Good times in The City!

(Pictures: Tom at, gee, guess where, and TransAmerica Bldg as seen from The Carnelian Room atop the B of A Tower.)

San Francisco was exhilerating! Unseasonably warm: sunny and 83 with a strong continual breeze that made it feel like 71. Often June in The City is foggy, colder and windy. Sept and Oct are the 2 warmest weather months.

Perfect weather to bicycle with my wife across the Golden Gate Bridge--what thrill! Bike rentals abound near Fisherman's Wharf. Kept stopping for pictures in front of the bridge the closer we got to it. It was fun to observe other excited visitors posing for the camera at this amazing landmark. At a prime view spot in front of the bridge I offered to take a photo of a couple in front of The Bridge. "There might be an ulterior motive involved," I said, as we traded cameras. They laughed and were glad to return the favor.

Also bicycled another day through Golden Gate Park down to the beach and watched the kite surfers and had lunch at a place called The Beach Chalet, right at the end of GGP. The park is phenominal. You could get lost in it. We went to the flower conservatory. There's also the new DeYoung Museum of modern art; we' ll have to do that on our next rip.

"Cable-carred" to Union Square and Chinatown. Hotels sell 1-day and 3-day bus/cable car passes; we learned of them on our 2nd day in The City but it was still worth it.

Thrilling view from the Carnelian Room, atop the Bank of America Tower.

Too much to mention; highly recommended. I'll be goin' back!!

---Tom

Golden Gate

Alright, Alright! I'm updating my blog.

But not without help. Sarah is typing. She is typing faster than I can talk.

So I'm getting ready for a trip to San Francisco. My wife and I are really excited. We got the suitcases out on Monday.

When I was little, I went to China Town and got the coolest little Asian, wooden "puzzle box." It had secret slide panels that you had to move in a particular order in order to get the lid open. Maybe I'll add a new one to my collection.

My wife and I want to walk the Golden Gate Bridge and ride a tandem bicycle through Golden Gate Park down to the beach. We've already seen Alcatraz; it was well worth it! I recommend booking your Alcatraz tickets in advance, even before you leave. We almost didn't get to go because tour bookings were almost full. Tickets can be hard to get, particularly the day of.

All that said, if you've already been to San Francisco, do you have any other ideas on places we simply must see? Let me know!

Tom