I so often play tourist in New York City, the place I’ve lived for the past 10 years. So can you imagine what it was like last week when I visited my home town of San Francisco, a place I haven’t lived for 14 years? Not to mention I was showing it off to an actual, legit, bona fide tourist – my boyfriend who had never visited the Bay Area before?
Oh, we SF CLICHÉD the fuck out for an entire week. It was great.
Cable cars? You betcha.
Did you know I actually took the cable car as part of my commute home from high school? I would get off the train in downtown SF, pass the crowd of tourists waiting in line to get on the cable car, and head to the second stop along Powell Street. Only locals know you can get on at the second stop without having to wait! Now if you ever visit San Francisco, you know this secret too!
Alcatraz? Oh yeah.
It probably won’t surprise you that, just as so many NYC natives have never been to the Statue of Liberty, I have never been to Alcatraz! Didn’t even go on this Tourist AF trip, only admired it from afar. I would love to go someday, maybe next time!
Painted Ladies or “The Full House House”? Holla!
My fella asked me to take him to the “Full House House” – you got it, dude. I assumed he meant these iconic Victorians featured in the show’s into. People often call them the Full House House instead of their proper name, the Painted Ladies. Well, we got to Alamo Square Park here and he proclaimed that none of them not the real Full House House. He wanted the house they show a quick exterior shot of. Really? Tourists want to see the darnedest things! So many houses in the Alamo Square neighborhood are gorgeous, with colorful exteriors and blooming gardens. After a long walk in the area with many exclamations, “Ahhh this house is so cool!” dude agreed I’d brought him somewhere way better than a sitcom exterior.
Golden Gate Bridge? BOOM! Biked it!
Mark Twain is credited with this famous quote, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” See the fog around the bridge? It creeps into the city every day and keeps the temperature in the 50s and 60s all summer long. Winds whip off the ocean and they are COLD. People were wearing wool pea coats and down jackets in July! I know I grew up here, but I actually spent very few summers in the area. I always forget how COLD the summer is!
This is San Francisco in July. So gloomy but the flock of pelicans on the left was awesome!
We biked across the bridge and the wind was so strong, we were afraid our phones would blow out of our hands!
It was cold and a little scary, but also exhilarating and breath-taking. And when you get to the other side of the bridge…
SUNSHINE.
The microclimates of San Francisco are bizarre, maddening, and magical.
We biked down the hill from this north side of the bridge to a town called Sausalito. It’s said that while it’s often foggy in San Francisco, it’s always sunny in Sausalito. The town did not disappoint. It is beautiful and I highly, highly recommend this bike ride! We took the ferry back to the city after a dinner at a sidewalk cafe with perfect bay views.
I am so often asked, How could I ever leave San Francisco?? Because it’s too cold in the summer! Because I can’t handle this being my beach attire!
