Road Warrior Momma: Day 19 - June 17, 2018, San Francisco, CA

Day 19, June 17, 2018

San Francisco, CA

Tons of Miles by foot/hours

You guys, I wrote a super long post about this day. It was Epic! We rocked this city and I had good stories to share. It pains me to even type this – I didn’t save the document. I lost everything. This sucks. I’m attempting to recreate it, but my heart isn’t in it – so forgive what follows.

Rich wanted us to get up at 5 a.m. this morning, to be the first ones on the Cable Car (as we’ve experienced dreadful lines in the past). Um, no. Majority rules.

We stepped onto the Mason Street Cable Car at 8 a.m. (after about a 20-minute wait). Children loved it, and we rode all the way to the Wharf. We walked to Pier 39, the location of our favorite SF breakfast spot, The Eagle Café. They serve an out-of-this-word Bloody Mary. I swear there’s about a half a pound of crab meat in the cocktail. Kelly and I split one. Trust me, it’s built for two.

After breakfast, we walked down the pier to see the sea lions. The children were enthralled by their barking. It was quite chilly, and I believe that made them more playful. Even I had fun watching them roll around and play fight with each other. That’s until a bird almost flew into my head. Buh-bye.

Back to Fisherman’s Wharf, we strolled and window shopped until we got to the Bueno Vista, where we pressured Kelly to order an Irish Coffee. When in San Francisco… She complied, but only took a few sips.

Next stop was Ghirardelli Square, where the children indulged in free samples and purchased chocolate covered strawberries. From there, we wandered to the waterside, where there's a little beach. Rich wanted to go swimming (as he always does when we’re here), but he forgot his towel.

We continued walking westward, towards the Golden Gate, so we could get a decent picture. I would have preferred to have walked all the way to the bridge, but I knew there’d be mutiny! We made it to Fort Mason and got a few pictures, but sadly the day was still overcast at that point. Hunter complained that he was hungry (he didn’t care for his breakfast). He’d spotted an In and Out Burger back on the Wharf, and it didn’t take much to convince Rich. They took off for fast food (and probably hailed a cab as soon as they were out of sight), promising to meet up with us at Grace Cathedral, where we were meeting Brianna.

Brianna is the daughter of some friends of ours from way back when we first moved to Atlanta, in 1998. Once upon a time, Rich and I baby sat her (and her brother). When the twins were born, Brianna sometimes helped me with the boys. She’s now 26, and a gorgeous-single-career girl-all-about town in San Francisco. Time sure does fly.

The journey from the Sunset Beach area to Nob Hill is an arduous one. Kelly, the remaining children, and I climbed some pretty sturdy hills. What a workout. There was some whining involved and I often had to rally the troops, but they did it! Camden declared, “I can’t wait to tell my friends I scaled the mountains of San Francisco! And I regretted every minute of it!”

We didn’t get to go inside Grace Cathedral, as there was a mass. That was a bummer, because that church is pretty impressive, and I really wanted the kids to see it. We met up with Brianna – stunning as always - and were soon joined by Hunter and Rich, who arrived by cab.

We headed over to my favorite hotel, The Fairmont, to have refreshments and snacks. Hunter was most impressed and asked why we weren’t staying there. I explained that it was rather pricey, not appropriate for the road trip – nor children. He asked me if I’d stayed there before. When I admitted that I had, multiple times, he declared, “Well that’s selfish.” A spoiled 17-year-old should know!

Brianna elected to join us for part two of our expedition. An added bonus - as we left the Fairmont we discovered that the sun was out. The day ended up being glorious. We headed over to Lombard Street to show the children the city’s most crooked street. The trek once again involved steep hills – up and down, and soon Rich, Brianna and Kelly bailed. They called an Uber. Can you image? Proud of my chickadees, they stuck with me!

We met up wit the lazy threesome at the bottom of Lombard. There was an SFPD officer handing out sticker badges to some children and we tried to get Camden to go over. He wasn’t interested, “I’m not the guy who takes stickers.” Well, excuse us!

Our next site was Coit Tower. I wanted to walk, but there was dissension in the ranks. Audrey joined the opposing team and hopped in a cab with Kelly, Rich, and Brianna. Me and my boys, we soldiered on (although not without some choice comments from Cam). We arrived in impressive time (the lazy team was shocked by how quickly we made it), even after climbing what seemed like endless stairs to get to the tower (after three steep hills). I must confess, even my heart was beating quickly when we got there.

After a brief respite, we started descending Telegraph Hill to visit the Embarcadero and the Ferry Building. My dear husband, however, kept shooting me the bird when his children weren’t looking. Upon arrival at the Ferry Building, Rich peeled off with Brianna, to get a drink. Kelly and I treated the children to some much-deserved ice cream. We collected Rich and Bri and then had to say goodbye to Brianna. Rich, along with Kelly and Audrey, escorted Brianna home by cab. My three sons and I fished the last leg of our journey on foot.

Today is Father’s Day and we had reservations at The Hillstone Grill (AKA Houston’s). I picked the restaurant naively thinking that it would be somewhat affordable (by SF standards) for the whole family. Simply not the case. Other Houston’s establishments where we’ve dined across to country have offered children’s menu. This one did not and refused to make any accommodations. In other words, my 10-year-old dined on $34 grilled salmon! I’m still sick to my stomach over the bill. Highway robbery people! Plus, there was a 3% surcharged to cover the SF mandated healthcare law. I wasn’t even going to tell Rich that (as I was paying), but somebody else at the table spilled the beans. You can only imagine the commentary.

I decided to walk home, so Rich wouldn’t see me sulk. I’m mostly over it now, the price of doing business in this city I love (although I’m a little upset with SF now, as you’ll see tomorrow). Barrett – of his own accord – walked back with me. I tried to get Hunter to join us, and he kind of threw a hissy when Rich said there was no room in the cab for him. End result? The cabbie made room.

Bear is the best walking companion. He walks fast like me, holds my hand, and never bitches about the distance. And let me tell you – it was a long walk home. When we got back, he received a standing ovation from his siblings!

Well, somehow I landed in the flow, found my voice again, and typed my heart away! I can't believe I was able to recreate this post. A sign????