Saturday, November 6, 2010

San Francisco - second tries

After cleaning up from our towel disaster we hopped in the car and drove about 40 miles west to a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Station. Of course this took two tries, and finally a good postman helped us find the station. Tickets were purchased on the second try. The darn machine refused a twenty dollar bill, so we whipped out a credit card and quickly got two round trip tickets. A short wait and we were off, and I did not have to drive. Yeah!! A few stops later and a quick trip under the bay, and we arrived at the Embarcadero station and embarked, of course. We arrived back up at street level and tried to figure out where the heck we were. Maps were not much help, so Foxy finally got out her phone which tells you where you are and provides maps of the immediate area. So clever, and if you have Altzeimers you might not know who you are, but at least where you are lost.

We had decided to go to Fisherman's Wharf for a look around and maybe find a good place to get fresh seafood. Walking the total way was out of the question as Foxy's back prevents her from walking very far. So, being ever inventive, we rode in a rickshaw type contraption peddled by a young man. He was very friendly and talked the whole way, but since I can't hear very well, I missed most of what he had to say. He delivered us right to the door of Aliotos Restaurant right on the pier. We didn't even check the menu displayed by their front entrance, we just walked in and onward upstairs where the hostess got us right to a table.

If you ever watched the television show Golden Girls, you will recognize this next part. Sophia was a character (she played Dorothy's mother on the show), and frequently she would start a story by saying,"Picture this....." So, "Picture this.... We are sitting at a table with a huge window looking out at fishing boats, to the left is Fisherman's Wharf and other restaurants, and in the distance is the lovely Golden Gate Bridge, all lit up since it is nearly sundown." What a setting and wonderful food, as well. Foxy had Cioppino, and I had a fried selection of oysters, shrimp and calamari. Mrs. Alioto had invented the Cioppino dish years ago, and it was wonderful.

We walked out of the restaurant filled by a wonderful dinner and having had a million dollar view the whole time. We finally found a bus (which took us the long was around through Chinatown to the downtown area by Union Square) to take us back to a BART station for the ride home.

We carefully checked our BART schedule and after making a necessary transfer, were headed east. We got off the train and could not find our car. A BART policeman tried to help, and gradually we learned that we had gotten off one station too late with a similoar name and had to go back to the previous one. Everyone seemed to feel sorry for us, and this part of the trip was FREE.

Finally we found our car (our final second try), and we quickly drove the forty miles back to our motor coach and one very cross legged dog who had to go NOW. We got to San Francisco and who knows, we may try it again today. Happy travels.

No comments: