It’s been a really long time since I’ve visited San Francisco, to the point that I have no memory of it. Joseph, on the other hand, has never been there, even though he’s been all over the world. So we thought it’d be a great idea to drive up there for the weekend from LA, and that’s a six – eight hour drive, depending on traffic.
There was a couple of our views during the car trip. We switched off driving, which is a huge deal since Joseph doesn’t like people driving his car (especially me, haha)
As I mentioned, we decided to go to San Fran because it was an undiscovered place for us. I’ve lived in Southern California basically all my life, and Joseph has been here for a few years as well. Yet, we never travel north very much, partly because it’s such a long drive. But it was time to go, as we might be moving out of the state in a couple of years.
It was a weird moment when I realized there is very little to see during the six hour drive up north. Farms after farms, rolling hills after rolling hills, trucks after trucks. Not many developed areas until San Francisco. A couple of hours into the drive, we switched off and I became the driver of Joseph’s car, yet I still had no power over what music we would listen to T_T” As I mentioned before, we ran out of gas. See, we didn’t know that an eight mile bridge was upon us since we didn’t know the area at all, and he had thought there would be a lot of gas stations off the freeway he could take. But all of a sudden, there were no more exits but there was a bridge and the car was at its last drop of gas.
During the final stretch to our destination, prior to the first bridge we would drive on, the car ran out of gas XD We were just hoping and praying that the car wouldn’t break down on the bridge. With its last UMPH, we exited the freeway on only momentum to an overpriced gas station. At the time, it was a horrible situation, but now, after surviving it, what an interesting experience.
Panic was upon us. Joseph was stressing like a madman, cursing like a sailor. The view overlooking the bridge was quite beautiful yet it was the wrong time to take in the area in such a circumstance. Even after we got through the bridge, there was still three miles to go till the nearest gas station. And just as the exit came up, the car ran out of gas, and running on momentum. Joseph had said that he could feel the car gasping for air and chugging with a heart attack. Luckily, we made it with seconds to spare and filled her up.
After six hours of driving and nearly running out of gas, we were happy to arrive to our hotel. We stayed at a hotel at Daly City.
We made a quick stop to our Hampton Inn hotel at Daly City around 3pm before departing to the Port of San Fran. There’s always a learning curve to public transportation in a new city, and this was no different. It took about an hour to get to the Port from the Hotel.
At the front of the Port of San Francisco.
After such a tiring day driving, we ended up just walking around Fisherman’s Wharf on a COLD and WINDY day. I was not wearing proper attire for such a weather and was shivering most of the time. Fisherman’s Wharf was definitely a tourist location and the place was PACKED with tour booths, San Fran Souvenir shops, and tourists. We visited the Ghirardelli Square, just at the end of the Fisherman’s Wharf area, where the company’s factory was located originally, and the place is now transformed to a small shopping center, with 2 Ghirardelli stores as the main attraction.
At the end of the walk, we went back to Fisherman’s Wharf and entered Port 9 – Fisherman’s Grotto restaurant for a taste of the eateries in town. The view was amazing and the food was delicious! I have never eaten Pacific Red Snapper before as I usually eat shrimp at a seafood restaurant, so I was happy that trying something new turned out to be a good idea.
When we finally finished, it was about 7:30. We were tired and ready for bed, especially if it would take an hour to get back to the hotel via public transportation. We tried to find the electric train that went back to the Port of San Fran, and when that became too confusing, Joseph (in spite) decided we should just walk to the Port, as it would be ‘faster than taking the train’. Little did he realize it was a 3-4 mile walk, haha. I had fun walking by all the piers. Joseph on the other hand, not so much XD
Great way to end the first day of our trip!
