Another day is complete and we only have 2 more left. That makes me sad just thinking about it. Anyway, today we went to The Rock (
I've been waiting 2 year to go since we didn't see it back in 2008 when we were here last.
Its a really creepy place. I didn't realize prison cells are so small. They are about the size of a queen size been and that’s it. Kristyn’s dad jumped in one of the cells and posed for a picture. Once behind the bars and another one on the toilet. Good stuff.
Next to the normal cells down the next block you have the hole which is a cell inside of another cell with no lights. I would go nuts and I'm sure most prisoners did. They were telling stories about prisoners and how they would take a button from their uniforms and toss it to the other side of the room. Then they would try to find the button to pass the time. That sounds like fun. After spending a few hours there we went back to
I probably could have slept the rest of the day but everyone else wanted dinner. We ate at the cheesecake factory in Union square a few blocks from our hotel. Tomorrow, Dennis and I will be traveling to the west side of
This morning, Jacob and I fully intended to go to Glide Church - www.glide.org. We aren't big church people, but I had heard that this was an awesome experience, and I really wanted to go. However, that did not happen. I remember opening my eyes at 7:30AM (PST) and telling Jacob that it was 7:30, but apparently neither of us registered that we needed to be getting up and going. Therefore, we "ditched God" as my dad said.
When we did get up, we went with my parental units to get some breakfast at Pinecrest Diner. Jacob and I had eaten there before, it's very good and very busy. Definitely worth it.
We then headed back to Fisherman's Wharf for the millionth time via bus. We were going to take the Powell-Mason cable car, but some assholes jumped in front of us and took our spot. This was our view from the cable car stop:
We got our tickets for the 12:30 Bay Cruise. This one went under the Golden Gate and around Alcatraz. It was nice and breezy and had a really good audio tour.
The Ferry that took us around the bay.
America's favorite bridge - Big Red. Actually, the official color is "international orange". Fun fact for you.
I have mad bridge photo taking skills.
See the net under the bridge? They have painters constantly painting the bridge. Once they finish, they start back over again. They do the same thing for the Bay Bridge.
Madre, Kristyn with her new sun specs, and Padre.
We then hiked over to Yerba Buena Gardens. I was not thoroughly impressed. A lot of the exhibits they advertised were not there. They had some cool things, like a "Design Your Own Puma's" exhibit, but not what I wanted to see. I wanted to see the computer gaming and skateboarding exhibits, but those were missing. They had a big Filipino fair going on outside, and I wished that my foot was in working order so that I could look around, but it wasn't and I didn't get to.
Tomorrow it is off to investigate the Rock! Father is quite excited and wants to get a "prisoner hat and shirt." I'm sure that will be lovely. My foot has been sitting on ice all evening in hopes that it will be in working order, or at least partial working order, tomorrow. Then we will be shopping and doing other things that I don't know of yet.
On Saturday we volunteered at a homeless restaurant through HOBA - Hands On Bay Area (www.hoba.org - for Ash :) ). HOBA is just a volunteer organization in the bay area that we signed up for the opportunity under, but this particular restaurant is run by a married couple with two little boys who devote their weekends to running this restaurant. They serve homeless people a meal, restaurant style, and even allow them to bring their own container for take out. Dad and I were on dishes duty, which was better for me since apparently I have a stress fracture in my foot. It was really hot and my hands were completely prune-like, but it was worth it. Jacob and mom were bussing tables. We were there from 12:30ish -3:00. They serve about 100 people per session, with one session in the morning and one at lunch time. It's quite the operation, but makes a huge difference.
Before volunteering, we investigated the San Fran MOMA - Museum of Modern Art. I'm not a huge art person, but it was included in the GO cards and I was intrigued.
We didn't stay long because we had to get to the restaurant to volunteer and it was rather painful for me to walk around for long. It was interesting, but is something that you need more time to devote to for sure. I really wanted to visit the LGBT Heritage Museum down the street, but we never got a chance to do so.
After we went back to the hotel so that I could ice my foot for awhile, we went to CIty Lights Bookstore outside of Chinatown. http://www.citylights.com/. It's very popular in San Francisco and has a cool layout that is nothing like your typical Barnes and Noble. I found a book that I have had on my Amazon wishlist for awhile now - Between Barack and A Hard Place by Tim Wise. I realized while I went to purchase it that it was actually published by the bookstore that I was standing in. Cool.
We then wandered around Chinatown and went to a night market. There were quite a few performers and it was entertaining, as always. I will go back in a couple days, I could spend several days wandering around there, I love it.
The Farmer's Market had over 100 stalls! Everything was there. It was in the Ferry Building in the Embarcadero. In the front there were stalls with everything - flowers, vegetables, hygiene products, chocolate. Inside the building there was wine, cheese, meat and a couple restaurants. In the back, outside, there were baked goods (really good muffins!), more fruit, and a couple restaurants. It was awesome! Completely different to the little 5 stall market I'm used to in Three Rivers. lol.
Not a lot of pictures today but it was still very eventful. We started out the morning by heading down to the Embarcadero and visiting the farmers market. There are a few big ones through out the city but this one was highly recommended by multiple books and web sites. We were there for an hour or more and almost every station was giving away free samples. With all the free samples you could have easily gotten a free breakfast. I will have to remember that for next time.
After we left the market Kristyn's ankle starting hurting, she pulled something walking back from the Pier Friday night and it was acting up. We got some Tiger Balm patches at Walgreens but that didn't seem to do the trick. We had to figure out how we were going to get around and we were volunteering in an hour so the clock was ticking. We normally like to walk everywhere when we travel but because of the injury we decided to master the bus system on this trip. We lost round 1, there was a parade on
We served chili and salad to the homeless for 2.5 hours through an organization called HOBA (Hands on Bay Area). Overall, this was a great experience. Everyone was nice and helpful. The guests were very nice and I got the feeling most of them just liked talking to someone. They told me some stories about their lives and their families and their plans. You can't help but hope everything works out for them.
Kristyn's ankle still hurt after volunteering so we jumped back on the bus (No mistakes this time) and headed back to the hotel. Since we're here for another 5 days and Kristyn hurt herself, we got the 7 day passport (no 5 day option) for the bus system. Kristyn wanted to go to City lights Bookstore before it closed for the night so we headed that way. On the way back we walked through
To finish the night off we got pizza from dominos and watched a little football. Nothing special but it does taste better than their old stuff. Now its time for bed. Night.