clock and shopping district

Along my walk, I saw that Ghirardelli Square was just 0.2 miles ahead, and considering that it was on my to-do list, I decided I'd check it out before hitting Lombard Street

Ghirardelli Square and the King

The square was a fun place to hang out and catch my breath for a second. There were numerous sweet treat stores, including the Ghirardelli store itself, but I did not purchase anything there. Instead, I used the picturesque plaza for just that, pictures!

Don't let me fool you, that's a heavy sign

Neat little fountain in the center of the square

On my way out, I noticed a Ghirardelli themed throne and couldn't resist the urge to take a few photos... After all, I am the king

King Elam in a contemplative mood

King Elam in a good mood

Lombard Street and the Trolly

My time at Ghirardelli Square and Pier 39 had certainly been inundated with tourists, but the biggest tourist attraction was yet to come. I had passed the turn for Lombard Street on my way to Ghjirardelli Square, so I retraced my step and began an uphill climb to the infamous street. Disclaimer: Now I did not take any photos at Lombard Street, I hope that gives you an idea of how disappointing it was.

As I finally came to the crest of the hill, I saw a crowd of people gathered at what I presumed to be Lombard Street. When I got to the crowd and saw the street for the first time, it would be an understatement to say I was disappointed. I cannot stress this enough, Lombard Street is just a street that curves a bunch. In fact, Lombard Street is so lame, that they had to plant a bunch of flowers to make photo ops more interesting. Don't ask me why there were hundreds of tourists taking pictures all throughout the street, because I honestly couldn't tell you.

Anyways, as disappointing as Lombard Street was, there was a Trolly stop at the top of the street, so I could check off another to-do on my list. I waited for about five minutes, and the trolly arrived.

Mid-ride photo op

Now the trolly was pretty fun and helped picked me up after the Lombard Street disappointment, but it certainly didn't blow me away. With all the items on my to-do list checked off, I began the walk back to BART

The Walk to BART

Now I had a long walk back to BART. It was, in fact, the longest stretch of walking I had done all day. Fortunately, as I strolled past numerous storefronts and houses, one residency caught my eye.

House covered in vines... Pretty neat

Now the house pictured above isn't spectacular, but it is pretty neat and you can tell a lot of work was put into growing the vines around the house like that. The real reason I found it so significant, is because it was way cooler than Lombard Street and made for a way cooler photo-op. I hate to say it, but all those tourists taking photos at Lombard Street are missing out on the actual shots.

Also along my walk, I happened to walk by the new Nintendo store that had just opened in downtown San Francisco.

The Nintendo Store storefront

Taking a photo with my man Link

Now I'm not a huge Nintendo fan and the store wasn't amazing, but it was another fun little spectacle to take in before I left the area. Although I didn't buy anything, I got a photo with a statue of my favorite Nintendo character, Link.

Not only did I complete the mission I had set for myself at the beginning of the day, I had seen and experienced many cool things that I hadn't 't even planned for! If that isn't a good day, then I don't know what is. After exploring the Nintendo Store, I finished my walk to BART and loaded onto the train. As the heart San Francisco drifted into the distance, I couldn't help but reflect on the many fun experiences I had during the day.