The Industrial City

Greetings from San Francisco nicknamed The Industrial City? We arrived here yesterday at around 2:30, rented a car and drove to John's cousin, Laura's condo. The plan is to leave the rental car there until Monday when we need it because parking in downtown SF is crazy expensive and apparently you don't really need a car in downtown. We spent about an hour at Laura's before taking a taxi to our hotel downtown. We're staying at a really beautiful old hotel called the Stanford Court located in the Nob Hill section, a Marriott property but it doesn't look like any Marriott I've ever seen. The hotel decor is my favorite style, art deco and much of what I've seen of SF is also art deco architecture. We took a little walk around the city after we dropped off our luggage. We walked to the edge of China town and back up several steep hills to our hotel. Laura picked us up for dinner around 7:15. We had dinner at a very good Italian restaurant called Piacera, really some of the best Italian food I've ever eaten. After dinner we all took a cable car to Fisherman's Wharf because John wanted us to see a place called Buena Vista, home of the original Irish Coffee. John treated us to Irish coffees and both Laura and I were expecting decaf coffees. We had no idea we would be sipping hot coffee laced with alcohol so we spent a few minutes making faces with each sip. It was pretty cold out last night and we both agreed that the Irish coffee warmed us from the inside out. We took the cable car back to the hotel around 11:30. I can now add to my list of new experiences, riding a cable car. The cable cars are old and make a rumbling sound that made me think of a rickety wooden wagon full of bowling balls and glass bottles being pulled up stairs. Laura has lived in SF for five years but it was her first time on a cable car. It is also very expensive to ride a cable car, $5/ride no transfers or $13 for a day pass. I imagine the price is so steep because it must take an awful lot of money to maintain those old cable cars, tracks, and drivers. The cable cars require two operators and operating or driving a cable car requires a lot of physical labor and looks like hard work. We're going out in a few minutes to have breakfast, explore the city and take pictures. Tonight we're having dinner at Laura's with her brother Tom, his wife Whitney and their two young sons.

Sorry, I've had no time to proof this post:>) busy trying to get out and enjoy the day.