We arrived leisurely Tuesday late afternoon, check in and our only goal was to dine on some fantastic sushi for dinner. There were 5 places, with raving reviews, within half of a mile from our hotel - Park Central in the Museum District, near the Financial Center.
Wednesday, we woke up early, and "hiked" in the city to Coit Tower, through Telegraph Hill. It was enlighting to get a sneak peak of how people live in San Francisco as they were leaving for work in the mornings. Some 2 bedroom/1 bath houses were going for million dollars in this area.
Then, it was off to Sonoma with my Platinum Performer Group. We visited Cline and Artesia vineyards. That evening, back in the city, a group of us headed to drinks and dinner, near the water, at Waterbar and Prospect.
On Thursday, I had a brief work breakfast meeting and we rented a car and headed north across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito to Fred's and to walk around the Floating House Communities and The Muir Woods to hike DipSea Trail to Stinson Beach, a 12 mile (200 floor climb) that left us sore for several days.
Friday was the day that we were the most excited for. We started our morning challenging ourselves to use San Francisco public transportation to get to Pier 39 and then did a mid morning Whale Watching Tour, which was such a wonderful experience. We saw 2 large humpback whales dozens and dozens of time. They would come up every 3-4 minutes and a couple of times, so close, it took my breath away, not expecting it. The company that owned it was research based and we learned so much.
It had already been such great day, but this was the part we were the most excited about. We had gotten tickets for the Behind The Scenes Alcatraz Tour and Night Tour, months in advance. With the behind the scenes tour, we got to go in underground tunnels to the laundry area, have the prison on ourselves with our private group, have a cell door demonstration with our Park Ranger, and most excitedly, we got to go down into the infamous "hole." We not only got to go down there but they turned off ALL the lights for a minute for us to experience what the prisoners felt down there for the 19 days, at a time, they would spend down there. When we arrived at the island, it was gorgeous and clear and when we went outside 2 hours later, it was covered in a thick fog and it was hard to see 20 feet in front of us just as the sun was going down. It was a very spooky feeling.
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