Don’t Leave Me San Francisco…California Part 5
This post is part of a large series on our trip to California! If you have missed any of the segments…you can click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 6.
Lombard Street in San Francisco is one of America’s crookedest streets. The steep, hilly street was created with sharp curves to switchback down the one-way hill past beautiful Victorian mansions. If not for the byzantine curves, easing out this treacherous slope, people could be killed rolling down. The crooked section of the street, which is about 1⁄4 mile long, is reserved for one-way traffic traveling east (downhill) and is paved with red bricks. In the spring and through the entire summer, Lombard Street is alive with color, as the many beautiful flowers are in bloom. The speed limit in this section is 5 mph. I am here to verify…you don’t go any faster than the speed limit…your foot is constantly on the brake! After we drove down this curvelassous event…we walked back up! I don’t know which one was harder to handle♥ I will say the walking tour, at least it gave you an opportunity to take scenic photographs. I am glad we did it…but I won’t be doing it again anytime soon☺
Embarcadero is the eastern waterfront and roadway of the Port of San Francisco. The Embarcadero continues north past the Ferry Building at Market Street, Fishermans Wharf and the famous Pier 39, before ending at Pier 45. Walking down this popular street is very eye opening! I had street performers popping out of bushes at me and almost made me drop my camera! Grrr…Of course, everyone around me laughed bloody hard at the incident.
The famous San Francisco Sea Lions have abandoned their Pier 39 posts. As you can see only a few have made their home here. Most have left and many don’t understand the reasoning. When we first arrived, I was so excited and ran all the way down the pier to see these cute creatures. I wasn’t aware that they had migrated on to somewhere else. I was SO sad and shocked! To see all the posts empty…I just couldn’t believe it. I just stood there in disbelief. Finally…my hubster said, “Come on now…we have to leave. Let’s go browse the pier stores.” I wanted to cry…I was so upset! We walked off and took in some of the very cute boutiques and even found an adorable cable car charm to add to my charm bracelet. As we were strolling along the storefronts, we heard barking all of a sudden. I just looked at my husband with HUGE eyes and knew it was THEM! They had come back! I took off running again ( I have a habit of this) and there they were, just a few of the lions laying on the pier. I have never been so happy to see anything like this. I was crying and screaming and jumping up and down. Finally, my family came back down to the piers and the bottom image you see them watching the sea lions. We were so eternally grateful that a couple of them at least came back. Of course, I thought they did it only for us☺ I will give you one heads up…it gets real cold when the sun goes down at the piers. I had a coat and even ear muffs on…yes, even in the summer, it was quite a site. As Mark Twain says, “The Coldest Winter I Spent…Was My Summer In San Francisco.” 
We are fans of Diners Drive Ins and Dives. My son-in-law saw this cafe on their show, so this was on his hit list for us to visit. We try and hit at least one of those places whenever we travel to a city where they are. This one ranks up there with some of the best finds ever. Bring a warm jacket and sunglasses. Grab a draft beer while you wait for your table and ask to sit near the water so you can enjoy the total experience.
Once you get inside the hostess will take you to the huge back patio you didn’t think was there from the front (they have live music in the front bar area in the evenings and it’s likely loud and cozy) and ask if you want to sit in the “sun or shade”. There’s a mix of tourists and locals and that’s always a good sign. You sit right on the water…phenomenal view pleasant and fun. If the sun is out you risk wearing one of the free cowboy hats and yellow sunglasses they serve up as you see in the above image♥
Sensational San Francisco…YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE A PIECE OF MY HEART!
Have you been to the Piers of this wonderful city?
Which one is your favorite?
Laurie
XXOO
P.S. WordPress.com just notified me that I just received my 500th like button! Thank you so much friends….greatly appreciated!!!!!
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Pride in Photos 
I’d like to visit San Fran one day…
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Great shots! Makes me miss home!
Fascinating – so interesting to see the city from your perspective!
Very cool- so much to see there.
Looks like such a fun trip! I hope I get to visit again soon. It’s been many years!
What great shots. So glad you got to see the sea lions. I ran the San Francisco marathon in 2007 and it was an amazing experience – love that city!
Oh I love SF too. Lovely shots, really looks like you did it in style! Joining you from Little by little
I hope this works as the WordPress commenting wouldn’t allow me to log in. Hmm…
Anyway, I enjoyed these captures of San Fran. Looks like a lovely time. So glad your camera came out unscathed and that you did indeed see the sea lions. Lovely images! Thank you for joining me today!
Looks really nice, thanks for sharing!
Your’s is the second blog I read today that makes me long to visit San Fran!! Those seals are something else and I would love to drive down Lombard st!
Oh I loved San Francisco and I definitely left a ‘piece of my heart’ there ~ thanks for the great post and photos ~ fond memories ~ (A Creative Harbor) on Blogger ^_^
My son spent some time in SF while in the Navy and loved it. Beautiful captures of your visit. 🙂
oh i love those sea lions. i’m from san diego and we’d go up to san fran occasionally when i was a kid…i wasn’t a big fan of it though but i’d probably appreciate it more now as an adult. back then i didn’t like it because there weren’t swimmable beaches so i thought it was a waste lol
I just love mosaics! And yours capture the feel of fun!! Long time since I’ve been to SF. Brings back sweet memories. ;->
Those brought back great memories of time spent there years ago! 🙂
Blue Moon Dragon’s Eye
Gorgeous photos! Looks like you’re having a great trip! I will now be singing ‘If You’re Going To San Francisco’ for the rest of the evening! ;0) Thanks for linking up! x
I haven’t been (want to go), but oh my gosh, how fabulous to come across sea lions on the pier!!