Coastal Cruise Pt 3

Note to self, "self, stay away from the International Cafe on deck 5!". Seriously, the deserts served in the cafe are in most cases better than served in the main dining room and I find myself somehow drawn to the place.

Last Saturday as we prepared to sail the extended forecast for San Francisco called for a 50% chance of rain. Well, we were in port from 07:00 until 11:00 PM and had maybe two hours of rain and mostly light rain at that. So mostly cloudy was something we could work with. Light jacket with a hood, camera, and cell phone would be all that I need.

When in vacation mode, and in a port that we have visited several times past, we are not in any way early risers (except me to watch the sail under the Golden gate). So once everyone was awake and ready for the day we went to the Horizon Court for breakfast and chose a table with an Embarcadero view. From our table we could see all the way to Fisherman's Wharf and see the vintage street cars rumbling along. Taking the classic street car up toward Fisherman's Wharf was definitely in the plans.

With no real plan of attack we headed down to the pier and then out to the Embarcadero and across to the median where the street car stop was located. $2.25 each to get up to the Wharf was fine and very much the nostalgic experience. Anxiously we waited at the stop with several other passengers and soon we could hear the rumble of the steel wheels against the rails coming nearer. The bells chimed and the driver sounded the horn as he approached and the car grinded to a halt right in front of us. All aboard! The driver did a great job navigating around the pedestrians, bicyclists and the distracted motorists and we worked our way to the wharf. Only one near miss in the short run; two pedestrians engrossed with the sights nearly walked directly into the path of the streetcar. I am amazed that with all the noise and the bright yellow color of our streetcar that they really could not notice our approach! They were fortunate the driver was watching for them.

Yes, Fisherman's Wharf is very much a tourist thing to do but it is such a bustling place and offers so much people watching to be an entertaining venue. Plenty of souvenir and gift shops vie for the attention of the visitors and a variety of tours are offered such as harbor cruises, hop-on-hop-off tours, bike rentals, sport fishing, ferries across to Sausalito and Alcatraz. Then the best thing in my opinion are the choices of restaurants, some of the best the city has to offer including wine tasting and beer tasting opportunities. Of course, there is the famous sourdough bread bakery; how can you not stop in a grab a loaf or two or...

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After several hours we venture back toward the cruise ship pier but still in the wharf area we hit Pier 39 just as a rain shower was starting. Quickly we dropped in to the Wipeout Bar and Grill for a couple local brews and some appetizers to wait out the rain. The brief downpour lasted a shorter time than my 23 ounce beer, darn. Not a big deal to just hang out while finishing up our drinks and the apps before being drawn to a chocolate shop. You know, with the scent of chocolate in the air you just got to stop and have a sample. I think I felt my waist line let out a moan.

With the wharf and Pier 39 visits complete, we were already well into dinner service on the ship and decided to walk back to pier 27 and the Crown Princess. The walk did me good and I convinced myself that it was long enough to work off the beer and the chocolate which justifies a good desert for this evening at the International Cafe. Who am I kidding, the likelihood of two deserts from the cafe are very high.

The ship sailed at 11:00 PM and we were passing under the Golden Gate less than 30 minutes alter on our way to sea, another sea day, and then Santa Barbara on Wednesday. I love the sea days and am looking forward to our Tuesday at sea. More to come as I can get internet connections.