We only had a day in San Francisco, so we didn’t get to too much. Just a few highlights that we wanted to do. We did more on our last trip, but we will just have to go back again sometime soon and see some more!
First up was Chinatown. The kids really wanted to go shopping here. So we did! We walked around and shopped. We of course stopped at the fortune cookie factory – brought fresh cookies and the kids got a bunch of free flat cookies from the ladies working there (They gave us another stack when we bought the cookies too)
Then to Ghiradelli Square, our favorite! If you spend money there, you get cheaper parking, so of course, we had to get some awesome sundaes! They were sooooooo FREAKING GOOD! I mean. So good! YUM! We were there early, so there was plenty of room. They have added several annexes, so there are plenty of places to get your Ghiradelli fix. We walked around the square and got tons of free chocolate too. I think we each got 5 free Chocolate squares EACH. The kids thought it was the best thing EVER! We never got to an official lunch, so this was basically our lunch. Yeah, the kids loved it!
We then walked down to Fisherman’s Wharf. I had no plans, other than to walk around and see what we see. We saw the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park. We walked through the free area and had a great time. Then I noticed that we could use our America The Beautiful Pass to see the ships for FREE! Thankfully, I had the pass in my wallet. Score! The cost is $15 each adult (18 and under is free), so we saved another $30 with our pass!
We loved touring the ships! I was surprised at how much the kids loved exploring the ships. Kid #5 had a ball. We spent quite awhile running around and exploring all the boats and the entire area. Well worth the time – the kids really enjoyed it.
We then went to the Visitor’s Center across the street. Next time, I will make sure we have more time to explore it – we were getting tired at this point. What we did see of it was pretty great! Especially for free. The kids did do their Junior Ranger Badges, but they only had stickers, so we will mail them in later. Next time, we will hit up Alcatraz and explore the Maritime National Historic Park some more!
We left town going over the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, due to construction, the viewing area to get pictures of the bridge and see the bridge was CLOSED. Oh well! No pretty pictures, but at least we got to drive over the bridge.
It was a great day and we will have to plan another longer visit soon!
