QotD on chat: “We’ve just had a nice relaxing gay in San Francisco.” :S

We were going to head up to Mendocino today but decided to opt out of many hours in the car when we are heading back to LA tomorrow and will get plenty of car hours in. That, and there was the pressing matter of the Not So Small Child’s shoes… You see with Mr K being at uni every day last week, and cramming and writing essays every night, it appears some of his packing may have been done by a minor! As such, we have a pair of favourite sneakers with holes in the soles and a pair of much loved jeans that are too small and won’t zip up… He’s growing up way too quick! And as much as I hate shopping at home, I really hate errand type shopping while on holidays but it’s kinda unavoidable.

So we decided to head downtown to go find shoes as number one priority for the morning. Hmmm… cable car for $6 each or quick cab for $10. I suggested walking but was shouted down once we remembered we were in San Framcisco and there’s no such thing as a street that isn’t uphill and down dale. Cabbie was not very chatty but dropped us right outside a massive Designer Shoe Warehouse where some Vans were acquired for the kid.

After that we had a bit of a wander around Union Square and read the memorial nonsense about defeating the Spanish. Saw all the department stores we hear mention on TV and in the movies all the time, (Nieman Marcus, Macy’s, Saks etc) had a look at Tiffany & Co., nearly bought a new key (because they come in bunches! bunches! bunches!) and then reminded myself that I wanted to get my next one from somewhere in Europe, not another from the US – phew, narrow escape there – and basically poked around in The City for a while.

We did decide to take the cable car back to Fisherman’s Wharf though as it just feels like one of those things you have to do while in San Francisco. Waited for what seemed forever for one to come along, and saw so many go past piled high with people. Well, not really piled high, so much as they’re all hanging off the outside!

Finally managed to jump on a cable car and even though it was a short trip to Beach Street, it was so much fun. The conductor on our car obviously really loves his job and was happy to chat with us on the back of the car for the whole ride. Did I say chat? Well, he started off trying to chat me up… claimed all women he’d ever met from Brisbane were blonde and beautiful, ‘just like you, baby’. What a suck up! I told him if he was going to go around calling me ‘baby’ that we ought to at least be on a first name basis!

Anyway we had a fun ride, he had Aunty Mary hanging off the back step and at one point he got the Small Child try and pull the brake on – which was hilarious as it obviously takes quite a bit of muscle to operate.

We went past loads of really steep streets, and my new friend filled me in on being a cable car conductor and how much he loved his job and all the tourists he met. He moaned a bit about the cost of parking in The City ($40/day), recommended a cafe near our hotel (The Hollywood Cafe does a mean breakfast apparently), and told stories of people queue jumping to get on his cable car and also how people literally fall off everyday… but they just leave ’em and keep going!

We made it safely back to Fisherman’s Wharf, had a bite to lunch and decided to head down to the San Francisco Bay Aquarium… mostly because they’ve recently opened a new river otter exhibit. 😀 The place is a lot like Underwater World at Mooloolaba – touch pools, salt water tanks, fishes, corals, turtles, and jellyfish, as well as a 300′ underwater tunnel where you can see a multitude of fishes, sharks, stingrays, starfish etc.

But of course. I was mostly there to watch the otters play. They have an impressive glass enclosure built for three adult river otters that provides excellent views of the little guys as they eat, frolic, play, squabble, swim, scratch and mingle. Awesome little creatures. 🙂

We did a bit of touristy shopping in the gift shops along the main drag and by then it was nearly dinner time. A long but relaxing day was had by all, and I wish I had more time to spend here. I think I’ll be one of those people who says they ‘left their heart in San Francisco’… this is definitely where I parked my car!