We arrived in Napa pretty late (6 or so). The only thing that was open was this wine tasting place next to the visitor’s information center. This turned out to be very good for us. Inside we tasted 5 wines for $10 bucks. The host was very nice and explained everything to us, answered all our questions – showed us the ropes a but basically. He also gave us a complementary salmon and spinach dip and an extra wine to taste. He also threw in a free bottle of wine to take with us. The wines were good all around – white, red, and desert.
Napa itself was very beautiful to drive through. Vineyards surround you as you drive on a two lane road with grassy mountains flanking your left and right. Leaving Napa was a beautiful but very long and windy road. It was not a very pleasurable experience as it got dark and the road entered a forest. We were constantly on the lookout for animals. In addition, I hear that some passengers in our car may have almost gotten sick. We were very glad to reach Highway 101, which runs along the coast. We stopped for the night and were on schedule to get an early start the following day.
Also on the way, we passed through a town called Los Banos. To our surprise, it was a very established town. We passed by a sign pointing to “downtown Los Banos” and I thought to myself this must be the dirtiest place in the world. We arrived in San Francisco a couple hours later, no dirtier than before. We had no place to stay, and we placed a call to our lifeline, Inna. She worked her magic and got us a room in a Best Western right in Fisherman’s Wharf for about $65 a night, when rooms average about $150 in San Fran. That night all we did was wash the 4 day old cakey, crusty exoskeleton off and relax.
The next morning we woke up relatively late (10ish), figured out what we wanted to do and set off. First, we explored Pier 39, a touristy pier as all touristy piers are. I found a street vendor which was selling clam chowder poured into a scooped sour dough roll. The soup was delicious, one of the best chowders I’ve had. There was also a little area on the pier where there must have been over 100 sea lions sunbathing. We walked to a neighborhood called Russian Hill, where the famous crooked street is. Along the way we walked down a street that was very steep. We were amazed to see cars parked perpendicularly there. It seemed that if we’d nudge them just a bit, they would flip over. We proceeded to walk to other neighborhoods such as Little Italy and Chinatown. Little Italy was pleasant with cafes and restaurants. Chinatown was just grocery store after grocery store. Produce, fish, meats, dried & packaged goods galore and cheap. Eugene was in Heaven. Afterwards we walked to Japantown, where we ate noodles and rice dishes. We stopped by the 7 painted ladies (the famous houses that you’ll recognize from the Full House introduction). We must’ve spent 20 minutes just sitting in the adjacent park and looking at them. It was just very serene and relaxing. We checked out the Jazz district (disappointing) and took the old school cable car back to our hotel at Fisherman’s Warf.
The cable car is mostly a tourist transportation device nowadays, but it was one of the coolest experiences to ride it. It works by being pulled by a cable that is run underground. When it reaches the end of the line, it is turned around on a turntable by several workers. We were lucky and we got the standing (hanging off the side) spots right at the front. Being at the front, you get your picture taken a lot by fellow pedestrian tourists. It doesn’t go very fast, but that is part of its appeal. We were whizzing by mere inches from cars, hanging to the side on turns and gripping right down steep streets. At one point I was taking pictures and my legs got hit by these vertical plastic dividers in the road. Note the picture of Eugene laughing hysterically. This is a must do in San Francisco. We made plans to go eat dinner, but instead we watched TV and played video games in our room. Party onnn.
The next day we followed a 49 mile scenic route around the city. It took us by the Golden Gate bridge (which we drove on), several parks and scenic streets. We stopped at a diner by the ocean and I had some brunch (nothing spectacular). Napa Valley, here we come!
We arrived at 17 Mile drive, a paid scenic route along the ocean coast. Along the road, we saw many beautiful houses, mansions and villas. The weather was pretty cold and cloudy – perhaps this is why this road didn’t really make an impression on us. Or maybe its because they had a picnic area with no bathrooms. Cmon!! We spotted some seals relaxing on rocks, made stops along the road and were glad to go on our way to San Francisco.
On our way, we passed through Silicon Valley, home to a plethora of tech companies. We located one of the Google buildings and drove through the parking lot. Everyone looked like a nerd and was un-groomed and unshaven. We fit right in. We spotted some other notable companies like eBay, PayPal, Yahoo, and linkedin.
