After debating a little over whether we were hungry or not we decided to go to the In-N-Out Burger near Fisherman's Wharf when we got off the Alcatraz boat. We were right there so it would have been simply insane not to go. In-N-Out was on our list after we saw my cousin's husband Ryan pick up some drive through there when we were in Arizona. Because we are openly chainers (chainer- a person who frequents chain restaurants with little to no inhibition or reservations), this was a pilgrimage that had to be made. In-N-Out was good, however I'm not sure I think it really was much different then Wendy's. Both offer "unfrozen burgers" and claim to serve "real food" that isn't artificial. (what exactly is artificial food?) In-N-Out might have better fries, although it is close. I think more than anything, In-N-Out is simply a novelty, that will wear out in time just like Krispy Kremes (which crashed and burned) and Cold Stone Creamery (before everyone realized they were paying for really expensive blizzards, long live DQ!). When our bellies were filled we began our journey. First on the list see Lombard's curvy part in the day light.
Behold its glory! We walked up the stairs alongside the road. Kate wanted to take some pictures of ourselves in front of it. I think I did take a couple of her with her camera, but was still a little crotchety, perhaps I had not metabolized that cheeseburger yet and my blood sugar was low. There was a lot of traffic on the path too, and for whatever reason I found myself needlessly impatient. I think I was disappointed there were no flowers blooming, regardless it was still very pretty.
After Lombard St. we made a pit stop at the Hotel before heading west to Japantown. Above you can see the gateway to a plaza that contained fountains and rock gardens. You can see a pagoda like structure off in the background. I was impressed to the degree the Japanese had influenced the decor of this neighborhood. Much of it appeared to be newer construction than Chinatown, so it was perhaps easier to influence its appearance for its inhabitants. The picture below is from inside Japan Center which is a fairly extensive indoor mall. There were many restaurants, sushi and tea bars, some grocery stores, comic book stores, toy stores, as well as gift shops. It wasn't incredibly touristy and seemed to be patronized largely by Japanese Americans and perhaps Japanese visitors. It looks as though there would be some great restaurants to try out, if I ever go back I'll keep it in mind.
This alley (Cottage Row) had some older construction in it and our guidebook told us to check it out. It is essentially a narrow pedestrian path with entrances to homes surrounded by immaculate gardens. There were a couple small public park areas with benches. I think I have my eyes closed here. I took two similar shots of Kate where she also either is blurry or has her eyes closed. As I don't really mind looking like a fool in such circumstances, here I am.
Japantown is part of the "Western Addition" which grew after parts of it survived the 1906 earthquake which destroyed much of San Francisco. From Japantown we headed to the Fillmore on our way to the Presidio. The main street, "Fillmore St." is filled with cafes, restaurants, bars, and notably jazz clubs. It is tough to imagine that this neighborhood was "blighted" or rough around the edges 20 years ago, because today it has the feel of a yuppie community such as Brookline, MA, albeit with a hipster edge.
This interesting looking church was in The Fillmore.
We hopped on a bus eventually and let ourselves off at the gateway to The Presidio, a large park and historic area much of which used to be a military base.
Upon getting to the Presidio we found a community shuttle and took it to Baker Beach. The Beach is famous for spectacular view of The Golden Gate Bridge, and perhaps infamous for being a nude beach. It was too cold out for us to be voyeurs, regardless we did have fun watching people play with their dogs and taking in the rays. We walked down the beach and decided on a whim to follow "The coastal trail". Apparently there is much more of this trail that we did not get to see, but what we did see was spectacular.
A brief portion of the trail took us through a upper class neighborhood filled with BMWs, Jaguars, and Astin Martins. The homes were gorgeous and the gardens a sight to see in their own right. It felt like we were in the set for one of those basic cable night time soap operas. Moving along we walked to a secluded oasis "China Beach" surrounded by McMansions on the cliffs and the crashing surf. Next we headed into the wild along the coast as the homes gave way to more land that was untouched by development. 
I was getting really tired, especially as I had not slept too good the night before. While we were trying to find the elusive "Inspiration Point" I inhaled a bug which added to a growing need to collapse somewhere and pout. I kept coughing for about a half hour after this. So far I haven't contracted some horrible bug borne disease so I guess I'll survive. The structure below is the Legion of Honor (an Art Museum). The Legion of Honor was closed when we arrived, however since we were all about seeing the as much of the city as possible in the good weather, paying for an indoor exhibit was pretty much not going to happen. This was where we eventually caught a bus back to the city. We had to make another connection in a quiet neighborhood called the Outer Richmond which we would return to again on our trip.
We decided we were going to have Italian food in North Beach which is the Italian neighborhood in San Francisco. We looked over our guidebook extensively to find a place. Funnily enough the place we ended up choosing was almost at the far end of the district, and when we got there we found a homeless man sleeping in the doorway. It had gone out of business. We ended up walking around a little flustered before choosing a restaurant I had seen an ad for in our hotel. I forgot to take a picture of it so I took the photo of the photo published in the Holiday Inn tourist guide. We had a great meal, Kate had a pasta dish with a bolognese sauce, and I had a seafood pasta dish that yes, had prawns in it. After dinner we worked off the food with a hike up the Greenwich Street to the west. Sections of the street become exclusively stairs, and near the peak of the hill there were some spectacular night time views of the city. We were tired and eager to get back to the hotel and rest up for our next day.
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