For our last bay area tour, we decided to go back to San Francisco yesterday. After a fifteen-or-so minute wait at the toll on the Bay Bridge around 10:30 on a Wednesday morning, we made it into Fisherman's Wharf. Objective: to have an authentic San Franciscan sourdough bread bowl, filled with authentic canned New England clam chowder that was opened in an actual San Franciscan restaurant.
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| I brought a snack for Michael. But what is it... ? |
Everyone I asked (at least 4 people) said Boudin's was the place to go. I actually went here with my friend Rachel once when she came to play tourist (I also rode the cable cars with her, so at least I already checked that off my list) but Ben had never been, plus I only had a small bite of her bread bowl. Ben and I decided to get a combo plate of a bread bowl and half a sandwich.
It was nothing spectacular, but it was decent. The clam chowder was not very good, and I'm not a big fan of sourdough bread (though Ben is); however, the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. I didn't like either the bread or soup on its own, but the bread that had soaked up the soup was nice.
Michael got to eat a
Weetabix, which looks really unappealing (like a cow patty) but actually is rather yummy. It's a biscuit made of wheat that I purchased on my very last California Trader Joe's trip (approximate total: $270). I decided to stock up on shelf-stable goods (since someone else is moving everything) so that I'd have a full pantry in Austin with all my trusted Trader Joe's supplies while I was deciding where my new grocery store loyalties lie. Everyone who got behind me in the checkout line promptly moved. I felt a need to explain myself to every employee I saw because of my cart. It was actually the first time I got Weetabix, but Michael loves crumbling it, so hopefully I can find this UK product in Austin.
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| Michael and me standing outside Boudin's |
We decided to head towards Pier 39 and scout out some dessert places. But first! A stop to see the sea lions. They were pretty much gone when I was here last year with Rachel, but there were a couple more this time around. (It used to be all the docks were filled with sea lions.)
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| It was an unusually clear day, and we could see Alcatraz very well. |
I have never actually been to Alcatraz.
Anyway, after flip-flopping a bit, Ben convinced me to go get a crepe. I have never had a crepe, and every time I passed the crepe store on Pier 39 I've wanted to get one.
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| Inside the crepe store. Ben tried getting pictures of the ladybug on my jacket collar. The ladybug hung around for several hours -- we found her still on me at the museum. |
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| My strawberry crepe, topped with sugar and whipped cream. And me, topped with a sleepy Michael |
We used up almost the entire two hours of paid street parking along Fisherman's Wharf, and it was around 1:30 when we decided to go to the new California Academy of Sciences museum.
By complete and total coincidence (no advance planning on our part), we happened to go on the third Wednesday of the month, which is a free day. We counted it as a mixed blessing, since we expected much larger crowds than usual, but at least we saved $50 or so.
The line to get in was rather long, naturally. They took a photo of everyone who walked through the door so they could sell it to us again later. Ben staked a place in line and called his folks while I fed Michael in Golden Gate Park, so the time wasn't wasted.
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| Michael staring at a baby version of his favorite animal |
Discussing the issue later, we were glad we arrived on the free day, because the crowds didn't detract from our experience (other than not being able to see the snakes and lizards exhibit due to capacity issues), but we didn't think the museum was worth the ticket price. It wasn't a bad museum, but Ben and I both felt that it wasn't as good as The Smithsonian (shocker), Houston's, or even Milwaukee's museum. I think part of the problem for me is that it was almost entirely biological sciences. There wasn't very much breadth/diversity in the exhibits. Anyway, I'm still glad we got a chance to see it before we left the bay area.
We had to rush through the rainforest exhibit because Michael had an unfortunate blowout through his outfit and onto my jeans. Awww, his first out-of-the-house diaper blowout. Better mark that one in the baby book! We didn't even have any spare clothes for him in the diaper bag, so he went commando through the rest of the museum until we could get back to the car.
We originally planned to go to the de Young art museum, but we left the science museum at near closing (both museums closed at 5).
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| A view of Golden Gate Park from outside the museum, with the de Young building in the background |
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| Another view of Golden Gate Park with the Music Concourse in the background |
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| The California Academy of Sciences |
So we took a short walk around Golden Gate Park, which is lovely (I had never been there before), and then headed to dinner. Last item on our San Francisco bucket list that we were going to be able to tackle: have some San Francisco cioppino!
We Yelped this yesterday and decided to go back to Little Italy, to a seafood restaurant called Sotto Mare ("Under the Sea"), where we split "The Best Damn Cioppino" dish between the two of us.
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| Michael is working on some bread. No messy marinara or shellfish for you yet, little guy |
It was the highlight of the day. Clams, mussels, crab, prawns, bay scallops, calamari, and pasta simmered in a smooth marinara sauce. We are looking forward to making some ourselves with our own preferences (perhaps using canned crab, because shelling the crab was messy and took some work). The service was a bit slow, and Michael was a little fussy, but ... the cioppino! Yum!
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| Michael fell asleep on the way home, around his normal bedtime (8-ish) |
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