The Streets Of San Francisco: Day Three

Saturday morning did not find us rising quite as early as we did on Friday. We didn't have any appointments, as Saturday was going to be our 'free day' to just do what we wanted, when we wanted. There was plenty left on our list...Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury, walk the Golden Gate Bridge, lunch in Sausalito, etc. However, due to 'Mary' feeling a little 'under the weather', the Girls very graciously gave her time to get moving. Actually, around noon they were preparing to head out to Chinatown to pick up a few souvenirs without 'Mary'...but she managed to pull it together and go with them.

We walked the long way around to Chinatown so that we could enter under the gate at its southern end. We had intended to rush in, pick up a few things we had seen during our Tour of the City the day before and rush out. Yet, when we entered Chinatown, the desire to hurry quickly faded. Maybe we were expecting the same Chinatown we had experienced in New York...rushed, crowded and invasive. Instead we found a relaxing atmosphere where people went out of their way to help you find what you wanted with smiles on their faces.

A bit of trivia for you: San Francisco's Chinatown is the largest outside of Asia.

We asked a local shop owner where to find lunch and were directed to the R & G Lounge where we had some of the best Egg Drop Soup I have ever eaten (it had mushrooms in it). After lunch we walked the two blocks back to the shops and finished our shopping for the day.

The next 30 minutes I would really rather forget, as we trudged UP the hills to make it back to the flat. Seriously, it was horrendous trying to walk those hills. I only thought going down the day before was bad. Once we had an all uphill climb, I almost didn't make it. You would know that not a single available taxi drove by us. I had to stop at least three times to catch my breath going up each block. And that was with Beverly walking behind me trying to help push me! I cannot even begin to imagine how I would have made it if I hadn't been working out since the middle of January.

Since we had a late start that 'Mary' felt was her fault, she suggested we hire a car for a few hours to see some of the sights that we had missed. Beverly really wanted to go into a few of the vintage clothing shops at Haight-Ashbury. We freshened up a bit, called for a car and headed out the door again.

These pictures were taken during our tour the day before, but I wanted you to get a feel for the area. I didn't take any pictures on Saturday...but one of the other Girls may have a few. There wasn't a need to take a lot of pictures when we were mostly shopping, I guess.

We started out in a resale shop that has been in the area for years. Bev found a few things that caught her eye, but the next store really got her attention. It had nothing but vintage clothing from the 50's through the 80's. We walked through playing 'remember when'. It was a pretty cool place. The stores closed early and we didn't get to make it down to the record store...so we headed to North Beach for a bite to eat. Since both our driver and Patrick (our tour guide from Friday) had recommended Calzone's...that is where we headed. They were the largest calzones I have ever seen. Two of us shared one and still had to take leftovers home. (I had the pizza, just so I could compare it to Grimaldi's in Brooklyn. My thoughts: tie, but now I can hardly stand to eat pizza here in Texas.)

We headed straight back to our flat after dinner, because we had a day trip planned for Sunday. I will fill you in on the delightful surprise I received on that trip next time.