Last year I got to visit San Francisco for the first time as part of a mission trip with my church. We spent a total of five days here, but most of them were in the same area of the city (the Tenderloin district), working with an awesome nonprofit organization that you can read about here. It was one of the most impactful trips I've ever been a part of, and hopefully someday I can find the words to properly write about it.
In the meantime though, I wanted to share about the tourist-y side of San Francisco that I also got to see. We only spent a day of our trip sightseeing, which is why this is more of a one-day recap. I didn't know much about San Francisco apart from the Golden Gate bridge, but thanks to one of the leaders on the trip, we were able to see and learn so much on our short time sightseeing. Even though this is not the part of the trip I'll always remember the most and look back to, I am glad we got some time to rest and be tourists for a little while. :)
Our visit to Fisherman's Wharf began with a very long walk. In true San Francisco fashion, we climbed up a mile of streets that were just as insanely steep as I had imagined. My legs were burning by the time we finally reached our destination. If you want to get an idea of how steep the streets truly are, let me just say that at one point they have stairs built into the sidewalk on one side of the street because the stairs are actually easier to climb than the sidewalk.
Besides the workout, the other neat part about walking was all the houses we got to see (and the lovely cathedral pictured above we stopped inside). I learned that San Francisco actually has the most expensive real estate in the country. Houses like the ones pictures above are worth millions of dollars. Nice to look at, but I think I'll stick to Texas for now. ;)
When we finally reached the Golden Gate Bridge, we took a boat tour (the leader who was serving as our travel guide actually paid for all our tours, which was very kind and generous) to see the bridge from close up.
I'll be honest - as someone who loves nature more than buildings and monuments, I was expecting a pretty bridge, but not much more. But this bridge truly took my breath away. Maybe it was the color - a beautiful red against the foggy sky, but it was beautiful to look at. It's definitely one of my favorite man-made structures I've seen so far. The neat thing about the boat tour is that we also got to hear the history behind why and how it was built.
Our boat tour also passed by Alcatraz, the infamous high security prison that once held the nation's most dangerous criminals. I've never been someone who loves to hear about crime stories or high security prisons, but I did find the story behind Alcatraz fascinating. You can apparently book a tour inside the prison, but it usually has to be booked weeks or months in advance. They were sold out when we got there.
One of the things I was most excited about was the chance to see sea lions. Sure enough, they were lying out in the sun by the pier. There weren't as many as I expected on the day they were there, but I'm glad we at least got to see a few of them. They are very cute but also very loud!
Afterward, we headed further into Fisherman's Wharf to eat (clam chowder is iconic here, but I've never been a fan so I opted out), and explore the streets. That alligator bread is from Boudin Bakery, which is a famous San Francisco stop.
We ended the day with a little bit of shopping (where you can see the infamous San Francisco trolley) and then headed home to where we were staying. While San Francisco wasn't a city that's ever been at the top of my bucket list, it was nice to visit and see all the iconic parts of it firsthand. I wouldn't mind going back someday to do some more exploring.
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